Extra Credit 9: Football High

            Tonight I watched the documentary Football High on Frontline. I grew up watching football and my older brother played football his whole life. I was interested to see what the documentary had to say about high school football in todays’ society. High school football is taken very seriously all over the country. One million kids across the country play football, that’s more then any other high school sport. There are about sixty thousand concussions per year from football games and practices. Studies show that more then half of football players who never reported signs of concussion had serious brain damage. Football injuries often lead to CTE in the brain, which can then lead to suicide and memory loss. Helmets are not made to prevent concussions; they’re made to prevent the skull from fracture. In August of 2010 in Arkansas there were two cases of high school football players who were rushed to the hospital after heat stroke. Both of the athletes passed out from heat stroke during practice in 112-degree weather. One of the boys actually ended up passing away. 2/3 of sports related death in high school is football related. The medical facts that this documentary brought up were frightening.

            I can relate to this because my older brother had numerous injuries throughout his high school football career. In his senior season alone he was rushed to the hospital four different times. The injuries throughout the season were two concussions, a fractured wrist and a fractured ankle. He would never admit it to coaches or my parents, but he said that he had at least three other concussions on his three years on varsity football that the coaches and trainers did not pick up on. He said they were not as serious and could definitely feel the effects but it would not stop him from playing. I was very surprised that the athletic trainers and doctors let him come back in the season after experiencing two concussions. Coaches and doctors need to pay more attention to their athletes and their injuries. The athletes need full time to recover, especially in cases relating to the brain. High school football in todays’ society has much more attention and pressure. Some high school football games are nationally covered. As high school football becomes more serious, the injuries do as well. This means that medical attention must become more serious too.