President Obama's recent remarks regarding concussions in football reopened the discussion of the safety of the game just days before Super Bowl Sunday.
https://https://In an interview appearing in the New Republic Obama says, "If I https://on, I'd think long and hard before I let him play football. And I think that those of us who love sports are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence."
Leaders from sports-related organizations including pee-wee, high school, college and professional have worked for several years now to understand the injury, provide guidance to athletes and coaches, and fund research related to the effects of brain trauma. Changes have been broad and deep.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has surrounded himself with the most well-respected medical professionals in the concussion field, seeking their council. As co-chairmen of the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee, Drs. Richard Ellenbogen (chief of neurosurgery, Univ. of Washington) and Hunt Batjer (President of the Neurological Society of America) have assembled an impressive team, including senior adviser Dr. Robert Cantu, co-director Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a degenerative brain disorder suspected to be associated with repetitive hits to the head. Previously only diagnosed post-mortem, evidence of the disease was recently found in five former NFL players who took part in a recent groundbreaking diagnostic study at UCLA.
The committee is also actively involved in improving on-field recognition and assessment policies, helmet technology, and brain impact research. In 2011, the NFL dedicated over $100 million over the next decade to medical research, with the vast majority of those dollars committed to the science of concussions, their prevention and care.
Concussions have always been a part of sports, and have never been limited to football. Soccer, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse, bicycling, and yes, playground activities can all cause concussive injuries. Girls are at risk as much as boys. Seniors and soldiers suffer too.
Change of this magnitude takes time. Those athletes who have paid the price through their individual suffering are heroes, having opened the door for the rest of us, exposing an issue whose time is due. Former NFL linebacker Junior Seau, who tragically took his own life in 2012 at age 43, was later diagnosed with CTE, which many believe contributed to his death. He and the other NFL, NHL and professional boxers who died at a young age and were later diagnosed with CTE, have commanded our attention.
In 2006, Zachery Lystedt suffered a debilitating brain injury during a middle school football game at age 14, and now fights daily to escape his wheelchair. Zachery, with the help of Commissioner Goodell and the NFL, inspired and helped develop legislation in almost every state helping to safeguard youth athletes from the effects of concussions. Zach's hero, Baltimore Ravens Ray Lewis will play in Sunday's Super Bowl. Zach and the estimated 111 million viewers will watch a safer game, one that is still evolving, striving to maintain the integrity of the contest while preserving the health of its players for the future.
Thankfully, visionaries like Commissioner Goodell appear in the right place at the right time. Under his leadership the NFL has, and is, providing a road map and the necessary funding to investigate the questions and find solutions that will improve our understanding of risk as it applies to protecting our youth, preserving the competitive spirit, and honoring the bonds that bind us as teammates and fans.
Photo courtesy: Creative Commons; copyright dcJohn 2004