The National Football League recently produced a poster to alert players of the dangers associated with head injury and concussions, namely depression and the early onset of dementia. Though the health risks associated with head trauma are not new to players or spectators of the physically taxing sport, it does represent a departure from the NFL’s previous stance, which dismissed the potential long-term effects of “one or two concussions.”
More information about the long-term health risks associated with concussions is a step in the right direction and it could improve the approach to health coverage and care for active and retired football players. With African-Americans comprising more than half of all NFL players, the increased risk of head trauma should be of particular concern given the host of health disparities that undermine access to quality physical and mental health services for blacks. Unequal access to preventative health care and education have elevated the importance of ensuring the creation of culturally competent messages that educate players, coaches, and institutions on the potential dangers associated with repeated head injury.
Speaking of education, health care and risk of concussions are not the only areas in which African-Americans are disproportionately negatively impacted by the sport. Research conducted by the Institute for Diversity and Ethnics in Sport and the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics have found that among College Bowl-bound football teams, 32 percent graduate less than half of their African-American players.
There are many reasons for this disparity, among them the reality that intercollegiate sports, especially basketball and football, have become a lucrative business for academic institutions, where student-athletes are often required to prioritize the fulfillment of their athletic commitments over their academic pursuits. In 2008, for example, the total median revenue for NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Division was over $53 million. That’s a heck of an incentive to risk head injury, but it shouldn’t supersede athlete health and safety.
Together, the increased risk of depression and dementia coupled with the failure of many student athletes to graduate with a college degree present a dismal forecast on the futures of many African-American student athletes. However, the story doesn’t have to end this way.
Ultimately, football should be fun and as safe as possible. When possible, it can also serve as a lucrative career. Risk of injury, however, shouldn’t be more pronounced among certain players—because of complex inequalities in healthcare and education—than it is to others.
Educating every player—as the NFL has sought to do with these new posters and pamphlets—is key to improving the accountability measures that will protect all student and professional athletes from unnecessary harm.
Collegiate and high school athletic programs should follow suit and provide student athletes, and their families, with the tools they need to succeed in school and receive proper health education and care, without discrimination and in accordance with their human and civil rights.
