NFL has a short memory
Published 2:42 pm Thursday, November 3, 2011
In February, after former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson committed suicide and left a text, and a note, that read “Please, see that my brain is given to the N.F.L.’s brain bank,” the National Football League finally acknowledged its head injury problem, and announced that new rules would be employed to diagnose concussions in players.
The league urged states to pass youth concussion laws, such as Washington’s “Zackery Lystedt Law,” the first of its kind.
At the same time, neurologists announced a quick and simple sideline test to determine whether a player has suffered such an injury.
It’s not clear what new method the NFL chose to evaluate players suspected of a head injury, if any, but it’s not working.
On Wednesday, the league’s injury and safety panel issued a directive to game officials and referees to watch closely for concussion symptoms in players. The officials will receive “concussion awareness training,” the league announced.
If this happened to be an additional layer of protection for the players, that would be great. But it’s not. It’s an after-the-fact, cover-your-fanny move, directed at the wrong people.
The NFL put its officials on concussion watch 10 days after San Diego guard Kris Dielman sustained a head injury against the Jets and later suffered a grand mal seizure on the team’s flight home from New York. He has since been cleared of all “long-term complications” surrounding the concussion and seizure, the Associated Press reported.
Dielman’s injury came with 12 minutes remaining in the game, after which he struggled to maintain his balance, AP reported. He finished the game and was not assessed until afterward. The team announced the injury shortly before boarding the plane.
After criticism of how the incident was handled, Coach Norv Turner said he believed the team dealt with the situation as best it could. Well, the best isn’t good enough, then. By far.
Does the NFL have a new sideline concussion test or not?
NFL teams employ doctors for a reason. If their expertise isn’t going to be used, the NFL’s lawyers had better roll up their sleeves.
Is the NFL really saying that referees, presumably busy officiating the game, are in a better position to recognize a player’s injury than the player’s teammates, coaches and doctors?
If a player isn’t pulled, are referees now supposed to challenge medical personnel?
The NFL’s “injury and safety” panel needs to put the responsibility of players’ safety right where it belongs — on the very big, monied shoulders of the teams. How quickly the league forgot promises made less than a year ago.
