I can only imagine what it’s like to be a football player and getting hit by trucks during the week, practice, and games. Being a football player has its perks, but is it worth getting run over? The Westside Varsity Football Team has been defeated many of times, but they always come back even stronger and ready to play. Many of the football players get discouraged because of the lack of support from their fellow peers at school.  As a student attending Westside, I find myself rarely attending any of the football games and a lot of the players are my friends. The football players need our support which will prompt them to play harder so they can win. If you played a sport wouldn’t you want your friends to come, support, and see you play?

The varsity football team practice non-stop on and off the field in season and off season. They have many classroom sessions where they constantly go over better plays and figure out the best ones to use during a game. As a journalist, I interviewed a varsity football player, Isaiah Barros, to get incite on his Life as a Football Player. I asked him a series of questions about how he felt playing football. I asked him was he aware of the consequences after getting hit so many times and he replied, “A lot of us are working hard towards a goal and scholarships to play in college. You have to be the best of the best, so I don’t really focus on that, just the end result because I love playing football and I don’t see myself doing anything else.” These young men are determined to play football and be successful at it and hopefully going on to the NFL. Most of them will do what it takes to be able to do what they love all the time even if it means suffering a concussion.

A study from the Institute of Medicine, which was funded by the NFL, found that high school football players had the highest average number of reported symptoms of concussion, followed by college athletes, and younger players. They found that more than 1,400 sports-related concussions were reported among youth, high school and college football players from the years 2012 to 2014. The most common symptoms reported were headache, dizziness, and difficulty concentrating.  According to a new report, it “remains unclear” as to whether repetitive head injuries can lead to long-term brain disease. The evidence found, states that football player injuries are as real as any other injury or concussion and they do leave possible side effects later on in life. Injuries or concussions can happen at any time which could possibly determine whether or not a young man plays again.

Injuries are part of the game. You never know when, or to whom, they will happen. Every time our Wolves take the field, they are putting their futures at risk. Our Westside football players need all of our support and I encourage you to join me in bringing awareness of football injuries, and come to a game! Go Wolves!