Field or Colosseum?

The dangers of playing football are becoming clear and affecting the future of the game.

High school quarterback, Evan Murray, died after being injured during the game, making him the third high school football player in the U.S to die this season. Concerns over football-related injuries are spreading nationwide.

CBS News reports that, across the nation, the number of high school students playing football has dropped by more than 25,000 over the past five years. The decrease in participation can best be explained by the increased awareness of the sport’s dangerous environment.

The most evident danger within the world of football is concussions. While brain injury is a prominent concern across all levels of play, concussions are especially dangerous among high school athletes because the brain is still in the process of developing. Other sports, including ice hockey and soccer, also pose threats of brain injury, however, football poses the greatest threat as 47% of all reported sports-related concussions come from high school football injuries.

To read more about the role concussions play in high school football go to https://www.earq.com/blog/the-silent-danger-of-high-school-football

Although brain injuries appear to be the biggest concern in football, it is far from the only concern. New Jersey quarterback, Evan Murray’s autopsy revealed that he did not suffer from any head trauma at all. The autopsy revealed that Murray’s cause of death was intra-abdominal hemorrhage as a result of a lacerated spleen. Murray died after taking a hard hit, during the teams third game of the season.

Several days after Murray’s untimely death, Maplewood Richmond Heights High School in Missouri cancelled their football program. The school’s decision followed many others schools that have also removed football as a result of safety concerns.

As safety concerns increase and youth participation decreases in the field of football, the future of the sport is put into question. The fate of college and professional football may be approaching an inevitable downfall as knowledge on player safety rises.