NFL Insider: Is There Any Way to Stop the Increase of Concussion in the NFL?

I don’t know if anyone has heard much about this or not, but concussions are up over 20 percent when compared to last season.  There could be several factors for this, but the biggest one is the fact that NFL teams are reporting concussions much more this year than they have in the past, due to increased awareness of concussions.  So the statistics shouldn’t be too alarming to anyone.

But concussions are a real problem no matter how many or how few there are in a given season and something needs to be done about them.  The NFL has already tried to do something about them by enforcing a system of fines on players that make illegal contact with the head of another player.  Fines have been handed out (albeit somewhat unfairly) and players have started to learn what is right and what is wrong.

Still, concussions are coming from other places, as well. 

Players are hitting their heads on the turf which is causing concussions.  This has happened frequently (see concussions suffered by quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler).  Another cause for concussions that seems to be much more apparent is a player getting hit in the helmet by another player accidentally, particularly with a knee or an arm. 

The first place that the NFL should look when it comes to preventing concussions is not the way that players hit each other, but how the equipment properly protects players from these impacts.  Although the overall look of the NFL helmet has changed substantially over the years, the protection that it has or hasn’t provided remains unchanged.  Despite the fact that there are new designs out there (provided by manufacturers that don’t provide the NFL with helmets currently) the league chooses to continue to use the same equipment without getting an upgrade.

If there is better equipment out there (which reportedly there is) then why doesn’t the league jump on the chance to start testing this protective gear and start using it in the league?  If they are so concerned about the player’s health then they need to take better measures to protect their players, which includes providing them with the proper equipment to play with.

As previously mentioned, the increased reporting of concussions has also helped make the number of concussions rise this season.  Prior to this year (after the stricter regulations were put into place), reporting of concussions was loose and un-regulated.  There were some rules, but they were never really followed.  Players were coming back virtually right away after suffering concussions—either getting concussions again or not playing as well as they had prior to the concussion.

The NFL has now laid down some pretty tough rules for players that suffer concussions so that they aren’t rushed back to play after suffering the injury. These rules include such things as the expansion of the symptoms that may preclude a player from coming back after he had had a concussion.  These symptoms can include having lapses in memory, an abnormal examination by a neurologist or headaches that don’t go away after time.  Please remember that these are not all the symptoms that fall under the new rules.

The NFL also made an attempt to educate the players and officials on how to properly make a tackle or hit another player without causing an injury to the head.  There are some players that feel that the NFL hasn’t gone far enough to tell them what is right and what is wrong, and that the NFL is being too picky when it comes to singling out players for fines as they apply to hits, or making judgment calls that aren’t consistent.

While these players are, for the most part, correct, they do need to remember not to go for a player’s head then they make a tackle.  Granted that is difficult for them to do at times, especially when they are making tackles in the heat of the moment and split second decisions have to be made so it doesn’t cost them a game.  

When making the decision to tackle someone and where to tackle them, it’s often difficult for a player to adjust their body to avoid making a hit that could cause themselves or the other player bodily harm (imagine with the new rules that are in place what has to go through their heads when making a tackle).  While the rules are good (but need more definition), it certainly puts the onus on a player to make split second decisions that could cost themselves, or their opponents, their health or money.

The NFL is doing a good thing by drawing a lot of attention to concussions and the health of it's players.  They are not doing a good job of explaining things, but they are doing a good job of bringing awareness about concussions to the forefront and making players much more aware of what is going on.  Hopefully what they are doing is going to be enough to help save some careers and help the players remain healthy.