Over the years, I participated in many sports that posed a serious threat to my health. Playing contact sports is dangerous and parents should be mindful of the risks as well as the safety precautions that should be installed before any young person dons a helmet and cleats.
The latest concussion incident that has inspired a great debate involves Tua Tagovailoa, quarterback for the Miami Dolphins. Tua experienced a head injury on Sunday a weeks ago and was cleared to play a few days later in a Thursday night game. He suffered another head trauma which was decried by health officials and sports commentators. Many are calling for Tua to retire to avoid any further head injuries. It should be noted that serious head incidents sometimes take weeks or months or years to cause serious mental problems.
I got to thinking about whether some sports should be avoided (or children should be forbidden from playing them by their parents) because they pose a credible threat. Further, Tua’s experience, and hundreds of other similar injuries, should lead young athletes and their parents to consider whether the protocols after concussions are effective enough to prevent long-term ramifications.
Estimates are that 3.8 million concussions occur each year in the US from sports injuries. The CDC says that five to 10% of athletes will be exposed to concussions in any given sports season. CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, is the progressive brain condition that results from repeated episodes of concussions. The most dangerous sports in this regard are boxing, American football, rugby, ice hockey, skiing and snowboarding. A number of professional football players have died from CTE years after their careers ended.
As a lifelong athlete over many decades, I feel the results of numerous injuries daily since I was a young man. When I wake up each morning, my body screams from remnants of old wounds. I participated in American football, four years in high school, rugby, four years in college and skiing, 30 years. I had minor to moderately serious head injuries while participating in in contact sports. Luckily, I have no effects, as of this moment.
Allowing children to participate in dangerous sports should be a gigantic issue for parents. Every Sunday during the summer in New York City, thousands of young children are playing sports encouraged by their parents. Almost every parent hopes and dreams that his or her child will become a superstar. The fact is that not one of these children on the playing field will ever earn a dime playing professional sports. Yet, parents encourage their children to play aggressively.
It might make sense to avoid the dangerous sports listed earlier until safer protocols are instituted. If a Miami football player was not protected by the professionals that his team hired, how can we be sure that every child will be protected playing intermural sports. One can never be sure that a child was seriously injured, but if a head trauma occurs, the child should take appropriate time to rest and recover. It’s doubtful that sandlot sports have sufficient trained physicians available to evaluate injuries that do occur.
Tua’s situation is borderline criminal. In professional sports, athletes are paid to compete. Injuries are the enemy of all owners of professional sports teams. If you’re paying an athlete millions of dollars a year, you don’t want him to him or her sitting on the bench. I’m not talking about sprained ankles or bruises, rather I refer to concussions and other serious injuries. They have a long life and concussions may affect athletes greatly in the future.