We note an obvious point on our personal injury website at Tabor Law in
Indianapolis. And that is
traumatic brain injuries can be caused by another party’s negligence
in wide-ranging matters. Those span
vehicle accidents and medical malpractice cases to birth injuries and slip/fall incidents.
Increasingly, it’s becoming hard to leave football out of the discussion.
Well-known TV announcer Bob Costas doesn’t. Costas made a direct and
scary point at a forum recently, stating that playing football “destroys
people’s brains.”
Of course, football is enormously popular across the country, from the
high school level to the pros playing in the NFL. And leaders in the sport,
as Costas notes, are trying to make the game safer.
They can’t, he says, and many others echo his point.
“The more information that comes out, the worse it looks,” Costas says.
Those who are involved with football — everyone from trainers and coaches
to school administrators and professional owners — know that
huge numbers of players suffer serious head injuries. High-impact hits and whiplash effects regularly result in concussions
and send participants to hospitals.
And the evidence is growing that football-related head injuries are leaving
many players with lasting mental impairments later in life.
For many, it is almost unthinkable that football might someday be reduced
drastically in popularity because it is simply too dangerous to play.
The risks are clearly there, though, with sad results seen time and again.
And with those risks comes increased liability for some parties.
Football, says Costas, “could collapse like a house of cards if people
actually begin connecting the dots” between head hits and serious
brain injury.
