11/1 Analytical

As I continued to read articles on TBI's and the affects of CTE long term, I have come to a conclusion on my biggest essential question, should players be worried about damaging their brain long term. Due to my research over the past few months, my opinion is yes, one who plays the sport is subjecting themselves to a much higher chance of developing brain damage in the future.
CTE is a very dangerous protein-like disease that develops in ones brain. This development occurs when ones brain has been subjected to a large amount of repeated traumatic blows. This happens a lot in sports such as football and boxing, but one can get a concussion from walking into a wall, or tripping and falling down. I was astounded at some of the number that I found while researching. A little over 50% of players who come out of the NFL have some sort of brain altercation because of it, almost half of those people suffer CTE, while others have less significant problems. I also found that almost 100 former NFL athletes have committed suicide, and when their brains were tested, they all were found to have significant CTE. CTE is a very serious problem that is stemming from contact sports such as football, and this is hard for me to admit. I love football and have played since I was little, but the game is changing. People are getting bigger and more aggressive, and a full out blow to the head can injure someone now much more than it could 30-40 years ago. Companies such as Riddell have made large strides in helmet technology, and how we can protect our heads. The NFL has imposed lots of concussion protocols, and changes rules to try and eliminate the helmet from the tackle as much as possible. Where we lack is in knowledge, the people who play the game need to be more informed of the risk they are taking damaging their heads, and how they can help prevent it. Right now, concussion numbers are only going up, but with more education and knowledge, this number can be brought down.