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NFL Wakes Up; Adopts Saner Policy on Concussions

It almost took an act of Congress.  The NFL has long ignored the implication of concussions suffered by its players. In addition, the current medical system of the league whereby it is the team doctor who certifies to the coach and GM that a player is ready to play is so filled with obvious conflicts of interest that it's a wonder that the NFLPA ever agreed to it.

Fast forward to six weeks ago, a study sponsored by the NFL is released which finds that Alzheimer's and other cognitive disorders occur in former NFL players at a rate of up to 19 times higher than normal for men ages 30-49.  The NFL tried to discredit the study, as it has with most other studies implicating football, concussions and cognitive disorders later in life.
Following the release of the study and the NFL's apparent refusal to change its policies in response to it, the House Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing on the issue last month.

Last night, Commissioner Roger Goodell indicated that the NFL has finally adopted the rational policy of requiring teams to use an independent neurologist for advice while treating players with brain injuries and hopefully for final medical certification on whether a player is ready to return to contact in practice and then to game action.  While the full details of the
new policy are not yet public, Goodell was in full spin mode on NBC last night:

"As we learn more and more, we want to give players the best medical advice. This is a chance for us to expand that and bring more people into the circle to make sure we?re making the best decisions for our players in the long term.?

The shift in policy, laudatory as it is, will still have to define who is independent in order to minimize conflicts.  The other problem which is harder for any policy to impact is the tendency of players to hide concussion from the team so they can keep playing in a league without guaranteed contracts.  It will require keen observation from vigilant and highly trained medical and training staffs to monitor players, hoping to catch those who may be hiding concussions.  Having independent neurologist available to whom players can report concussions and other brain related injuries without fear of the team immediately learning of them should go a long way towards easing the players fear of reporting injuries that currently exists.

Full post as published by Sports Biz on November 23, 2009 (boomark / email).