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Sports & Football

The concept of sports athletes as heroes and role models has been around for decades, but never so much as nowadays.  Children grow up wanting to be sports stars, people want that level of talent & celebrity that comes with it.  Take Kiehl Frazier for example - a football player recruited from a young age and even has a sports promoter. The pressure on the athletes to continue to perform at heroic levels is ridiculous.  Kiehl spent all of his time focusing on football instead of being a kid, and yet he didn't even make it into the NFL.

The rules of sports are designed to be clear & coherent, so that they are easy to understand.  While football has rules for how players can act on the field, what about when they become injured?  Or when athletes are pushed to limits beyond what is healthy?  While rules for conduct exist, few rules are in place to avoid injuries such as concussions and when a player should be taken out of a game, regardless of the score.  Student athletes, especially, are prone to injuries because of their growing & changing bodies.  Garrett Harper, a football player in Texas, was sent back to keep playing after sustaining a concussion.  Concussions, along with many other head impacts, can lead to a condition called CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy.  This condition can affect a player for the rest of their life; impairing memory, constant headaches, and potentially lead to mental illness.

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