Football Player Suffers Severe Concussion
Kylie Mitchell
One of Manchester’s inside linebackers suffered a severe concussion on Tuesday 16, 2018. William Morales was involved in a head-on collision during football practice that resulted in serious injury. After the ball was snapped, he hit helmet-to-helmet with another player, causing him to become dizzy and lose his balance. After getting hit in the head for the second time, Morales ended up blacking out and woke up on the field.
He is not the only one who has suffered from sport related injuries. “Players usually get injured on the daily playing this sport,” Morales said. “There is no guarantee of anyone’s safety playing football. Everything can go wrong at any given moment.”
According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, football players are nearly seven times more likely to be injured during a game or practice. Concussions alone make up 7.4 percent of all injuries in college football players.
These are serious injuries that can affect and change a student-athlete’s behavior, thinking or physical functioning. Athletes can still suffer a concussion even if they wear a helmet. Recognition and proper response when they occur is absolutely crucial to help prevent further injury or even death. Morales’s interest in football was ignited when he moved from the east coast of New Jersey to Lone Star State of Texas. “Whenever I moved to Houston, all I saw around me were athletes of all kinds, and the biggest sport there to be a part of was football,” he said. “I just had to see what all the hype was about.”
His career began in seventh grade. Since then, he has played for seven and a half years. He currently plays as Spartan inside linebacker which is a position on defense. “I end up going towards strength call or strong side,” Morales said. “Whatever side the ball is going on for the offense, is where I will end up being to get the tackle.”
He played different positions throughout the years, including nose guard on defense, right guard on offense, fullback, running back, kick return and outside linebacker.
Despite his injury, Morales still loves the sport and his teammates. “During practice when those pads are on, all emotions go out the window when you do not have the same color jersey on defense and offense,” he said.
His only regret is that he is unable to contribute to the team. “I am still upset about the whole situation, though, because now I have to sit out and not do anything for my team because of this injury,” he said.
“Not everyone is cut out to go through the practices day in and day out,” Morales continued. “Sacrificing your body, putting in all the blood, sweat and tears— this game isn’t just about physical strength, but mental strength as well more than anything. If you lose mentally, you will always lose physically.”
Although Morales is out of the game for now, his love for football remains unwavering.