Long Term Damage

Last post was an introduction to my blog that gave a feel to the things I'll be looking into with the NFL and such.  This post is going to focus more on the long-term effects and serious damage football does to a players body.  Concussions are becoming quite a serious problem in the NFL.  Over this past season, there has been a noticeable change in the amount of players being diagnosed with concussions than in recent seasons.  Players that suffer a concussion have to go through a variety of different neurological tests that have to be passed if they want to play in the next game.  Some notable players that suffered concussions this year are Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers, who suffered two concussions this season and is rumored to may have had another on in the NFC Championship game versus the Bears http://bleacherreport.com/articles/591601-super-bowl-2011-aaron-rodgers-ben-roethlisberger-and-latest-news-from-dallas/entry/45990-green-bay-packers-aaron-rodgers-denies-reports-of-another-head-injury, and also Brett Favre whose season and career ended because of a concussion he had near the end of the season.   It is quite evident that the NFL is definitely starting to take a much larger interest in this whole concussion thing.

A man named Bennet Omalu is someone particularly interested in this matter plus much more.  He is a doctor and researcher predominantly interested in post-concussion syndrome (PCS) cases where retired football players struggle with this syndrome everyday.  One player Omalu looked at was Steelers play Mike Webster.  Webster suffered intensely from PCS after his days playing as a center for Pittsburgh.  He had days where he forgot where he was or what he was doing.  He sometimes couldn't even remember the house he lived in.  Omalu took the information he gathered from Webster's brain and two other former players brains where he found connections between the concussions they had and brain damage received from those concussions. Omalu has researched quite a few brains and is continuing to gather up information so that he can try to persuade the NFL to look into this issue more intently.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/dolphins/doctors-study-of-brains-of-nfl-players-shows-909087.html

There is still much the league and doctors and such need to learn to help this issue of hard hits and their damage.  People like Omalu are doing a great job by researching and trying to find ways to help players out.  Hopefully the NFL will listen and contribute so that we can continue to watch the game of football.