High School Football Concussions

Exploratory Essay

Jessica Garner

Ms. McKoy

English II- 1^st Block

30 January 2013

Seeing Stars

“Smith passes the ball to Haulbrooks. Pass is caught by Haulbrooks.  He is running down field. POP! Mid-field Haulbrooks is hit hard. He is down and not moving.” The crowd goes silent, being able to hear that hit all the way to the top of the bleachers can have that effect on people. The medics run out to him, checking him for injuries, and he finally comes around. Being in the bleachers and watching this all happen was pretty mouth dropping. One minute I am yelling for my brother to make a touchdown, and the next I am dead silent because he just got knocked out. The only idea I could think was “Holy crap that did not sound good!” People around were saying, “With a crack like that it’s got to be a concussion, and a mild one at the least.” They were right. A mild concussion it was indeed.

 

Cody got blessed with only just a mild concussion. It could have been much worse, but when we were all talking about it after the game, I realized all concussions are bad no matter how small they may seem. His exact words were, “It felt like a screw was being driven through my head.” I couldn’t even imagine that feeling and I’m sure I never want to either. He remembers during the play and catching the ball and then being on the sidelines after. This leaves a huge gap showing that he does not remember how he got off the field or what happened when he got hit and after the play. They asked him questions like, “What does a horse do?”, and they would want him to tell them what they do. Cody was so out of it though he made the gesture of what a horse did with his hands. The way he was acting expresses how confused he felt, and how serious the concussion was.  

The concussion got me thinking a lot about how dangerous football can be. Is football helping or hurting teens physically? I understand it is the most exciting sport out there, and if I could play, trust me I would be out there doing it. What if the concussions could be prevented with better gear? Or should high school football take more safety precautions in the sport? Cody’s side effects only lasted for a day or two, and it was only a headache. To make sure nothing affects him in the future, well we have no way of knowing what is going to happen.  How can we treat the concussion, so there are no side effects in the future? Or why do concussions from high school football cause long-term problems? These are the questions that need to be answered to help football become a safer sport. According to the article The Big Headache, concussions do not show up on brain imaging. This means that you could not even tell he had a concussion from brain imaging. The way to know you have a concussion is if you are dizzy, have a headache, and have retrograde amnesia (The Big Headache). I do not know how much more these boys are going to be able to take.