http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/23/sport/nfl-seau-lawsuit/index.html?htp=us_mid
-Junior Seau is a former NFL linebacker who committed suicide last year. When his family claimed that the reason behind this suicide was brain disease, he was examined and the cause was found to be chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This disease is caused by repeated blows to the head and its symptoms are depression, withdrawal, and forgetfullness. In turn, Seau's family filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Riddell (helmet maker) who are "confident in the integrity of our products and our ability to successfully defend our products against challenges."
-As a football player, I find the fact that Seau's family filed a lawsuit on the NFL completely ridiculous. I don't like the NFL (the business, not the games) and what they stand for: greed, but these players are taking a risk every single time that they step onto the field. If they are truly concerned about themselves, then they should quit football. As a linebacker, Seau made a choice every time he lowered his helmet and collided with the running back. If he had a concussion or head injury in his career (which he said he didn't) then he could have sat out. Junior got paid to do what he did and when he accepted that money, he accepted the consequences that came with it. I DO believe though, that a) the NFL needs to start giving better medical insurance to retired players in the case of injury, and b) college and high school football players need to start receiving better education upon brain injuries and the risks that they are imposing upon themselves.
-What do you think? Is the NFL wrong and do serious changes need to be made? Or are the players at fault for playing football despite the risk that comes with it?
good job. remember to break up the text by spacing and paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI originally had spacing and indentation, but when I copied and pasted it into this text box my whole thing got messed up.
DeleteI agree and disagree. I agree that football players are taking a huge risk every time they step onto the field and that they should be aware of what can happen to them. I also agree that the NFL should start doing a little more for retired players, the money is certainly there. I don't agree that it was completely ridiculous for the family to file a lawsuit against the helmet company. They just lost a family member and the helmets were supposed to be able to withstand a challenge, a challenge such as protecting the heads and brains of players.
ReplyDeleteI just looked up the warnings that they put on the back of the football helmets. At the bottom in bold letters it says "No helmet can prevent all such injuries. You use this helmet at your own risk." The warning label is there so how do they plan on winning the lawsuit? This is a picture of a Riddell football helmet.
Deletehttp://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/50611767-warning-label-fr-riddell-football-helmet-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=OCUJ5gVf7YdJQI2Xhkc2QO5hseZ9TrcEXJ8%2FiFmRRN9eK%2BxYPfkst5OjfJ8P6xbNBUW6tBnJysvyDDTFlzzQdaMJbcCzMxaZU5sB2uMgVBc%3D