There's a high school that I pass on the way to the dog park, and on Mondays the team is always outside for football practice. Watching them damage themselves right in front of the school breaks my heart. I am convinced that American Football is going go suffer the same drop in popularity as boxing within the next decade.
I played football in college and I think they managed the players' health pretty well. Granted I was at a smaller less competitive D3 school but, all the same, I never felt fear that I was going to suffer any long term head injuries (also I never got a concussion in 8 years of playing).
That's yet unclear, see research by Dr. McKee: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/league-of-den...
I can't argue with numbers, but I am just not convinced the method of data collection is accurate.
Do you have any evidence to back up this speculation?
More personal notes: In college I knew a few guys who would have headaches for days but refuse to go to the doctor or trainer for fear of getting benched. That was the exact opposite in High school for me. Players would go to the trainer for every little bump and bruise.
I think American Football is very much in need of a rethink of their "safety" equipment. You can have a full contact sports[1] without the damage done. A football player is now wearing hard armor and it is not helping.
Boxing isn't less popular because of injuries. It is less popular because it isn't on ABC every week and it is all pay-per-view. Its an event sport that is not worth the money to pay for the events.
1) calling these blood sports makes for a problem when real blood sports are discussed - hyperbole and the brain shouldn't be mixed
No doubt their bodies are being hammered and worn down though.
I don't think many nine-year-old kids are introspective enough to know what their personality is like, and never was it mentioned that my personality reverted back to normal. I have no idea what I was like or what I would become. It's interesting to think about.
It took a long time for me to look back and think "what the hell?"
Five years later, I feel relatively okay. I barely ever notice any lasting affects of the concussion. Every so often, I have a bad delay in recalling a word I am thinking of. One beer makes me feel really weird, although the feeling seems to go away after having two or three. And ejaculating, for some odd reason, gives me a headache.
How did your concussion affect the way you live? Do you still play sports?
I didn't play sports for about two years. It was very frustrating when I thought I was close, but still had some lingering effects. Around the time I stopped having bad headaches, I would try to play basketball once every two weeks hoping everything was okay, but would come home with terrible headaches. I kept trying, hoping something would change, and after a while ,the headaches subsided in intensity. At that point, I started increasing the frequency of playing, and things, over time, became normal again. Now I play sports normally.
There's a few odd things that I really can't stand now. Fans blowing in my face (sometimes treadmills at my gym have automatic fans that turn on). I can't headbang to heavy metal music because it hurts me later on. I think it's the specific movement when I do.
The worst part about the concussion is that it took away my way of life. Before it, I was playing sports or exercising at least five days a week. It was a part of my identity. I had a really tough year trying to move my passions from sports to startups and business. It worked out; however, and now I am able to enjoy all of them.
I got a concussion about six months ago playing hockey and am still recovering, not even working full time. I did a battery of neuropsychological testing about four month post-concussion and verbal fluency, specifically coming up with words starting with a given letter, was one thing they tested. They guessed at my baseline performance, then were able to pick word usage, among a few others, out as areas I'm now deficient in. My recollection is they said it was a common pattern to see.
I do have to say it's good to read of people who've come through this and feel normal again, even if it takes a long time.
All my friends said it took me almost 2 years before I was back to "my old self". It was weird experiencing it firsthand as well. My last memories of the accident was planting my left hand on the pavement trying to save the fall. Thankfully my nice Held gloves have tacks on the palm so it wasn't a big deal but the next memory I had was waking up with a cat on my chest staring right at me in my buddies girlfriends house.
I think the cat wanted to eat me, those eyes /shudder. Anyway, PSA is always wear a helmet, that and hip armor, wear lots of that, I walked like an old man for a month. But for a few years after that accident I basically felt a fog in my brain.
I really don't like the idea of sports like football after that where people pile on concussions. I just don't see how it could be a thing that couldn't be detrimental.