Summary
There have been many studies done to identify if there is a connection between concussions and mental health issues in football players and most studies have come back positive. The goal is to see if the recent findings surrounding the correlation between concussions and mental illnesses have changed how programs address the mental health of their players. This will be accomplished by sending out a survey to football coaches of college football teams in the bay area to see if programs have taken this issue into consideration and changed how they help players' mental health.
Personal Statement
I was first introduced to the topic of brain health in football players a few years ago while watching Monday night football with my dad. He explained that he was the quarterback at Gunn High School in Palo Alto when he was a teenager and was going to try and play in college but decided not to because he was too worried about how it would affect his long-term brain health. Thanks to AAR, I was able to learn more about the topic of how football affects your brain and what college football programs in the bay area have done to address this issue and help their players stay safe and healthy.