Football: Violence Begets Head Injuries

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             High school lends itself to be the continuation of football for many young patrons. Competition becomes a high demand, especially when playing rivals from across town, and violence grows just as the bodies of the young boys involved do. Mornings are given up to conditioning workouts and Friday nights become consumed by the sport. According to John Branch and Billy Witz of the New York Times, participation has dropped at Arlington High School in Riverside, California, as well as schools all over the states. In the case of the Lions football team, the death of one of their players has made a large impact. Sixteen year old Tyler Lewellen died early last season from a severe brain injury sustained during a scrimmage. While Lewellen's death has been described as an anomaly, his former teammates are struggling to recruit enough players due to fear. All states have protocol surrounding the issue of head injuries, but the concern continues to grow steadily. It is believed that increased awareness of the prevalence of concussions in contact sports has also contributed to the loss of participation among high school boys across the country. With the amount of injuries delivered on the school turf each week, it's a surprise things such as this do not occur more often. The likelihood of concussions in high school football can be assumed to have grown at least slightly from the added violence on the field, but this has never been proven. College marks the end of the road for many of football's loyal players. In these stadiums, players face off against fierce competition. Violence in these matches is only surpassed by the pons in the games of the NFL. While engaging in football at this level, some competition and teammates may end up being those that are paid pleasantly to duke it out in front of millions of spectators on Monday nights. According to Paul Myerberg of USA Today, a study conducted by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic has turned up new information regarding the link between permanent brain damage and contact sport.