This was published 4 years ago
American football players concerned by alarming head injury research
By James Buckley
Before joining Rice University as a prodigious running back in 2015, Nahshon Ellerbe was asked to give his opinion on the rising number of head injuries in American football. "You prepare for the worst and pray for the best," he said.
In the two-and-a-half years since giving that interview, Ellerbe's career has skyrocketed to the point that he will assume running back duties against college powerhouse Stanford on Sunday at Allianz Stadium.
During that time, the issue of concussion and subsequent brain damage caused by American football has also grown, with the degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the centre of most research.
One recent study examined the donated brains of 111 NFL players who were active in the sport for an average of 15 years. CTE was diagnosed in 110 of those cases, and in 27 per cent of instances for those who suffered stage one or two CTE, the cause of death was suicide.
Rice's Nahshon Ellerbe: "There's obviously some things about the game that are dangerous."Credit:Nick Moir
Repeated concussions contribute to the development of CTE, with memory loss, severe mood swings and deficient attention spans among the symptoms.
"There's obviously some things about the game that are dangerous – everyone who straps up a helmet and plays the game is aware of that," Ellerbe, 20, said.
"We know the risk that comes with playing football, but we just love the game. The research has shown there are more cases of people being completely fine, people having their short-term memory, not having that erosive, damaging effect.
"The advancements we're making in technology with the new helmets, they are yielding a good result. There is a risk and people are aware of it, but the game of football's going to be around for a long time because people love it so much."
Rice Owls take part in a training session at the David Phillips Sports Complex in Daceyville.Credit:Kate Geraghty
Former Australian NFL player Colin Scotts announced earlier this year that he would donate his brain to science, prompted partly by Sia Soliola's high shot on Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater in round 20.
Slater's memory was severely impacted from the hit and Melbourne doctor Jason Chan suggested the incident could wipe two weeks off his life.
Parents in America sign a form before admitting their children to a college football program, which outlines the potential of suffering a head injury.
"I talked to my Mum when I first signed with Rice, she had to sign the concussion form and she got really upset and worried about me as a player," Rice quarterback Sam Glaesmann said.
"It's like when you have a surgery, they're going to tell you the worst things that could happen from that surgery if things were to go wrong.
"It definitely is a concern throughout all of football, every individual will say so themselves but there's definitely people you go and talk to and football's everything they have. Whether they want to put there body in the way of that kind of harm is up to them," he said.
"The way the game's changing, people are getting bigger, faster, stronger so you're going to find people getting more concussions and so forth. It definitely worries every athlete."