Football claiming lives

BY: ABBIE B.

A recent popular topic is the dangers of football. The injuries of football have went as far as death. The sport has claimed the lives of many young men. When will we do something about this problem? We can save young lives if we create stronger rules.

The rates of participation in youth football have decreased and NFL players are retiring early. According to the NCAA, in 2013 alone, eight deaths were reported from a direct hit during a football game. In 2017, five high school football players lost their lives from the sport. Coaches, doctors, and parents are starting to show concern about the sport and the injuries it has caused. Between 1.6 million and 3.8 billion sports-related concussions occur annually and football is the majority of those causes.

While some of the brain injuries that football players experience are short-term, some aren’t so short-term. The problem has grown so much, high school board members in New Hampshire and Illinois have gone so far as to say we should ban the sport for kids and teenagers.

Dylan Thomas was just seventeen years old when he passed away from injuries during a football game. Thomas had been hit in the second quarter of the game and later collapsed on the sidelines when an arm and leg went numb. Thomas was then rushed to a hospital and underwent surgery. His brain then swelled up and he went into a coma.

Earlier that month, a Vanderbilt University football player, Christon Abercrombie, had to undergo surgery after a head injury during a game. This stirred up more conversation about the topic.

A sport is something supposed to bring people together while having fun and being competitive. No sport is fun when getting injured and no sport is worth losing a life over. Unfortunately, it’s taken many young lives to get the attention of others that this is a problem in America right now. But now we should try and figure out ways to prevent another death from happening because of a sport.