In an era where we can access highlights, replays and analysis almost instantaneously, the NFL and football is taking a beating (pardon the pun) over the head about management of concussions and head trauma. Not only did they just wrap up a $1 billion lawsuit between the league and ex-players, they are still in the media’s bright lens watching every move and decision the make on concussions, week in and week out.
Most recently being the issue of whether or not the concussion protocol, designed and outlined by the NFL, is an appropriate tool for identifying a players with a possible concussion, let alone using it when necessary. (Not to mention the ongoing CTE issue)
The two best examples of this are Seattle Seahawks Quaterback Russel Wilson, who was to be assessed for a possible concussion, the assessment didn’t even last long enough for the medical tent to be fully closed. He just ran in and ran back out at first opportunity. He was eventually fully evaluated and found to have passed concussion protocol.
But a scarier situation was that of Houston Texans Quaterback Tom Savage, where after taking a hit to the head he was seen with his arms extended and shaking on the ground. He was removed for 2 plays to be “evaluated” and then returned to continue playing. There is no way that a full and complete evaluation could have been done in this time-frame. Again he was eventually removed from the game for further evaluation where he was diagnosed with a concussion.
Both of these instances show how much the NFL lacks in both player safety and in correctly implementing their concussion protocol. If a player shows any signs similar to Tom Savage there is no way he can return to the field of play. And in the other example, even though Russel Wilson is the most important player for the Seattle Seahawks, there is no reason that he can be allowed to return to the field of play without being properly assessed, even if in the end he is cleared by the protocol.
People say their needs to be a change in the culture of football from a grass roots level, And to a certain point I agree there needs to be change starting at the grassroots level. But as a trainer for a high school football team I can say the change needs to start at the top.
At a high school level (I can only speak from the team I work with directly) we have baseline testing for all players, have trained therapists and trainers at every game, and if any player is suspected of a concussion he is removed from play and properly assessed. If anything lets the trainer feel there might be a concussion the player does not return to the field of play to mitigate any further risk or injury to the athlete.
We have buy in from the coaching staff, buy in from all the training staff, and heck even buy in from most* of the players, because they all understand the seriousness of injury. But in the NFL, it doesn’t seem as if the coaches, medical staff, and player’s buy in.
With the Russel Wilson situation specifically, first off Russel Wilson should be respectful of the medical staff and allow them to do there due diligence, as they are looking at his safety. The coaches should never allowed him to go back into the game without being properly evaluated, and finally the medical staff should have the, pardon my language, balls to sit him down and say you aren’t going back in until we evaluate you.
Yes I understand this is professional sports, with athletes making millions upon millions of dollars, and with myself and the high school team I am working with kids and youth, so it is a very different playing field. But it shouldn’t matter, if the medical staff, coaching staff, and/or even players on the field think there might be a concussion, their needs to be a full and proper evaluation before the player returns to the game.
Just like I tell my high school athletes, I don’t want you to have a concussion, I’m not trying to trick you to have a concussion, we all want you to pass the protocol and return to play. Because that means you didn’t sustain a head injury! But that doesn’t mean I can take your word for it as an athlete and put you at risk for further injury, or worse death (second impact syndrome is a scary thing – and Rowan’s Law is a great step to help prevent such things).
So what is the NFL trying to do about it? Well lets first start at what other leagues and levels of football are doing about it. The CFL has removed all full contact practices during the regular season along with lengthening the season by 1 week, to add an extra bye week and let players have more time to recover from injuries. Numerous youth and high school teams are also removing the number of full contact practices and there is a bigger focus on educating the players, coaches and families involved in the sport.
Now for the NFL, well as I mentioned earlier they settled a $1 billion earlier this year with former players. The changed their concussion protocol after the aforementioned instances. And well with all the bad publicity and with CTE and football being all over the media I guess they are being forced to answer some tough questions and try to do something to reduce the incidence of head injury and make this game safer.
The NFL did produce data that showed a decrease in concussions form 2015 to 2016 (192 to 173) and we did see a steady increase from 2012 to 214 (176-152-123). But with players getting faster and stronger, and producing hits with more force, the concussion issue is something that will linger over the NFL for years to come, and we haven’t even talked about the all the speculation about the possible link between CTE and football (a more in depth post about this later).
Regardless of happens, I think we need to see changes from the top, from the NFL as a league down to individual professional players to make a culture change of how concussions are assessed and managed before we can see any change of how football is labeled as a dangerous sport. I can almost guarantee you will see less and less youth and collegiate athletes playing the sport of football until measures are taken to ensure the safety of the athletes.
But don’t get me wrong concussions will always be apart of the sport. But players, coaches and medical staff will always have to try to be one step ahead of the process, that is if we can all start playing for the same team.
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