Brain injuries have become one of several threats to the future of football at all levels. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and several other football conferences face ongoing lawsuits over the concussion issue. While the governing bodies claim to prioritize player safety, apparel companies, and players themselves are among those trying to find tangible solutions.

Concussions and other types of play-related traumatic brain injuries have been proposed as a major cause of player suicides and other symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  For example, formal NFL star and Hall of Fame football player Junior Seau.   Seau committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the chest in 2012 at the age of 43. Later, studies by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that Seau suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a type of chronic brain damage that has been found in other deceased former NFL players. Seau isn’t the only player to have suffered CTE; there are many documentaries and the motion picture “Concussion” releasing on Christmas 2015 about the issue and how the NFL is dealing with the issue of brain injuries in football.

Concussions are no joke, all levels of football are doing everything they can to help prevent these serious brain injuries. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated in a room packed with students and professors at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Changing the culture in a way that reduces the injury risk to the maximum possible extent — especially the risk of head injury,” he said. “We want players to enjoy long and prosperous careers and healthy lives off the field. So we focus relentlessly on player health and safety, while also keeping the game fun and unpredictable.” New rules are coming into play for the protection of player’s heads, new heads up tackling drills, and all kinds of new and improved helmets. There will always be a danger of concussions in football, but hopefully it will lower as science develops and new technology comes out to help prevent the issue.