Watch this haunting video of NFL concussions and see why it's time for a change.
There are 17 weeks and 256 games in the NFL season. And this year, there were 225 concussions.
Josh Begley, data artist at The Intercept, just released a haunting film showing footage of the hits that led to some of the most dangerous head injuries that occurred in the pre-season and regular season football games this year.
"I have been tracking these injuries all season. Using a variety of methods, including reviewing daily injury reports from NFL.com, I have created what I believe is the most complete dataset of individual concussions sustained during the 2017-2018 season," Begley wrote. "The resulting film, 'Concussion Protocol,' is a visual record of every concussion in the NFL this year."

Most of the hits are shown in reverse, with the player lying down or woozy, before we see the powerful collisions that caused the head trauma.
When shown in reverse, the hard-hitting plays cheered for by so many lose their appeal. This isn't a highlight reel — it's a horror film.
The hard hits in professional football put players at risk for serious neurological conditions long after they hang up their cleats.
A study published last summer revealed that after the brains of 111 deceased NFL players were examined, 110 were found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
This devastating condition is a build-up of an abnormal protein in the brain. As the protein accumulates, neural pathways are disabled, which can lead to aggression, loss of impulse control, confusion, memory lapses, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
The puzzling, degenerative brain disease is usually found in people with repeated head trauma, and can only be confirmed with an autopsy.
Denver Broncos strong safety David Bruton lying on the field in pain. Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images.
The NFL has taken small steps to acknowledge the dangers of the game, but their efforts only begin to address the problem.
In 2016, the League pledged $60 million to technological and engineering advancements, which is NFL-speak for "creating a better helmet." They also devoted another $40 million to funding medical research on the effects of head injuries. They also ensured that the nearly 50 rule changes they've made since 2002 were communicated to protect players from head trauma.
And yet, here we are. 2017 saw the highest number of concussions in the past five years.
GIF from Monday Night Football/ESPN.
$100 million certainly isn't chump change, but it's pennies compared to the money spent on building stadiums or paying NFL salaries. It seems less like a genuine commitment so much as hush money — a way to get the media and concerned fans off their backs.
Behind every hit is a human being with a family and a future.
Yes, they love the game, and so do their adoring fans. But at what costs? Is the fun, tradition, and camaraderie of football worth the lifelong damage?
And before you remind me how much these athletes are paid, stop. It's not just the pros taking these punishing hits.
In a recent study, children under 12 who played tackle football were at a greater risk to experience short- and long-term neurological consequences — everything from difficulty regulating their behavior to apathy and depression.
Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images.
Professional football is an American pastime and economic engine that's not going away anytime soon. But that doesn't mean it gets a free pass.
You can cheer for your favorite teams while also wanting its players to be safe and healthy. You can enjoy a game or two on the weekends and still push for the NFL to do better.
Or maybe you can't, and enough is enough.






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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top, and there's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary, straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universally understood reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insenstive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport, with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season, according to a 2018 study. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skiier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.