The Impact: Exploring the risks in Texas’ favorite sport

By Juanita OmeJe

FWEET!

At the shrill blast of the whistle, the players begin another afternoon of drills. They pass, catch, sprint, and go over specific plays for the next day’s upcoming game. The weather is almost perfect— sunny but not hot, windy but not cold. For hours they practice, their black, yellow, and white uniforms becoming damp with sweat while the players perfect their skill and love of the game.

Football is almost a culture in Texas. According to USA Today, Texas is home to some of the largest and most expensive high school football stadiums in the United States, with passionate players, dedicated fans, and youth football associations which instill a love for the game in young boys.

At Hastings it is no different. Football is omnipresent at school and the object of many notable celebrations, from homecoming to pep rallies.

But with all the hype comes a significant risk that the majority of football fans fail to consider. Today, more and more research is revealing the level of danger players face on the field, specifically when it comes to head injuries.

A concussion, which is a brain injury caused by a blow to the head that causes rapid movement of the brain, can create chemical changes in the brain that have the potential to damage brain cells. Though they can happen in other popular contact sports like hockey and soccer, they are more prevalent in football both in practice and during football games. In fact, according to the Brain Injury Research Institute (BIRI), football accounts for more than 60% of concussions in organized high school sports.

“Probably most likely football, you’re more likely to get a concussion there just because that’s the nature of the game--you’re actually running into each other on purpose,” Hastings athletic trainer Nicki Lane said. “In other sports, you’re not trying to run into each other.”

Photo by AniyA DiDley

Players collide on the field at the varsity game against Strake Jesuit.

Fellow athletic trainer John Mayes agrees. “They’ve done impact studies on force collision with those helmets,” he said. “You’re talking about sometimes over 200 pounds of pressure being applied when athletes run and they clash together… the brain bounces around in the head [and] so it bangs up against the cranium. That’s what basically causes the injuries.”

As Hastings’s only licensed athletic trainers, Lane and Mayes are prepared to treat whatever injuries may occur in all sports on campus. Around this time of the year, however, they treat more football players than players of any other sport.

“We see everything, from concussions [to] sprained knees, sprained ankles, hairline fractures, dislocations,” Mayes said. “We see it all in football.”

But suffering multiple head injuries can have an even more dire effect. According to the Brain Injury Research Institute, a player who has been concussed multiple times can eventually develop an illness known as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which is a progressive disease that gradually causes the brain to deteriorate.

CTE among football players is a relatively novel discovery, first diagnosed in professional football player Mike Webster by doctors Bennet Omalu and Julian Bailes in 2002. Since then, the illness has been found in numerous other NFL legends--including Andre Waters and Dave Duerson-through post-mortem studies of their brains.

As a matter of fact, a 2017 study conducted by researchers at Boston University found that CTE existed in 99% of the brains obtained from late NFL players, as well as in 91% percent of college football players and 21% of high school football players.

But young people today don’t seem bothered by these facts.

“At this level a lot of kids think that they’re okay once they receive a concussion,” Mayes said. “But… if we suspect or [a student athlete] shows any signs that he may be concussed....we [are required to] pull them from the activity and they have to be evaluated by doctors.”

Junior varsity player Christopher Elekwa said he doesn’t like to think about the risks. “When you play,” Elekwa said, “you don’t even want to worry about [getting hurt] because… it disturbs you from doing what you are supposed to do.”

Hastings varsity football player Agbolahan “Michael” Owolabi agrees. “The coaches… coach us in a way [where] we shouldn’t be in a position to hurt ourselves,” Owolabi said. “I trust [them] and how they coach.”

The coaches and athletic trainers at school do take precautions to prevent severe damage or trauma in football players.

Mayes says players who show symptoms of being concussed must be pulled from playing and be examined. “They would have to sit out and be evaluated by a doctor before they can return to play, to be sure that they don’t suffer anything as far as post-trauma,” Mayes said.

“We treat a concussion like any other injury,” Lane added. “Until [the players] get well and they’re better, we don’t allow them to

Regardless of these safety measures, it is still important for athletes to count the cost before going into football. “They should really be informed about the health risks… because some people don’t find out… until it’s already happened to them,” Elekwa said. “Now it’s too late to reverse that. So I truly think that we should do a way, way better job.”

Mayes acknowledged that danger comes with all sports. “There’s a certain level of assumption of risks that you take [with any sport],” he said. “You know if you’re out here in football, and you got a helmet, you got shoulder pads and you’re running into each other tackling and blocking… there’s a possibility that you may sustain an injury. So basically, it [depends] on them.”

“I’m never really that worried about being hurt,” Owolabi said. “My mom always tells me to play smart, not hard… if you know you are going to get seriously injured from this, don’t do it. Because your life isn’t worth an amazing play. Your whole football career is not worth that tackle that you get in the backfield. You’ve got to think about your future while being in the present.”

Overall, football is an enjoyable sport for millions of students across America, but more of them must grasp the risks that come with devoting themselves to the game. There needs to be greater awareness across the sport for those going into it.

In the end, it just depends on how much one is willing to risk to do what they enjoy.

As Elekwa said, football requires faith. “Everything I do, I do it with God,” he said. “When I’m playing football, I don’t really think about the bad side of it because I know that if I play with God, God has me all the way.”