NFL To Allow Head Impact Telemetry Study, an Important Step in Player Safety

The NFL has announced that it will be taking an important next step in the protection of its players with a pilot program of the Head Impact Telemetry System. The study could be implemented as soon as next season for a limited number of teams.

It is a big step for the NFL, which had previously shown both skepticism and reluctance toward impact studies, citing a myriad of reasons which one concussion expert called "excuses, not reasons, just bad excuses."

When an athlete suffers a concussion, the soft tissue of the brain impacts the inside of the skull. For some, blackout or memory loss is inevitable. For others, little or no change is observed. With no bones sticking out or external bleeding, it is an unseen injury.

Once, concussions were a badge of honor. The number of times a defender could knock out an opponent was tabulated both by coaches and eager fans. A player who could get smelling salts and jump right back into the huddle was a hero.

Now, some of those very same players are 50 or 60 years old and unable to perform basic everyday functions. Driving a car or using a remote control has become impossible for once-great athletes. Many Hall of Fame-caliber players cannot control their own bodily functions. Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases permeate the NFL community at astounding rates.

The Helmet Impact Telemetry Study will go a long way to helping today's players avoid similar fates.

The study is already being used at nine NCAA Football programs after being developed by Virginia Tech and Dartmouth in 2002. The study uses sensors placed in a football helmet's padding, which activate at an impact of 10 G's or greater. Once activated, the helmet sends data to the sideline and provides trainers with hard data with which to make decisions.

Not only can the trainer see exactly how hard that hit was. The system also provides a 3D image, allowing the trainer to know where the damage is located.

As of right now, that hard data is missing from NFL sidelines, forcing doctors and trainers to rely on self-reporting and observable symptoms. The data is also missing from helmet manufacturers, who will now be able to better design helmets to prevent concussions.

Dr. Sharon Chirban is an Instructor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and has done extensive work at their Concussion Clinic in the Division of Sports Medicine. Dr. Chirban believes that this hard data will do a lot to protect NFL players.

"The helmet itself will not prevent a concussion...but post-concussion care is an important step toward recovery."

Dr. Chirban compares the telemetry helmets to seat belts in cars today. Once upon a time, cars didn't need seat belts, but now manufacturers are required to put them in all cars. Many states have enacted laws requiring the usages of seat belts as well.

Seat belts cannot stop every case of whiplash or automobile fatality but they have been crucial in automobile safety. 

With the NFL on board, helmet manufacturers and companies that provide telemetry systems will be motivated to produce more of the equipment. What was once new will become standard and more colleges will see the benefit of protecting their players. 

Eventually, youth sports may see the benefit and young developing minds will be protected. One day, states might require the usage of telemetry data for concussion care in hockey, and baseball as well as football.

Football is an impact sport. Stopping concussions altogether is not possible, but by focusing on post-concussion care and contributing to a study of how concussions happen on the football field, the NFL has taken an important step in eliminating as many concussions as they can.

Michael Schottey is an On-call Editor for Bleacher Report's College Writing Internship, and also an NFL Featured Columnist. He has covered the NFL professionally for both print and radio media and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter