Concussions have long been a serious issue in the NFL; the league  constantly tried to create new rules and regulations in order to prevent these injuries; “In the 2015 preseason and regular season, including practices, the league formally recorded 275 concussions, which can be challenging to diagnose. In 2021, that number declined to 187” (Blinder 2023). Even though the number of injuries is dropping, there are still many concussions in the league. Not only is there a large number of concussions but also other serious injuries such as ACL tears; “The 2021 season saw 71 A.C.L. tears, part of a troubling trend in a league that has seen the number of regular-season A.C.L. tears more than doubled since 2017” (Blinder 2023). Injuries are hard to control especially when playing a violent game such as football, the hard truth is that they happen and sadly happen very often. In response to such injuries, coaches or families might employ common overly masculine phrases such as “you gotta tough it out” or “Just play through it” However there seems to be an increasing population of people taking the other side of this and thinking that players should be more wary of playing through injuries of any Following the 2012 lawsuit, many journalists, medical professionals, parents, and even former players  have even gone as far as to say football should be banned in some form due to the harm it can cause players’ bodies. But that discourse of masculinity still remains as you still see many fans and media call players “soft” and “babies” for looking after their own health.

Research Question & Variables

 My research will focus on: The effects of injuries on the perception of football in news media from 2000-2023. The independent variable is athletic injuries, more specifically serious injuries such as torn ligaments, CTE, or even freak injuries that normally do not happen such as the case with Bills player Damar Hamlin. Player injuries lead to news articles which discuss many things about the player and the specific injury. Media perception on these injuries and the National Football League is my dependent variable. This will be assessed by looking at how the news articles react to the injury; what they say about the player; how they present the injury, and discussions around the NFL more generally. The reactions can vary based on the severity of the injury. For example the way the NFL’s handling of the Damar Hamlin injury has stirred up controversy in the media while simple injuries such as Michael Thomas’s turf toe may lead the media bashing the player rather than the NFL itself.