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Published: November 24, 2009
Judging by attendance and viewing statistics, Americans truly love their football, particularly at the college and professional levels, and yet there is ample evidence that the very nature of the game – it inevitably involves bodies colliding – poses a potentially grave risk to the physical and mental health of its players.
This season has been particularly notable for the number of concussions suffered on the field. This season college football fans have witnessed several of the sport's most famous players suffer serious concussions, and that's contributed to the growing anxiety over the problem.
And in the National Football League, on-field concussions have been a hot topic all season. It's about time, because there have been numerous reports of retired players who live cruelly diminished lives, physically and mentally, because they suffered serious injuries during their careers on the gridiron. Many have died at an alarmingly young ages.
The NFL soon will require its teams to obtain advice from independent neurologists, experts who are not otherwise associated with the team and therefore should be under no pressure to approve an injured player's premature return to competition.
"For generations, decisions on when players who sustain concussions should return to play have been made by doctors and trainers employed by the team, raising questions of possible conflicts of interest when coaches and owners want players to return more quickly than proper care would suggest," the New York Times reported Monday.
"As scientific studies and anecdotal evidence have found a heightened risk for brain damage, dementia and cognitive decline in retired players, the league has faced barbed criticism from outside experts and, more recently, from Congress over its policies on handling players with concussions," the report continued.
On Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary Committee last month held a hearing during which witnesses compared the NFL to the tobacco industry. That's not the kind of public image the football league seeks. Nor does it need Congress threatening to take away the league's antitrust exemption, a tactic that has been suggested as a way to really get the NFL's attention.
Chester Pitts, a lineman and union representative for the Houston Texans, offered this insight to a reporter: "When you have Congress talking about the antitrust exemption and them calling them the tobacco industry, that's pretty big. But it's a good thing it's transpiring."
Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, said in a television interview Sunday that "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."
Engaging the services of an independent doctor would be a step forward, yet it won't entirely solve the problem. Serious risks remain, particularly when players are determined to hide their injuries to avoid being relegated to the sidelines. At the college level, athletes want to continue to play, partly for their love of the game, but also – at least in some cases — because they feel the need to impress the professional scouts with their toughness. At the pro level, players are likely to be more interested in preserving their lucrative paychecks.
Nobody wants to change the very nature of football. But it's high time those in charge did something about the plague of concussions and other injuries.
Too many case histories persuasively argue that the game, as it is played right now, is simply too dangerous.
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