Recent studies show, “Each season the average college football player receives more than 1,000 blows to the head.”
Within the last year there have been significant steps made to study Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a degenerative disease caused by repeated blows to the head which can cause severe depression, dementia, and has even been pointed to as one potential cause in several recent, high profile athlete suicides. In September, 2012, the NFL donated $30 million to study brain injuries, and there are a growing number of reports and studies surrounding both the short and long term effects of concussions on athletes young and old. This infographic, from global life insurance shows the impact of CTE in High School and College football players.
Read more:
Junior Seau Suffered Traumatic Brain Injury. Duh.
Whoa. So only 47% of high school concussions are from football. That’s actually really surprising. What else are the kids doing that gives them all the other concussions? Hit by a pitch in baseball? Dropped on your head into the toilet bowl during a hazing ritual?
The infographic is clear. Football uniforms need airbags.
P.S. If the illustration is any guide, teaching some proper tackling technique would go a long way…..
I’ve had a student get a concussion from being struck in the head by a soccer ball when he wasn’t looking. I’ve also had students get concussions playing lacrosse and field hockey, for starters.