Concussions: A Crash Course

By John Butler

Great players in any sport separate themselves from the rest with their ability to play smart. Knowledge of the game and its inner workings allows the greats to outsmart the game plan intended to halt their success. The upper echelon of athletes relies on their brain just as much as their brawn. So what is a prolific athlete to do when concussions begin to take a toll on his career?

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins is in what should be the prime of his career. At age 24, he has already accomplished a career’s worth of achievements, which includes an NHL MVP trophy and an Olympic Gold Medal. His NHL future now lies in jeopardy because he has suffered a series of concussions. Now the player who led the NHL is goals scored for 2010 has only seen the ice in eight of his team’s 60 games this season. Not only are the side effects of the injury affecting his yearly statistics, but his place in NHL history as well.

Crosby isn’t the first hockey player whose career has been threatened by long lasting concussion symptoms. Eric Lindros, Marc Savard and Chris Pronger are just a handful of players whose careers have been drastically altered because of the side effects of concussions experienced on the ice. Due to the nature of the game we have become accustomed to hockey players coping with this type of injury. However, it is becoming more common in other sports like never before. The number of concussions in the NFL went up 21 percent from 2009 to 2010. That number continues to rise. Even the NBA, the least physical of professional contact sports, gets its share of head injuries. Rookie of the Year candidate Kyrie Irving recently returned to the court after suffering a concussion in early February. Like Sidney Crosby, Kyrie Irving’s Cleveland Cavaliers depend on him to be a long term leader of the franchise. For these two players and so many others, the threat of concussions places the roll of “franchise player” in jeopardy every night.

Improvements have been made to equipment that is meant to keep professional athletes out of harms way. Rules have been implemented to ensure the safety of players when they appear to be defenseless against a crushing blow. The NFL has gone as far as hiring independent doctors to monitor players who experience head trauma during the game. Despite these strides to improve, very little has changed as a result.

Quite frankly, players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. Nothing positive can occur to the human body when you have athletes with such great physical strength attacking each other on a nightly basis. There has never been an NFL running back with the size and speed of Brandon Jacobs. Trouble always lies ahead when he meets a middle linebacker head on in the open field. As talented as Michael Jordan was, he would never imagine running over opposing players with the brute strength of LeBron James. Now LeBron does it to literally anyone who gets in his way.

As much as we want to protect the players who are putting their mental health at risk on a nightly basis, everyone loves the hard hitting, bone crushing appeal that is professional sports. On one hand we create a villain out of a player whose style puts his fellow athletes at risk of brain injuries. However, we turn around and admonish a player who appears scared to hurt someone. Let’s face it, athletes today are too strong to endure intense physical contact and walk away unharmed every time. Until we as fans are willing to trade in hard hits for love taps, concussions will jeopardize the careers of Sidney Crosby and many athletes in the years to come.