Blog #5

In my research paper I used 4 different experts as resources for my research. My topic is very controversial and I do not want to turn my paper biased, although I am stating my own personal opinion I also want to show both sides of the argument. My first 2 experts are brothers Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru and they wrote the award winning book NFL: A league of Denial. Mark and Steve are both ESPN investigative journalists they have wrote multiple award winning books on sports of all kinds but they consider  NFL: A league of Denial their “Claim to fame”.  Both brothers have been a part of the sport since they were kids which in my topic are all you need to be an expert: experience. These two are the most reliable because together they have been investigating the evolution of the NFL for over 20 years; this makes the information in their book the most relevant available for my research.

 

The Fainaru brothers believe that throughout the evolution of the sport of football the NFL has been covering up evidence showing that football causes brain damage. This is relevant to my topic because without technology these findings would not be possible, in the book they explain how modern medicine and the evolution of the sport into a profitable organization is responsible for this ongoing investigation. What I understand as a player and a researcher is yes, football is dangerous, but I do not think changing the way the game is played is the right solution. If we keep changing the sport taking out the physicality that grew this sport in the first place we are going to lose fans, and with no fans there is no NFL, period.

The next expert I used is Reed Chacksfield a veteran player as well as a veteran coach. He graduated from Sycamore High School and went to play football at Georgetown College, upon graduating he knew the passion he had for football remained so he became a teacher and a coach. Over the past 40 years that he has dedicated to football he has come away with nearly 300 wins and state championships as well. He is a unique source because he has seen the sport change first hand over the years which is why he is one of the most reliable sources. Chacksfield has a lifetime of experience and has contributed his own accounts from his past years as a player and a coach as well as his personal opinions and beliefs on this controversial topic.

 

Technology has changed every aspect of football not just on the field but also off so the next source in this paper is Andy Star who served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Buffalo Bills from 1989-1995. Coach Star is also a firsthand account but on how technology has changed the sport off the field; he has seen how football programs have developed from a storage closet sized weight rooms into 37,000 square foot, multi-million dollar facilities. As a strength coach you are completely responsible for a player’s health, nutrition and well-being when an athlete is out of season so his experience also includes the medical and player safety side of the sport. Coach star grew up playing football in the early 80’s and went on to play Division 1 football at the University of Cincinnati starting at defensive line for 4 straight years luckily, without any of the major injury’s that were so common back then. He has been a part of the sport for the almost 40 years and has given his personal accounts on how he believes the game has changed on and off the field specifically how modern medicine and sports therapy has developed the sport. His experience makes him a reliable source as well as a relevant source to my research because I do not have to go search the internet for all of my facts and research on websites that could be reliable I have 2 resources that lived through the old age of football and are more than willing to help me with my paper.

As a researcher, reader, writer, and time manager I have not had many problems except for the struggle of keeping my topic not biased towards going against the book I read. I have a passion for football and it is hard for me to write about things that I do not agree with. When it comes to time management I was smart enough to start my paper early so I have been slightly ahead of the game since the start of research. As a reader as much as it bothers me to read the personal opinions of people I do not agree with the book is filled with countless information, facts, and history that is very important to my topic.

Blog #4

Blog #4 due: Post a video or audio piece in your blog. Include a summary, review of the credibility of the source, and explanation of the relevance of the video or audio to your topic.

 

 

 

This video was made by the NFL and through creativity and modern technology they have shown the evolution of the sport of football since it was first plays, and it is all packed into a single play of football. This video is very interesting to me because it shows how much football has actually changed and it does it in under a minute. This source is credible because it was made by the NFL, the corporation who I am focusing my entire capstone project on. This is relevant to my topic because in this video You can find countless changes as the runner gets closer and closer to the endzone and in my paper every one of them is analyzed and explained in terms of how technology is responsible. I am explaining why technology is responsible for this and also how these changes have led the sport to be the most popular in America. In my paper I will show how it is responsible things such as  the equipment changes, the obvious rule changes, the change in strategy and  the field of play, and most of all the stadium and crowd size cheering on the runner all the way to the endzone. You can find countless changes as the runner gets closer and closer to the endzone and in my paper every one of them is analyzed and explained in terms of how technology is responsible.

Blog #3

I am reading a book called NFL: A league of Denial and it takes you through football history while attempting to expose the NFL by claiming that they have been covering up evidence that their players have had severe injury's specifically to the head and that they have done nothing to prevent it. In the book they uncover this evidence while imposing their own view of how the game should be played and governed in modern day.

 The general argument made by Author's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru is that the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, sought to cover up and deny mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage. They write "Everyone knew that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know – and what the league sought to shield from them – is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football; that the very essence of the game could be exposing these players to brain damage". In this passage the Fainaru brothers are suggesting that no padding can protect players, in order to stop these injurys the NFL must restrict players from eccessive contact.In conclusion the Fainaru Brothers belief is that the NFL should institute rules that penalize, and fine players who excessively hit or block another player.

