Previous posts here have discussed the various concerns regarding the roughness of contact sports and the possibility of resulting severe injuries. Specifically discussed has been the common occurrence of brain injuries amongst athletes, professional and otherwise. Residents in states across the country, including Ohio, may be interested to know that President Obama has recently joined the conversation about these concerns.
The sport the President is most concerned about is football. He claims that, as a parent, if he had a son he is not sure he’d allow him to play. President Obama has also stated that, although he is a football lover, he and others that love the sport should expect the aggression and violence of the sport to gradually diminish over time.
Although the NFL has taken on most of the criticism for injuries in players, they have remained a step ahead of the NCAA in their traumatic brain injury reduction efforts, and President Obama is less concerned about professional athletes. College sports are where the root of his concern lies.
A traumatic brain injury can be caused by any number of catastrophic accidents. In sports, neck injuries or skull fractures can lead to brain injury. The difficulty is that these injuries can be hard to treat and even harder to detect. However, the symptoms can have a life-changing impact on the victim and their family. If the brain injury was caused by another individual’s negligence, the victim may be able to recover compensation from that person.
It is always important for athletes to be very cautious on the playing field and, when injured, to keep an eye out for symptoms of a brain injury. However, with President Obama weighing in on the subject, there may be more political pressure on this topic in the coming years of his second term as president.
Source: NBC Sports, “Obama concerned about brain injuries in football,” Michael David Smith, Jan. 27, 2013