football players ready to hit heads

The Future of Football

The evidence linking football to permanent brain injury is clear, and football leagues from the youth to the professional level are searching for solutions to make the game safer. The question you must consider in this paper is how to solve this problem. Evaluate whether it can be solved by a technological fix--better helmets--evaluating critically the arguments of helmet manufacturers and developers that their helmets are the best answer. What more difficult kinds of changes are needed? Who has power to choose a solution?

 

Articles about the risks of football:

 

https://www.popsci.com/how-dangerous-is-football-cte

 

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2645104

 

https://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/public-health/high-school-football-injuries-concussions-research  (Great source for links to medical research)

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6552a2.htm

 

https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/2/2/16956440/concussion-symptoms-cte-football-nfl-brain-damage-youth (Good overview of football-related risks to the brain)

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2017/09/19/study-links-youth-football-greater-risk-later-health-problems/UF3vWIAraotnJnbU8o8TDP/story.html

 

http://time.com/4948320/football-brain-damage-consussions-study/

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171127091135.htm (This and the previous two articles deal with studies that show how youth football raises additional risks due to the brain not being fully developed for teenagers)

 

https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/9/18/12940926/nfl-concussion-protocol-explained (Great overview of the NFL's concussion protocol)

 

https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/101007NaumanFootball.html (This and the next four articles were ones that were on your previous list that I think would be good to keep)

 

https://slate.com/technology/2011/01/football-concussions-and-brain-damage-from-high-school-to-the-nfl.html#p2

 

https://www.sportsmd.com/concussions-head-injuries/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-cte-2/ (Very useful medical description of CTE)

 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/31/does-football-have-a-future

 

Articles about football helmet technology and rule-related solutions:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/sports/football/09helmets.html?ref=headinjuries (One of the articles from the previous list - Raises good questions about technology and safety)

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-football-helmet-safety-20170927-story.html

 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170921090313.htm

 

https://www.uwhealth.org/sports-medicine/clinic/sports-medicine-research-helmets-and-concussions/41308

 

https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/football-helmets-reduce-concussion-risk-study-says

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/highschools/the-future-of-football-equipment-measuring-a-hits-impact-on-the-brain-not-just-the-helmet/2017/06/02/d6dd0cb8-47b0-11e7-98cd-af64b4fe2dfc_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.2022c5ee049c

 

https://www.vtmag.vt.edu/winter17/helmet-research.html (Excellent article that includes historical perspective on helmets and concludes that better rules and coaching will reduce head injuries, and that helmets are the least important factor)

 

https://operations.nfl.com/football-ops/nfl-ops-honoring-the-game/health-safety-rules-changes/ (Official list of rules that have changed with the intent of making the game safer. Goes back to 1985)

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jerrybarca/2018/03/31/the-nfls-new-targeting-rule-will-save-football/#7b1a1c1b7d57

 

https://www.athleticbusiness.com/athlete-safety/opinion-nine-suggestions-to-make-football-safer.html

 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/09/can-technology-make-football-safer (Perfect article - "Can technology make football safer?")

 

https://www.livescience.com/54239-how-to-make-football-safer.html

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2987604/ (Role of equipment in preventing injury)

 

https://www.popsci.com/helmets-concussions-football#page-2 (Counterargument to helmet technology as a solution)

 

https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/what-the-science-tells-us-about-making-football-safer-this-cte-awareness-day

 

https://money.cnn.com/2017/09/16/news/companies/vicis-nfl-helmet-concussions-safety/index.html (Supposedly new helmet design)