  In my view there is no way for me to disprove their reseach because what they found is true, football is dangerous. Wait a second, Didn't already know that? Football has been dangerous since the day the pioneers of the sport first stepped on a gridiron!  That is what brought this sport to become the most popular in America. What I think they are completely wrong about and I disagree with is the fact that they want to change the way the game must be played, which is rediculous, hundreds of players have stepped up and said they know what the signed up for. For example, Ray Rice, a veteran running back in this league who is gets pounded nearly every play of his career said " every player since day one has been taught go into every play like its your last, because it just might be, thats what football means to a player and we should not penalize players due to these injury's. “This has been a game I’ve been playing my whole life man. I understand all the health precautions and everything that goes along with it, but you don’t play the game to be scared, but at the same time, you know the risk you’re taking by going out there and I’m one of the few, that I’m willing to go out there and take that risk because i know what i signed up for". More specifically I believe that football should be played the way the pioneers designed it to be, with of course modern equipment and technology added. Although the Fainaru brothers might object that this brute sport is not fit for a child to grow up playing I maintain that i wouldnt want my son to miss the sport of football for anything, Football is the sport that taught be to be tuff, responsible, coachable, it taught me to be a leader, how to work with others and most importantly it introduced me to a brotherhood bond that cannot be broken, i wouldnt even allow my son to miss out on that oppurtunity. Therefor I conclude that players should not take kindly to what the Fainaru brothers are saying in this book, they are starting an outrage that in my opinion this sport does not need and slowly but surely it is ruining the sport alot of us call our passion.


I determined that this is a relevant source to my topic because this book breaks down the NFL from the very start of the league and explains how the NFL is responsible for taking care of its players. The fact is that this book would not have been written if it wasnt for technology. Without modern technology these players injurys would not have been discovered, this outrage would have never been started. Modern medicine in the NFL is single handedly the biggest thing technology has developed and in doing so it has changed the game itself, its players, and our society indefinitely. I determined its relevance to my source when I saw a similar documentary that the Fainaru brothers had directed using examples from many veteran players and coaches, something i also wanted to put a big focurs on in my research paper

Blog #2

Some of the sub topics i am going to talk about in my project regarding technology advancement include:

1.) Medical advancement
2.) The evolution of Equipment used by players
3.) The sports science that has led to change in strategy and play in the NFL
4.) Rule Changes
5.) Player Conduct on and off the field

These subtopics will help answer my goal for this project which is has the advancement of technology been handled in the right way? I want my audience to come up with there own opinon on what they thnk are good things technology has brought to the NFL as well as the bad things.

The first peice of technology that I believe has made the biggest change in the NFL is the advancement of Medical treatment and recovery techniques used to treat hurt players. In the early years of the sport before modern equipment and rules of play torn ACL's, brain damage, and even in some cases broken bones meant that your body in the NFL had a slim to none chance of making a return. Now with modern medicine we have turned an injury that would take 2 to 3 years to heal, a lifetime for a professional athlete,  into something that a player could not only easily overcome, but in some cases come back stronger than when they left. The new average recovery time has been cut to a mere 9 months.Possibly the most famous example of  this success is Adrian Peterson. Peterson tore his ACL and MCL on December 24, 2011 against the Redskins. He had Arthroscopic surgery six days later. Peterson returned on September 9, 2012 and led the NFL in rushing yards coming up just short of the All-time single season rushing record in the NFL.


The next peice of technology that has changed not only the safety of the sport but the play as well has been the evolution of field turf throughout the majority of every football stadium in the country. It was first indtroduced by the Houston Oilers in 1966 with there first state of the art 125,000 square foot removable turf field. This was such a praised invention in the NFL because it requires little to no maintenence, it can be played on in any climate with no disadvantage to either team, and it provides a much safer surfce for players to tackle, slide, and fall on.


Another one of my questions I asked was how has technology led to the creation of New rules in the NFL? This is one of the most controversial topics the NFL has ever had to deal with, and the thing that drives this argument is and always will be concussions in the field of play. Before modern diagnosing techniques concussions were regaurded as headaches to players, it wasnt until the 70's and 80's when this became a real problem when players were showing symptoms of dementia in there late years. Through modern media the NFL has been forced to institute rules to prevent further injury. This is what is causing the most controversy between current players, veteran players, and fans of the sport. In my opinon I would say the changes in the rules since football became a powerhouse sport in America are completely rediculous and outrageous.

I talked to my defensive coordinator who has been apart of the sport of the football since the late 60's he played in college and has coached ever since. He believes that football should be played the way it was when he was a kid because "people think football is a game were kids just try to injure each other, it is more than that. Football teaches you commaraderie, it teaches you to be tough, teaches you responsibility, how to work as a team, and most importantly it shows you a bond that cannot be broken between a brothers, thats football." as Reed Chacksfield stated. He also believes that teams work together, sweat together and suffer together, "if one of your brother's goes down every one of his teamates should feel that pain and in return play even harder for his sake." When the rule changes were put in it completely changed the way teams were meant to bond together, it took the aggresiveness out of the sport, the "Killer instinct" as Chacksfield called it. That same "Killer instinct" is what brought this sport to be the most popular sport in America, i just hope these rules dont ruin the sport entirely.

 

This is the diagram i used to organize my main topic, my subtopic and my subquestions to help me stay organized and focused through my project.

Blog #1

The question I chose for my senior capstone project is how has technology changed the NFL? . I want my audience to understand how technology, media, and money lead to the advancement of  technology and how that has changed the sport since the first game was played nearly 100 years ago. I came up with this idea because whenever I watch a new age concussion prevention rule in the NFL effect the outcome of a game I get so angry I nearly throw my remote at my TV. I believe that football having a lot of hitting and contact between two teams is what brought this sport to be the greatest in this country, by not allowing players to play the game how it was originally played is a disgrace to all the veterans that stepped onto what is now fawcett field in Canton Ohio. I also believe that if players are willing to make millions of dollars instantly by signing there name on a contract there body's should be put to work on the field, and I assure you I'm not the only one who thinks this way. If the NFL wants to prevent concussions they should make better equipment not change how the game is played. This rant that I have wrote many English papers on and have done my research on as well as gained first hand experience as a football player is what caused me to choose this as my senior capstone topic. This is just what led me to my topic I am going to focus on technology as a whole, not just regaurding concussions. I will focus on the advancement of the field, the equipment, the changing of the rules, social media etc.