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A penalty in ice hockey is a punishment for an infringement of the rules. Most penalties are enforced by sending the offending player to a penalty box for a set number of minutes. During the penalty the player may not participate in play. Penalties are called and enforced by the referee, or in some cases, the linesman. The offending team may not replace the player on the ice, leaving them short-handed as opposed to full strength. When the opposing team is said to be on a power play, they will have one more player on the ice than the short-handed team. The short-handed team is said to be "on the penalty kill" until the penalty expires and the penalized player returns to play. While standards vary somewhat between leagues, most leagues recognize several common varieties of penalties, as well as common infractions.
In basketball, a technical foul is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a non-player. The most common technical foul is for unsportsmanlike conduct. Technical fouls can be assessed against players, bench personnel, the entire team, or even the crowd. These fouls, and their penalties, are more serious than a personal foul, but not necessarily as serious as a flagrant foul.
Christopher John Nowinski is an American neuroscientist, author and retired professional wrestler. After extensively researching concussions in American football, Nowinski co-founded the Concussion Legacy Foundation, where he is currently CEO and co-founded Boston University's CTE Center. As a professional wrestler, he is best known for his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) under the ring name Chris Harvard and later under his real name.
In sports, an ejection is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending upon the sport, but common causes for ejection include unsportsmanlike conduct, violent acts against another participant that are beyond the sport's generally accepted standards for such acts, abuse against officials, violations of the sport's rules that the contest official deems to be egregious, or the use of an illegal substance to better a player's game. Most sports have provisions that allow players to be ejected, and many allow for the ejection of coaches, managers, or other non-playing personnel. In sports that use penalty cards, a red card is often used to signal dismissals. In some sports, another player is permitted to enter the game in place of the player who has been ejected, but in others the team is required to continue the game with a reduced number of players.
A football helmet is a type of protective headgear used mainly in gridiron football, although a structural variation has occasional use in Australian rules football. It consists of a hard plastic shell with thick padding on the inside, a face mask made of one or more plastic-coated metal bars, and a chinstrap. Each position has a different type of face mask to balance protection and visibility, and some players add polycarbonate visors to their helmets, which are used to protect their eyes from glare and impacts. Helmets are a requirement at all levels of organized football, except for non-tackle variations such as flag football. Although they are protective, players can and do still suffer head injuries such as concussions.
Health issues in American football comprise a large number of health risks associated with participating in the sport. Injuries are relatively common in American football, due to its nature as a full-contact game. Injuries occur during both practice and games. Several factors can affect the frequency of injuries: epidemiological studies have shown older players can be at a greater risk, while equipment and experienced coaches can reduce the risk of injury. Common injuries include strains, sprains, fractures, dislocations, and concussions. Concussions have become a concern, as they increase the risk of mental illnesses like dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In individual leagues like the National Football League (NFL) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a public injury report is published containing all injured players on a team, their injury and the game-day status of each player.
In basketball, a flagrant foul is a personal foul that involves excessive or violent contact that could injure the fouled player. A flagrant foul may be unintentional or purposeful; the latter type is also called an "intentional foul" in the National Basketball Association (NBA). However, not all intentional fouls are flagrant fouls, as it is an accepted strategy to intentionally commit a foul in order to regain possession of the ball while minimizing how much time elapses on the game clock.
Unsportsmanlike conduct is a foul or offense in many sports that violates the sport's generally accepted rules of sportsmanship and participant conduct. Examples include verbal abuse, taunting of an opponent or a game official, an excessive celebration following a significant play, or feigning injury. The official rules of many sports include a general provision whereby participants or an entire team may be penalized or otherwise sanctioned for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse over time and can result in dementia.
High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries. It is the level of tackle football that is played before college football.
Andre Maurice Waters was an American professional football player who was a safety for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 1995. Waters was regarded as one of the NFL's most aggressive players, serving as an integral part of one of the league's top defenses. On November 20, 2006, Waters died by suicide and was subsequently diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). He is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with CTE, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.
In gridiron football, roughing the passer is a foul in which a defensive player makes illegal contact with the quarterback after the latter has thrown a forward pass. The penalty is 10 or 15 yards, depending on the league, an automatic first down for the offense, and a disqualification if flagrant. Defenders are allowed to contact a player attempting a forward pass while he still has possession of the ball ; however, once the ball is released, defenders are not allowed to make contact with the quarterback unless carried to do so by momentum. Judgment over whether contact following release was the result of a violation or momentum is made by the referee on a case-by-case basis.
In gridiron football, a penalty is a sanction assessed against a team for a violation of the rules, called a foul. Officials initially signal penalties by tossing a bright yellow colored penalty flag onto the field toward or at the spot of a foul.
Revolution helmets are a line of football helmets produced by Riddell Sports Group. The helmet brand is the most popular model in use in the National Football League, used by 83% of the players in the league as of 2008. The most recent model in the Revolution line is the Speedflex helmet. This model can come equipped with Riddell's HITS Technology, which consists of a sensor in the helmet that relays data regarding the severity of each hit to a computer system. The Speedflex also features a built-in hinged panel located on the front near the top. In head-on collisions, this panel gives by up to a quarter of an inch, helping to absorb the impact.
