NFL Brain Drain: More and More Players Donating to Concussion Research

Now that the league appears comfortable with its disciplinary approach to improving the league, another focus has taken precedence.  Helping to reduce injuries as a whole takes focus now, though special emphasis has been placed upon concussive head trauma.

Concern for the lasting effects of multiple concussions reared its head when 2008’s Super Bowl quarterbacks received concussions in the same week and sat out the following game.

There was a time when players entrenched in hot playoff races (admittedly, Arizona’s was more about jockeying for seeding) would have received as much grief as support for missing a game.  That has now changed as Hines Ward’s allusions to Ben Roethlisberger, and that maybe it was not the best move to sit out, were met with an almost universal backlash.

Worries over lasting injuries such as dementia and Alzheimer’s have taken "bell-ringing" from an NFL aside to a genuine focal issue that receives immediate clinical focus.

Beyond rule changes affecting game-play (including a possible ban on the three-point stance, as commissioner Roger Goodell alluded to in an interview on Super Bowl Sunday), a renewed dedication to concussion research is beginning to peak.

The registry of players willing to donate their brains to this study upon their deaths, known as the “brain bank,” hit a milestone this offseason when it reached 250 players (current and retired) who have committed to the study.

The trigger for all of this actually came from a completely different sport.  Former wrestler Chris Nowinski grew curious as to what the impact of his six career concussions would be.  He, along with Dr. Ann McKee, began the CSTE, or Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, located in Boston University’s School of Medicine.

Now there are great signs of optimism coming out of the CSTE camp. "We've made remarkable headway," Nowinski described. "I don't think I ever dreamed the NFL would agree there was a problem. For legal reasons, I just didn't think they'd admit it. It was the pathological research, the brains of the deceased players, pressure from the active and retired players who were courageous enough to stand up."

One of the key moments for Nowinski and the brain bank happened in 2006.  Shortly after writing Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis from the NFL to Youth Leagues, Nowinski heard of the tragic suicide of former Philadelphia Eagles safety, Andre Waters.  Nowinski traveled to meet Waters’ family, and convinced them to donate the former player’s brain for research.

When Waters’ brain was examined, abnormalities were found that resembled those of Mike Webster's and Terry Long's, both former Pittsburgh Steelers players who died at relatively young ages after suffering through both depression and dementia.

As Nowinski explained, they “started with guys who were disasters" but are now progressing beyond.  At this point, they are “moving on to guys who might or might not be impacted in varying degrees. But these are people who are committed and recognize the problem and want to be a part of the solution."

Instead of having to actively pursue players to agree to the donation, Nowinski now finds he is being approached by athletes on their own accords.

"Once I'm dead, I'm not going to need it anymore," described ex-Buffalo Bills guard Conrad Dobler. "I plan on being cremated. I always wonder what they do with all those parts. My brain will live forever to help some others, and to let the world know that I actually had one."

In December the NFL, thanks heavily to CSTE research, announced it would be imposing more stringent guidelines for players that were returning from concussions, even pairing with the CDC to create a public-service announcement aimed at youth coaches and parents to get educated on the dangers of head trauma.

That announcement started a new focus of CSTE and Nowinski, Pop Warner, and other youth leagues.

"There always will be four downs," Nowinski said. "A touchdown will be worth six points, a field goal worth three points. But how we hit each other, how we collide has to change."

One notable rule change that has helped is the elimination of the "wedge" on kickoff returns.  As most special teams players are considered more replaceable than players on offense or defense, the collisions incurred by players looking to ensure they stay off the chopping block were especially violent and forceful.

With many other rule-changes being considered and the number of players donating rising at an exponential rate, one thing is certain: The CSTE, and the health-concerns it seeks to address, are not going away any time soon.