Liability concerns stemming from the NFL’s massive multi-district concussion litigation have been affecting changes which may permanently alter the way the game of football is played. Essentially, the main suit pits former players against the League, accusing the NFL of failing to warn them of the long term risks of concussions and their effect on later-life cognitive decline.
Recent changes made by the NFL include alterations to playing surfaces, equipment, and long standing game-play rules. For example, the League has shortened the kick-off play to reduce the possibility of devastating collisions. Additionally, a 2002 study performed by doctors for the Minnesota Viking revealed that the rock-like artificial playing surface of the team’s domed stadium was “contributing to the high incidence of concussions.” As a result, the NFL now requires that all newly installed playing services comply with a list of Head Impact Criteria guidelines.
The NFL also hired certified trainers to monitor the players on the field and make return-to-play determinations if an athlete appears to have suffered a potential head injury. The effects of this decision have been felt over the past few weeks, which saw three high-profile quarterbacks – the Chicago Bears’ Jay Cutler, theSan Francisco 49ers’ Alex Smith, and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Michael Vick – sidelined for head injuries. NFL officials claim that the trainers have made nearly 200 removals and subsequent requests for neurological examination since they began so monitoring players during the 2011 playoffs.
Jeffrey Kutcher, a neurologist advisor for the NFL, NHL and NBA, expressed concerns that the changes might be doing serious damage to the sports as we know them, stating “I do worry that the intense focus – and, in some cases, overreaction – regarding the presumed risks could threaten the existence of [these] sports.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell noted that “[w]e’ve been working on this for a long time . . . . We’ve funded research going back into the ‘90s – well before any of that litigation. This is being done to . . . make our game safer and other games safer.”
Still, not everyone is convinced that these changes will have the desired effect. Andrew Blecher, a sports medicine specialist from California noted, “[t]he only way to prevent concussions is not to step on the field in the first place.”
Awareness of concussion danger altering the way games are played