By Georgi DeMartino;
Media Credit: MCT Campus
Mosaic Staff Writer-Roughly 300,000 football-related concussions occur each year, according to totalinjury.com. Such a statistic raises the question-shouldn’t that have more of an influence on helmet regulations, especially within the National Football League?
According to an article in the New York Times, apparently not. Though there seem to be rules for just about everything within the NFL, helmet safety is left to the discretion of the players.
It would be assumed that the players would pick a helmet that would best protect their heads against 300-pound linebackers, but some players have different priorities.
When it comes to helmets, there are all sorts of preferences, but are players picking their helmets for the right or wrong reasons? The NFL should be using their authority to tell athletes which helmets they will be able to play with.
Some sports fans will say that players should have their own discretion when it comes to their own safety. There is also the potential scenario where an individual player would need specifications on their helmet, such as padding inside, for comfort or high performance and the NFL may not be considering their needs. Another argument for N.F.L. regulations to exclude specific helmet requirements could be the false promise to upcoming football players that this specific helmet would be the safest to use.
On the other side, however, the N.F.L. should be taking steps to protecting their players as much as possible. If there were helmets tested and highly ranked for player safety, it would limit the amount of head injuries players have each year.
As a sports fan, it is frustrating to have to worry about our teams best player getting hurt because of something that could have been avoided through simple steps made by the National Football League Players Association.
Some athletes do not have their priorities straight, and will choose helmets that look nice on television, rather than a helmet that will actually ensure comfort and protection.
To me, this is an act of selfishness. This player is a part of a multimillion-dollar sports franchise, where people from across the country are paying money to see the games, own the apparel, and support their team, while this player is carelessly choosing to “look cool” on television. If that specific player is injured and can’t return for several games, the team’s entire season can be at stake. Their chances of making it to the Super Bowl will be affected, and all the supporting fans will wonder, “what if he hadn’t gotten hurt? Maybe we could’ve made it to the top…”
While being a cheerleader hardly offers a comparison to the contact sport of football, I suffered two concussions during my career and I always wondered how that could have been prevented if we had protective headgear. Of course, we would have looked pretty ridiculous, but why wouldn’t an athlete of such importance choose such a vital piece of equipment more carefully? What bothers me the most is the NFL’s regulations on insignificant items, such as socks and sweatbands, but helmets are left to the player to decide.
In the past month, USAToday records a total of 21 college football players who have been benched for several games due to concussions. Professional athletes should be the icons and role models for younger players, and therefore should be making wiser decisions about their equipment. If a young athlete sees a football player he, or she, particularly idolizes, with a “cool” piece of headgear, they are more susceptible to buying something similar to that player. This could, in turn, result in a never-ending issue of injuries, which could have been prevented in the long run.
Finally, a piece of equipment so important should not be left up to the carelessness of a player’s preference. While the players should have the freedom to choose which helmets they use, I feel they need guidance, which is why I would submit the idea that the NFL should at least supply players with a list of approved helmets. This would help the players be more informed about the decision they are making, and ultimately lead them to making a better choice. This would support both a safety regulation required by the N.F.L. and also the athletes’ freedom of choice.
www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/football-concussion-controversy-new-rules
topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/f/football/head_injuries/index.html
