Would you like to have severe, irreversible brain damage in your late 20s? This has happened to NFL football players for the last 50 years. Brain damage, caused by too many concussions, can lead to early dementia, severe depression and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy). CTE is the leading long-term concern related to repetitive trauma. A naturally occurring protein, known as Tau protein, forms into triangular masses in the brain that cause depression, memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, and progressive dementia (what is CTE). There is no one way to make the game of football 100% safe, but by implementing new rules, regulations, and improving and updating safety equipment, the NFL can reduce the risk of players suffering concussions and the overall long-term risk of brain damage. A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that causes an alteration in the athlete's brain function and state of mind. A concussion is caused by an impact or blow to the head or body, which within milliseconds causes the brain to crash into the skull causing damage to brain cells (McCrory 1-12). Concussions are becoming the most significant problem in football today. It is certainly not uncommon to see them. The men who play in the NFL now are so-called genetic freaks. I'm not just the average man with pads. These football players are hardwired and programmed to be as physical as possible when tackling (Kruse). More or less, these are super athletes who play and want to knock each other's heads off. After all, this is what they get paid for and what fans pay big money for. The human brain was not designed to... middle of paper ...... n, Kimberly G. “American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Position Statement: Concussion in Sports.” British Journal F Sports Medicine 47.1 (2013): 15-26. EBSCOhost. Network. 2 March 2014. King, Pietro. "Concussions." Sports Illustrated 113.16 (2010): 34-40. EBSCOhost. Network. February 16, 2014.Kruse, Zach. "NFL." Bleacher Report. Np, May 11, 2012. Web. February 16, 2014. McCrory, Paul. “The Fourth International Conference on Concussion.” British Journal of Sports Medicine 41.5 (2013): 1-12. EBSCOhost. Network. March 4, 2014. Solomon, Jon. "Alabama." Al.com. Np, January 4, 2013. Web. February 22, 2014. What is CTE. "What is CTE? » Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy | Boston University." Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy RSS. Np, April 2009. Web. February 24, 2014.X2Impact Technology – Head injury monitoring systems.". 2014.