Protecting Athletes in the NFL

By Paul Washington, Senior at Calvin Coolidge High School

Injuries have always had long-term effects on players at every competitive level. NFL injuries and their long-term effects can lead to addiction, suffering and even death. NFL injuries can cause player addiction because players take pain killers and other drugs to suppress pain. Injuries also cause suffering because of the pain athletes go through mentally and physically. Death is also possible because of the long-term impact of the injury the athlete has.

According to the NFL, the total number of injuries in 2021 was 386, with three types topping the list: ACL tears (71), MCL tears (128) and concussions (187). All of these are significant injuries, but the most detrimental may be concussions. Even though the NFL has made several attempts to keep players safe, the game is evolving, and players are getting faster and stronger, which is making the game even more dangerous for the players.

There is also emotional and mental strain from injuries. When players are addressing and hopefully recovering from injury, they may feel useless because they can’t help their team. Mentally the pain comes from depression that the players deal with while going through injury because of the feeling that they are taking on.

The first impactful problem with these injuries is the long-term effect the injuries have on these players. After years and years and years of playing football at a high level as NFL athletes do, their bodies go through lots of wear and tear to the point where they can’t function regularly after a while. This can cause a quicker death because the human body can only withstand a certain amount of pain and stress. According to ncbi.nkm.nih.gov, the average age of death for NFL players is 59.6, which is an extremely young age to be dying for a sport that you love so much; but some players become so emotionally attached that they disregard the amount of pain they go through while playing.

Many players have had surgery on many different parts of their bodies. For example, in the 2021-22 season, a player sustained a Jones fracture in week 8 against the Indianapolis Colts, which ended up causing him to get a steel plate inserted into his heel. He was out the rest of the regular season, and then miraculously returned to the active roster and played in the divisional championship playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. This goes to show that the players are willing to risk their health to play the game. The NFL managers, however, may be more concerned about their business than the players’ health, which is why they are just starting to create new protocols and guidelines to make the game safe for the players now and the players to come.

As far as mental health and emotional health in the NFL, the number of people who care for the players’ well-being is slim to none. Most fans only care about the entertainment aspect of the game and not the toll injuries are taking on the players. the number of players who take mental health days is beginning to increase drastically because the players have realized they are going to have to take care of themselves. After all, the NFL doesn’t care about the players’ health as much as they do.

Anna Katherine Clemmons from the NY Times writes: “’ Guys are cut, traded and signed every day. As much as you want to say it should be different, it’s hard, because you might open up to someone one day, and they’re gone the next day.”’ This reveals that the NFL shows little to no interest in how players are doing off the field. This is the business side of things in the NFL. The more ethical side of things done in the NFL is usually orchestrated by the players and the media, who often start movements because they don’t want to see each other struggle because they know what it’s like to be in that position of powerlessness with the potential to lose their job at any moment. This is unfair to players because it can cause them to do things harmful to them like suicide or other self-harm things that could also be detrimental to their lives.

Another example is Dak Prescott, the star quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, who dealt with anxiety and depression in April 2020 because his brother died by suicide and was recovering from his season-ending ankle injury. Though he pushed through it, he was tasked with some very difficult tasks while going through two significant challenges. For the NFL to continue production and bringing in players to compete at the high level they do, the NFL will have to take notice of players’ mental and emotional health.

While it seems like the players and the teams are pressuring the athletes into playing, it’s the fans who are putting the athletes in that situation to have to decide to play or not. Also, because the NFL is a business, they need the players to play for them to get money, which also causes players to get forced into playing; and if they don’t play, they are risking their jobs. Fans complain about everything from the ticket prices to the way their team is playing to the rules being enforced at the games.

On operations.nfl.com, the image displayed by Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, shows the things put in place to keep players safe and fans engaged. In the section labelled “Fan Experience,” it states: “We are implementing changes to improve the pace and minimize unnecessary disruptions to the action on the field.” it also states: “We made several rule changes to reduce the risk of injuries-especially to the head and neck.”

This goes to show that the NFL has tried to change the rules to fit the players but that won’t keep the fans engaged, and the fans are the ones that bring in the money and if the fans aren’t engaged, they won’t come to the games, so the NFL won’t make any money.

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