"Football's Concussion Problem, in 3 Terrifying Pictures" - Written on Oct. 8th, 2013

I read the Mother Jones article written from Matt Connolly titled, “Football’s Concussion Problem, in 3 Terrifying Pictures”.  The article begins by showing three images of brain tissue provided by the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.   The purpose was to highlight the damages that occur to the brain upon a traumatic head injury, namely due to concussions.  The images compare the brain tissue of a normal/health brain, the tissue of a former football player and lastly an image of the tissue of a former boxer.   The images were a bit shocking as you can see the images of the football player and boxer having an excessive amount of “tau”, or as the article states, “… a protein that strangles brain cells and degenerates brain tissue” which occurs due to  repetitive damage to the brain.  The author touches on a recent PBS Frontline episode which discusses the NFL’s position on the on-going concussions within the sport of football and if the NFL should be held accountable due to hiding certain facts around the long term impact two players who incurred numerous concussions.  Long term brain damage can represent itself through a number of ways including depression, mood swings, aggression along with possible Dementia and Alzheimers to name a few.    I believe the majority of the article provides value claims beginning with the title, using expressive language in “Terrifying Pictures” and in implying that the NFL’s avoidance of this issue by withholding medical statistics/studies is wrong.  It was not outright stated however believe the entire article is based around a policy claim that the NFL, along with a number of other sports (both as a child through adult) must focus more on the long term damage to players and something needs to change.