Violence in Sports: American Football

Violence in sports may be described as vicious acts that occur regularly on the field and are frequently accidental. Such attempts, on the other hand, can be intentional attempts to kill a coach or another player, and they can involve physical attacks. Many athletes engage in violent and abusive acts toward their teammates, children, and spouses, according to media reports. According to one study, men who participate in sports exhibit aggressive attitudes. Sexual attacks, physical battles, and bullying are examples of such behaviors; such athletes have a much more positive outlook toward abuse than non-athletes. Due to such an attitude towards violence, most athletes engage in violence that sometimes leads to physical injury or mental injury. The central thesis of this research paper is that Football Players come from a culture in which violence is witnessed through hard hits and injuries; therefore, they are more susceptible to engaging in violent behavior or face chronic health risks.

Sports injuries can be treated by less participation in sports to allow enough time to heal, however, some injuries can cause a substantial or physical and mental burden. Some athletes can get serious mental health issues such as depression and anxiety due to their psychological response towards the injury. Many players are experiencing dementia due to repeated blows that take place in the head after violence in the field. Dave Duerson who suffered from this committed suicide after his retirement in NFL due to depression. Violence is prevalent in players, and they are found to be highly prone to criminality. Physical negative effects of football are that a player is exposed to neurological risks and high risks of joints and ligaments which can be injured during the game. Also as a footballer ages, he experiences a lot of difficulties with their elbow joints, hips, and knees. The players are also at high risk of inflexibility and movement as they grow older.

Football is important in American culture because it provides unity and brings people together. Football in the United States has been violent and disorganized in past years, and it was played mostly by men than women. It then gradually became more formalized and even became more popular, and many people participate. American culture, however, values human life than the game, and they find it dangerous to human. They consider sport a barbaric sport due to regular hard hits which can cause an injury to the player. Most Americans, therefore, do not support or engage in the game. People who play football are seen to be rough; they also believe that players are more exposed to high mental illness which can even be permanent and some being life-threating. Football culture is though so influential to society as a whole, through football people can make friends, more violent and they can make finances since it is so attractive and high-paced games (Ryan 5).

The culture does not tolerate it because of the perception of the footballers as immoral; some players can be paid by their team owners to cause hurts to their opponents. Football is viewed to be rough than rugby since it involves violent acts. Football is an aggressive game and therefore making people play to be a great fan of fighting since points are scored by taking hits for the group. If a team as to win they should score more points than their opponents, by using their skills by violence. Through this football acts, football and war can be mutually energizing relation with each other since both involve the use of the same tactics.

American football is not widely embraced, but it still attracts a significant global audience, many Americans find football to be fun. Football violent hits are captivating to many spectators, and this has given them the energy to support their team. Throughout the play players experience a lot of injuries and also sometimes violence erupts between players or their coaches and teamers or among the spectators. Some of the injuries experienced can be so brutal, and it can cause trauma to people who are weak of the heart (Reuters 12). Also, the frequent disagreements in the field can cause frequent blows that can easily cause psychological problems to players who are weak of heart.

American football players have a high risk of suffering from long-term health risks. Research shows that many American players were diagnosed with brain damage many were the national football league athletes. Many of them suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) this is a term of brain-damaged which transpires after several blows in the head and tackles when playing. CTE is associated with depression, loss of memory and dementia and currently, it is commonly experienced in football. Sometimes CTE cannot be experienced immediately but can manifest itself years later or even a decade after an injury to the brain. An accurate diagnosis of CTE can only be made after death, most of the footballers are however prone to this health problem. Most footballers suffer mental health and anxiety problem, and it has been a great challenge facing footballers currently (Shanon 6).

Depression can also be experienced after the athlete has retired they suffer from depression because they find it difficult to cope with change in life since they get away from a public life of being seen as heroes and the fascinating lives they live. Through struggle to maintain the team performance, a footballer can also get a hard time especially when a team is facing challenges of performance. This depression has made many footballers indulge in taking drugs and alcohol. Most footballers are also at high risk of being paralyzed by hard tackles they get in the field. Since football is a violent game tackles and tricks used can cause make someone paralyzed, this is because the injury caused might be a brutal one and can take longer to heal (Dan 36). The tackle might also cause permanent injury that can make the part affected not to function again. Australian NRL player Alex McKinnon 22 years, was injured in a tackle and left his leg broken and he might never walk again according to the doctor.

Most of NFL players have violent behaviors, this behavior is learned through the rough and hard skills they are using in the field. They get regularly arrested because of domestic violence, most of the football players are known to abuse their partners (Reuters 16). This abuse in marriage has led to breakage in unions; this is driven by the player’s aggressive behaviors. The clashing personalities that the players get are acquired from the violent nature of football which is an aggressive game. Therefore the players adopt various characters which make them cause chaos in their homes or even in other places such as clubs. Due to their hyper activeness footballers find themselves bored when they are not busy in the field, this can drive them to engage in activities which can result in negative consequences such as fights and gambling.

Most of the American parents are against their children engaging in football; they prefer other sports because they believe that the football game is violent. They believe that football can expose their children to many health risks such as depression and concussions, more so many parents value education in their children’s lives than football. Most of the American parents, however, believe that such games as football are important for their children health and academics but it should not endanger their children’s health. Since the new generation is being discouraged from engaging in football activities, then the participation in a football game will significantly decrease.

Conclusion

Since football is a violent game many players tend to experience regular negative health effects, some can even experience long-term health effects. Injuries are commonly experienced in sports participation, and sometimes it cannot be avoided. Some injuries can be easily managed while others take too long to heal. Despite this, football is a great talent that a person has, and therefore most men who have started practicing the game do not care about the dangers of football. The urge to become heroes and living a public life drives them to participate in the game despite the dangers they might get. Football, however, is a good game that helps in keeping the body physically fit and assist one to be active, it also a good game for leisure activities.

• Useful info: Our academic writing services is trusted by majority of students

Works Cited

Dan, D. ‘‘Does Playing Football Make You Violent? Examining the Evidence.’’ Journal of Pharmacy and Healthcare. 2014. 34-36.

Reuters, A. ‘‘American football study finds evidence of brain injury in living NFL veterans.’’ American Football. 2016. 1-21.

Ryan, B. ‘‘Barbaric nature of football is troubling.’’ Globe Correspondent. 2014. 2-7.

Shanon, H. ‘‘Bad for Your Brain: CTE Reports, Concussions Deter Parents From Youth Football.’’ American Journal of Football. 2012. 6