By many people, American football is viewed as the sport of brawn and strength. It is about powerful action as men bang against each other in a clash to see who is the strongest, who can push through their opponents to reach the goal line or fight their opponent to the ground. Football is a sport that seems the contrast to personal well-being and safety.
According to Jonathan Bunge, in recent years, worries over the dangers of football have grown as concussions have become more common among children, and have become a bigger worry in the AFL and NFL. While many of the players surface all right from the concussions, it is hard to recognize its long term effects and know where it will leave the players’ years down the street. As such, many other levels like the NFL face a debate. At the risk of players’ health to what extent do you keep football intense, and how much can you modify before you lose the core of the game?
After a number of players in the NFL suffered concussions due to helmet to helmet attacks, this debate has levitated again recently. In these challenges, a tremendous amount of force is placed on the head of a player, making them extremely susceptible to concussions and other perilous head injuries. Intrinsically, the NFL has taken action, fining players for making these kinds of attacks and threatening suspensions for future attacks of this kind. With football being a sport about overpowering one another and strength, do these precautionary measures handicap the players and make it hard to even play football? Before making a tackle will players think twice?
That is something every player should know. The first and primary thing is to understand and know all of the safety gear such as the shoulder pads, American football helmet, the mouth guards, hip pads, and knee pads. One should need to know how they protect you. You need to know how to get the accurate size. Simply having an American football helmet or a set of shoulder pads that does not fit properly can also increase the chances of having a wound. It should not be too tight, nor should it be too loose. It needs to be just correct for the supreme protection. In addition to this, you really need to know the techniques and rules. The method to running with the ball suitably will also help protect you from injury, and the same goes with knowing how to attack a runner. Nowadays, as Jonathan Bunge says, there are many things that go into it, because it is not just about who is the strongest or biggest as this game has evolved over the years into a much more complicated game. Know your equipment, learn the rules, learn basic techniques, and then ultimately start to learn the physical aspects of the game.
In the finale, the NFL faces a hard decision going forward. They have to find the perfect equilibrium between confirming the safety of their athletes, while also retaining the inviolability of one of America’s favorite sports.