The effect of concussions in professional sports with a focus on the National Football League: a meta-analysis

Abstract

This study reviews what concussions are, how they affect the brain, and how professional sports, specifically the NFL, put athletes at risk of obtaining traumatic brain injuries. To find this the reasoning behind why concussions are more prevalent in the NFL and the different ways a concussion could happen during different plays to specific positions are examined as well. The long-term effects that concussions have on athletes is permanent and life-threatening, as athletes are getting stronger and faster each year, concussions have been on an upward trend. Revealing the social and physical effects of concussions on professional athletes is a needed meta-analysis that has not been done, there are a lot of studies about concussions in the NFL that reveal different information. By researching this topic and bringing similar data and information from published studies together, there is a stronger report that reveals the truth. This study opens a light to the dangers of football, and sports in general, and provokes a change in the professional sporting policies.