Litigation

Sports Legacy Institute Awards Dinner

By Michael Kaplen

This evening I will be in Boston, Mass. attending the Sports Legacy Institute's 3rd Annual Impact Awards dinner.

This year the recipient of the Sports Legacy Award will be NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell who will be honored for the NFL?s new advocacy and educational programs on youth sports concussions including:

• In partnership with the CDC, airing public service announcements promoting concussion awareness during NFL games 
• Establishing a comprehensive concussion awareness program, including a coach training video, for USA Football
• Urging 44 governors to pass legislation similar to Washington State?s Lystedt Law, designed to protect young athletes from concussion risks, which would require annual concussion education, mandate no return to play on the day of injury, and require athletes to be cleared by a medical professional before returning to play

While I have been a strong critic of the NFL regarding their past attitude to concussions, I do believe that under the leadership of Roger Goodell, the league has made progress in addressing the risks of concussions,  in understanding and taking significant steps to educate both players and coaches about the signs and symptoms of concussions and in its recognition that all concussions must be treated seriously.

I believe that there is much more that needs to be done and I am hopeful that under the leadership of Commissioner Goodell concussion will continue to be treated as as serious medical condition with life long consequences,  that further initiatives will be taken to reduce the risk of brain damage, that the disincentives that players now have in reporting their concussive symptoms will be eliminated and that players who have sustained concussions, including those players in the past who have been denied disability benefits obtain the compensation that they are entitled to and which they rightfullly deserve.

Full post as published by Brain Injury News and Information on October 20, 2010 (boomark / email).