2. Cerebellum - balance is a huge factor when it comes to the game of football. It's
something each player must have, otherwise, on the football field you and your
team mates will fall all over the place. Thiscould cause many problems.
3. Medulla - as a quarterback all your
focus and attention must go into the
game, you must study the defense,
look for open players, and be able to
anticipate what's coming. You cannot
also have to control your heart
manually.
4. Pons - the pons is also VERY important to a QB, a good QB must be able to
know what's going on around him, so he can react and make the right call.
5. Reticular Formation - The RF is very important because it determines how quickly
you become alert. For example, for running backs the quicker they feel someone
beginning to make a tackle on them, then the sooner they can try and break free.
6. Thalamus - for a receiver it is important for them to signal to the QB that they are
open, either waving their hands in the air or yelling. This helps the QB determine
the best possible scenario. OR to tell his team mates what the defense might be
bringing, and signals an audible, changing the play.
7. Hypothalamus - What drives a football team in the fourth quarter with under 2
minutes to play and down by 5 points to play hard and fight for that game-
winning touchdown? What denys them to give up? Motivation. The Head Coach
has the same job as the hypothalamus, its job is to regulate motivation.
8. Amygdala - Troy Polamalu is a vicious Safety, a hard-hitting ruthless player who
enjoys inflicting pain. He brings fears to players on the opposing team, the
amygdala allows for them to experience this fear.
9. Hippocampus - All team mates
must have a strong memory,
when your coach calls a play
you must know what your role
is in that play, the
hippocampus allows you to
remember that role.
10. Corpus Callosum - This is like the coaches on a football team. The two sides of the
brain for example, would be the offense and the defense teams, they are
separate but with those coaches they merge as one team and come together on
the football field.
11. Occipital Lobe:
Visual cortex - the ability to see is obviously one of the
MOST crucial abilities in order to play football. You cannot play without it, fact. It
is used by all players, either by defensive backs and safety's whom watch the
quarterbacks eyes to see where they plan on throwing the ball so they can deflect
or even intercept the pass. Or the head coach who watches for the play and
decides whether to call the timeout or not. Or simply being able to see the ball in
order to catch it.
12. Temporal Lobe:
Auditory cortex - A perfect example of how your auditory cortex works, is
when a QB calls an audible, the players who much change their routes and such
must be able to interpret what their QB is telling them. Hes not just going to tell
them their route straight forward, he tells them in code.
13. Parietal Lobe:
Sensory Cortex - The best way to compare this to football is the tackle. You
feel the pain, wihout this cortex you wouldn’t know if during a tackle you got
injured. Playing with an injury could lead to severe damages. Feeling your injuries
tells your body when its time to leave the game, if you had a concussion and you
make this call, you could be saving your life.
14. Motor Cortex - This controls areas of the body that require precise control, such
as fingers, and mouth, and feet as well. All of these things are extremely
important, a running back uses his hands to hold on to the ball while running
through defenders, his feet require constant thinking because one foot step could
cost him a touchdown run.
Sensory Cortex - This
stimulates the action to which
the player reacts. If a
runningback for example feels
a defender begin to wrap
around him, he will drive his
legs and break free of the tackle. Using these senses that his brain receives,
he processes and takes action.