Concussions and play-related head blows in American football have been shown to be the cause of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which has led to player deaths and other debilitating symptoms after retirement, including memory loss, depression, anxiety, headaches, stress, and sleep disturbances.
Concussion, a type of mild traumatic brain injury that is caused by a direct or indirect hit to the head, body, or face is a common injury associated with sports and can affect people of all ages. A concussion is defined as a "complex pathophysiological process affecting the brain, induced by biomechanical forces". A concussion should be suspected in any person who falls or has a hit to their face or their body and has a visible sign/clue that they may have a concussion or experiences any symptoms of concussion. The Concussion Recognition Tool 6 (CRT6) can be used to help non-medically trained people manage sport related concussion on the sideline to ensure that they are directed to the appropriate care. Symptoms of concussion can be felt right away or appear over the first 1-2 days after an accident. If an athlete has a suspected sport-related concussion they should not return to play that day, not be left alone for the first three hours after their injury, not drive until cleared by a medical professional, and not return to any activity that has a risk of hitting their head or falling until they have a medical assessment. If the person has worsening symptoms or any 'red flag symptoms', they need immediate medical attention. Concussions cannot be seen on X-rays or CT scans.
League of Denial is a 2013 book, initially broadcast as a documentary film, about traumatic brain injury in the National Football League (NFL), particularly concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The documentary, entitled League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis, was produced by Frontline and broadcast on PBS. The book was written by ESPN reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru. The book and film devote significant attention to the story of Mike Webster and his football-related brain injuries, and the pathologist who examined Webster's brain, Bennet Omalu. The film also looks closely at the efforts of researchers led by Ann McKee at Boston University's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, where the brains of a number of former NFL athletes have been examined.
Head injuries in the Australian Football League (AFL) is a controversial topic with many players sustaining head related injuries during the AFL season, some of these being caused by the players themselves "ducking" their heads in order to receive high contact which warrants a free kick. One of the most common forms of head injury sustained in the AFL is concussion, which will affect about 6-7 players per team, per season. The reason head injuries are a big concern is that they relate to an increased probability to developing forms of cognitive impairment such as; depression and dementia later in life.
Most documented cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy have occurred in many athletes involved in contact sports such as boxing, American football, professional wrestling, ice hockey, mixed martial arts, rugby and soccer. Other risk factors include being in the military, prior domestic violence, and repeated banging of the head. The exact amount of trauma required for the condition to occur is unknown. Below is a list of notable cases of CTE in sports.
After Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a series of head injuries during the 2022 and 2024 NFL seasons, controversy ensured in the resulting responses and debates among medical experts, sports figures, and fans surrounding how they were handled. These incidents led to significant changes in the NFL's concussion protocols and sparked widespread discussion about player safety in professional football, especially in the context of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)'s prevalence in veteran NFL players.
References
- ↑ "High School Football Rules Changes Continue Focus on Risk Minimization". www.nfhs.org. Retrieved 2018-10-11.
- ↑ Gill, Sam (October 27, 2010). "Helmet-to-helmet hypocrisy: NFL, NCAA blame football players - when the problem is football programs". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ↑ Garrett, Melanie (December 2010). Under His Helmet: A Football Devotional. Tate. p. 23. ISBN 9781617391743.
- 1 2 Thomas, Katie (October 21, 2010). "N.F.L.'s Policy on Helmet-to-Helmet Hits Makes Highlights Distasteful". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
- ↑ Bucholtz, Andrew. "Concussions: the CFL's rules and the impact on defensive players". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ↑ Nowinski, Christopher (September 2006). Head games: football's concussion crisis from the NFL to youth leagues. Chris Nowinski. pp. 104–05. ISBN 9781597630139.
- ↑ "Replay officials given greater input on targeting penalty calls next season". 8 March 2016.
- ↑ "College football's rules committee to consider middle ground on targeting calls". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
- ↑ "NFL Rules & Regulations for Helmet to Helmet". SportsRec. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
- ↑ D'Andrea, Christian (March 28, 2017). "NFL officials just OK'd a rule that brings the NCAA's 'targeting' calls to the big leagues". SBNation.com. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ↑ Klemko, Robert (December 13, 2011). "Steelers LB James Harrison suspended one game". USA Today. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ↑ Austro, Ben (June 16, 2021). "Official Playing Rules of the National Football League" (PDF). NFL.
- ↑ Gregory, Sean (Oct 22, 2010). "Can Football Finally Tackle Its Injury Problem?". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
- ↑ "The Tragic Post-Hockey Life of an NHL 'Enforcer'". 25 April 2019.
- ↑ Harmon, Kimberly G.; Drezner, Jonathan; Gammons, Matthew; Guskiewicz, Kevin; Halstead, Mark; Herring, Stan; Kutcher, Jeff; Pana, Andrea; Putukian, Margot; Roberts, William (January 2013). "American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Position Statement". Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 23 (1): 1–18. doi: 10.1097/jsm.0b013e31827f5f93 . PMID 23269325. S2CID 52717.
- ↑ "HEADS UP Concussion in Youth Sports: Online Training Transcript" (PDF). CDC . Retrieved 31 October 2019.
- ↑ Gruson, Damien (September 2014). "Football, concussions and biomarkers: Ready for more touchdowns?". Clinical Biochemistry. 47 (13–14): 1345–1346. doi:10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2014.04.085. PMID 24915633.