Despite the approval earlier this year of the $1 billion settlement to resolve thousands of NFL concussion lawsuits — not to mention the deaths and suicides that prompted the legal action in the first place — the football league remains slow to actually change the problem, despite rules and protocols implemented in the past few years to supposedly do just that.
The main challenge is that the football league and its fans continue to engage in a fantasy: They want the violent, hard-hitting game they’ve come to know and love, and they want the superstars of the teams on the field at all times. The problem with concussions, unlike broken bones, or torn ligaments and joints, is that the player often can still play. He may not remember it later, and may develop all the severe problems associated with a brain taking more hits while already suffering a concussion. But at the time of the initial hit, he can jump up and keep going. The NFL could easily mandate a sideline neurological exam after any hit to the head; in fact, that might already be part of its protocol, but it’s rarely enforced.
The NFL, which likes military precision in its game-calling, has a difficult time with the ambiguity that can sometimes accompany the diagnosis of concussion and/or brain injury. People went all conspiracy theory this week when quarterback Robert Griffen III was first cleared to play after time off for a concussion, and then was ruled ineligible to play because of the concussion. But that’s the way medical treatment goes. Even for sprained ankles. So when it comes to the brain, there must be room for flexibility and changing of opinions. No one questions the flexible timetable of return with a muscle pull. But a concussion? Suddenly every sports columnist and fan is a neurologist. And it’s rarely with concern about what’s best for the player. The rare player who actually removes himself from a game, for whatever health-related concern, is mocked. Because apparently the idea is when you are paid millions to play a game, you should be willing to suffer permanent injury for the privilege.
The brain needs time to heal after it has been hit. The best way to avoid a concussion, obviously, is not get hit in the head. The NFL, however, would like to believe that through technology, or medicine, or tougher athletes, or something, players can somehow continue to be hit in the head, but recover faster, and/or without devastating long-term effects. But no helmet can do that, nor any medicine. Or fancy sports drink or bubbly water, for that matter. Russell Wilson’s discussion of his “banged head” rather than “violent hit” demonstrates how athletes are trained to downplay reality and embrace the myth of superhuman. (The NFL might do well to consider that Marshawn Lynch’s strategy toward the press — silence — is something to be emulated, rather than fined.)
This month, UW Medicine announced the opening of its Sports Health and Safety Institute, which the NFL gave a $2.5 million foundational grant to open. UW Medicine and Washington state have long been at the forefront of concussion education, prevention, and the implementation of a law regarding school athletes. The university, however, is also in partnership with Seattle startup Vicis Inc., which received a grant from the NFL to develop football helmets to better mitigate brain injuries. That’s more wishful thinking.
The NFL unfortunately continues to hedge its bets, hoping it can find a way to keep the game filled with violent hits, but somehow protect the players’ brains.
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