The NFL Must Rise up to CTE Challenge
By Nafisa H
Get ready for the CTE Challenge!
The Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS has taken the nation by storm and raised millions of dollars for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Among those that participated were numerous NFL players, coaches, and even commissioner Roger Goodell. They were eager to participate in the challenge and donate to a cause that would help people who have ALS, including former NFL players that they are close with.
Now it’s time for the NFL to rise up and complete another challenge for a disease that has been diagnosed in former NFL players, such as Junior Seau, Chris Henry, and Dave Duerson: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a rare degenerative disease caused by damage from the cumulative effects of repetitive blows to the head, meaning that this disease can affect anyone with a history of head trauma; not just athletes. The brain cells of patients with CTE are damaged and die over many years.The symptoms of CTE are similar to Alzheimer’s and ALS. In fact, since CTE can only be definitively diagnosed during an autopsy, many cases of CTE have been misdiagnosed as ALS. While there have been advances in the research done on CTE and researchers are closer to being able to diagnose CTE in live patients, there is still a lot more that needs to be done in order for CTE to be treated and prevented.
Therefore, I challenge the entire NFL community to the CTE Challenge: Egg Selfies for CTE. That includes commissioner Roger Goodell, players, coaches, athletic trainers, and most importantly NFL fans. The CTE Challenge is very simple and doesn’t waste any resources.
“Since CTE can affect anybody with a history of head trauma and has even been found in people as young as teenagers, we need to raise awareness and funds for CTE research so researchers can find a way to prevent and treat it.”
Each week, we cheer on our favorite teams, hoping that they reach (and win) the Super Bowl. We love the excitement of the game stemming in part from the physicality of the sport; yet, we also find ourselves becoming silent and saying a prayer when a player suffers a blow to the head, leaving them laying on the field for a few minutes and sidelined for weeks afterwards. Even when the player is medically cleared for action afterwards, the effects of the concussion linger.
As fans of the NFL, we need to do our part to help our favorite players by supporting research that can help diagnose the cause of their symptoms. And as members of the NFL, players and coaches should help raise awareness of diseases like CTE to fans so we can better understand what is going on beyond the field. More importantly, we need to educate people that this disease does not just affect athletes. It can affect you if you’ve been in a car or motorcycle accident. It can affect you if you’ve have a heavy object fall on your head. It can affect you if you’ve had a seizure and hit your head (or even if you’ve fainted and hit your head). My point is, since CTE can affect anybody with a history of head trauma and has even been found in people as young as teenagers, we need to raise awareness and funds for CTE research so researchers can find a way to prevent and treat it. The NFL should take advantage of their large fanbase and educate their fans. So, grab an egg and get creative for the CTE Challenge!
What do you think of the CTE Challenge?