UNNECESSARY Roughness

Everyone knows concussions are a serious problem in football today. Players getting knocked out of games from head jarring tackles. Players getting concussions from head to head contact that knocks them out for weeks, if not months at a time. There are concussions so bad, they knock players out for the season. Hell, concussions have caused Hall of Famers Steve Young and Troy Aikman, as well as many other players, to have to quit playing football. Concussions END people’s careers.

The NFL has at least taken some action in trying to lessen the concussion problem. Severe penalties and fines are levied onto players that target the head with helmet to helmet tackles and the league also punishes players for nearly everything that even resembles a blow to the head (offensive as well as defensive players). Nearly three quarters of a billion dollars in settlement money has had to be set aside to pay off concussion lawsuit claims. Yes, the league is worried about the concussion problem.

And not only that, the human brain, once it has had a concussion, becomes increasingly susceptible to further injury by additional contact. A once-concussed brain gets further aggravated by even the slightest trauma and a twice-concussed brain is even worse off, because the accumulated effects of repeated blows to the head makes it more and more likely that it will occur again. And again. Once you start getting concussions, you will likely continue getting them, and the accumulated damage from them becomes something that causes serious problems later in life. Thus the settlements.

Everyone knows they are bad. Nobody wants to get them. The NFL is trying for them to NOT happen. It is becoming clearer and clearer that the human brain and the collisions of football that involve the head are a very deadly mixture, and that EVERYONE should be doing everything possible to lessen the chances that concussions will happen. The one thing that absolutely SHOULD be happening is the avoidance of head trauma whenever possible.

So, what are the players doing about this?

A teammate intercepts a pass, tosses the ball to the referee and SMACK!, SMACK!, SMACK!, he gets slapped in the head by numerous teammates as he runs off the field. Unnecessary… blows… to… the… head.

A lineman recovers a fumble, and SMASH!!, a fellow lineman head butts him in celebration harder than anything he faces by an opponent during the entire game. Blunt… force… trauma.

A quarterback throws a long pass to his favorite wide receiver, a player who has missed many games earlier in his career from concussions. Touchdown! He races down the field to join him in the end zone and the celebration. WHAP!, WHAP!, WHAP! he slaps his teammate in the helmet. He grabs him by the shoulder pads and SMASH!, he head butts him in celebratory excitement. Lesser… contact… than… that… has… caused… concussions.

Why, why, why, why, why are these players choosing THIS way as their way to celebrate good things happening? They are smacking their teammates in the head?? I mean, they are SMACKING their teammates harder during their celebrations than the opposing players are hitting them during the game — you know, the illegal blows to the head that draw the 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalties. This may not seem like it’s anything bad, but it is CONTRIBUTING to the concussion problem. The human brain is a delicate organ that was not built to withstand blunt force trauma.

I have had concussions before and I know how the slightest jarring motion of the head is something to be avoided. There is flat out assault with malicious intent to commit bodily harm going on in end zones across America and it is from TEAMMATES who should not be smacking their co-workers in the head when they make great plays.

I know you are happy that your teammate made a great play, football players, but come up with a better way to show them how much you liked it. You are contributing to head trauma by head butting your teammates. You are helping to cause concussions by doing this. Can’t you see all the former players out there with post traumatic concussion syndrome? Don’t you think they now wish they could have taken LESS traumatic blows to the head during their playing careers? If the head should not be allowed to be a point of contact for tackling purposes, it should not be the point of contact for celebratory smacks to the head. This is madness! This is so UNNECESSARY.! You… don’t… want… to… have… your… brain… to… work… like… this… when… you… stop… playing… football.