Article written by Lucas Menny, November 20th, 2018
A sport of rare violence
American football is a very popular sport in the United States. In this sport contact between the players are very frequent. Furthermore players are equipped with armor and a helmet, which makes every contact very violent.
Physical and mental aftermath
Players who have practiced this sport for many years are very often victims of physical degeneration. The many shocks received by the player are the cause of many trauma. Many inquiries were made with American football ex pros players. Nearly nine out of ten former players suffer from daily pain. And most of them believe that American football is the cause. 90% of the players that were interviewed said to have had one or more serious concussions. Recently Boston University has done a study on the brains of 35 pros players. Of these 35 brains, 34 have Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). It is a cerebral degeneration related to concussions.
The NFL, a very powerful lobby
The NFL refuses to recognize work-related injuries. Ex-players who have suffered these trauma feel like they have hit a wall. Hospital costs are very high in the United States due to expensive health insurance. Medicare only works for people over 65, and the NFL’s health insurance lasts only five years after the last game played. Around 10% of ex-players can not pay for their care. Nearly 4000 ex pros players have filed suit against the NFL. They accuse the NFL of minimizing the risk of concussions and not feeling enough to help.
A public case
The NFL spent 100 million dollars on medical research and upgrading the players’ helmets. But this remains insufficient. The movie « Alone against All » with Will Smith denounces the lack of involvement of the NFL. In “year” Barack Obama entered the debate. He says that American football has some changes to make.
What the Health 