Concussions are one of the worst bodily injuries you can sustain. They make you feel woozy, they make you want to lay down and sleep for a few days. You start to forget very simple things. Things such as where you live or the car you drive. I have had three concussions in my lifetime, two while playing football I understand what it is like and why the NFL should be taking extra precautions so people can avoid suffering a concussion.

Concussions are sort of a controversial topic right now. Some people believe that the NFL should be shut down because of the risks of bodily injury. Some believe that the players should have to sign wavers saying that the NFL will not be responsible for any injury that may happen to them during the course of the game. The NFL has already tried this. In the first game of the 2012-2013 football season, Jason Witten, a popular tight end for the Dallas Cowboys, was asked to sign one of these wavers. He refused.

The league is now trying to reduce the number of concussions by inducing penalties in the case of head-to-head hits, resulting in a fifteen-yard penalty. This still isn’t enough. Defensive players, especially safeties, are running head first into whoever they are trying to tackle, using the top of their helmet as a weapon. They are still not doing enough for the safety of the players and the safety of the game.

Because of lawsuits filed against the NFL recently by former players, the league is now suspending and fining players who deliver constant blows to the head. The total number of people filing a lawsuit are 3,356, 2,138 being former players. After this ridiculous amount of lawsuits, the NFL is now suspending and fining players for giving someone a concussion.

There was a study in 2000 that surveyed 1,090 former NFL players and it found that more than 60 percent have suffered at least one concussion throughout the course of their career, and 26 percent have suffered three or more. A 2007 study conducted by UNC’s center for the Study of Retired Athletes found that of the 595 retired NFL players who recalled having three or more concussions, 20.2 percent are found to have depression.

I believe that the NFL should make the player who delivered the blow sit out as many games as the player who got injured in the collision, along with a fine. Another idea would be to maybe fine them more. When the NFL fines the players, they are not taking into consideration that most of the players are payed millions of dollars a year. I think the fines should be changed according to the severity of the injury and by the player’s annual salary.

Football is my favorite sport, so I wish that they would be more careful on the field before injuries get too extreme and the sport is shut down. I know that no one is saying anything about shutting the NFL down, but in the future that may be a possibility if they don’t take the necessary precautions.