If you follow this blog regularly, you know that I'm very serious about concussions in football. My interest in this topic goes back to players like Troy Aikman and even the former Michigan running back Sam McGuffie. Then last season, my nephew got one playing high school football. This is not only becoming a serious issue in football it's now personal for me.
The recognition behind concussions has come a long way. A few years ago the NFL didn't even acknowledge the short or long term effects of concussions, we all remember players getting one on Sunday and being right back playing the next week. Or having your "bell rung" and being told by a coach to get back in there!
Now the NFL under Roger Goodell is starting to take concussions head on (sorry that is a bad pun). The NFL will not start providing posters in each NFL locker rooms talking about the serious nature of concussions. This from the NYT: The National Football League is producing a poster that bluntly alerts its players to the long-term effects of concussions, using words like “depression” and “early onset of dementia” that those close to the issue described as both staggering and overdue.
The poster, soon to be hung in locker rooms leaguewide, becomes by far the N.F.L.’s most definitive statement on the cognitive risks of football, which it had discredited for most of the past several years as academic studies and reports of deceased players’ brain damage mounted.
“That poster is shocking,” said Domonique Foxworth, a cornerback for the Baltimore Ravens. “It gives people facts before they take risks. But it’s not exactly a new revelation.”
I applaud The NFL taking a pro-active stance against the serious nature of concussions and the potential long term effects. But the job isn't done, what current research is starting to show is that the number of collisions players have on a daily basis (in practice and during games) could have the same long term negative effects. The most recent example of that is the late Cincinnati Bengals WR Chris Henry who was found to be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is an early onset of dementia or also know as "punch drunk syndrome" which is found in many boxers. Chris was never diagnosed or missed any games due to a concussion. So Chris situation could mean two things: 1) Chris did have a number of concussions and was never properly diagnosed or 2) the regular hits he took in high school, college and in the NFL caused him to have CTE.
In my opinion, #2 above is the biggest risk to the NFL. If you tell parents that if your child continues playing football could have the brain of 90 year old when he is 40, how many kids do you think will be playing youth football? Not many.
Scary isn't it?
What are some of the solutions? Folks talk about safer helmets, which could work but could also have a negative effect. If players believe their helmets are safer they might continue tackling by leading with their helmets. I think the best way to reduce concussions is go back to the fundamentals of tackling and not leading with your helmet. I realize we live in Sports Center world and highlights are what players are after but if this trend continues it might seriously effect the game or more importantly a players long term health. Throwing a player out for leading with the helmet and even a suspension might help reduce this form of tackling.
Either way, recognition is the first step and I see the NFL doing that. So today is a positive step in the right direction. NYT: Chris Nowinski, (who you might remember from the WWF & his college career at Harvard) a co-director of the Sports Legacy Institute and an advocate for youth concussion awareness, said he was relieved to learn about the new language. “The old pamphlet that said ‘no evidence of any long-term effects,’ it slowed down progress — it helped create a latency environment when the evidence showed great urgency for change,” he said. “There’s a greater need for culture change on the lower levels. When coaches and people around the games don’t have all the information, simple documents and simple messages are the most important.”
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