NFL Concussions - Step it Up

Today the NYTimes reported changes in the NFL policy on concussions - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/sports/football/27concussion.html?_r=1&hp. The article reveals a new poster that will be hung in all NFL locker rooms containing tougher language on the effects of brain injuries. The language in the poster implicates that the NFL, for the first time, is acknowledging the long term effects of concussions. This issue is a matter of national news since the NFL has not only been dealing with many disability claims from retired players with brain injuries, but also because the NFL has been forced to face Congress on the issue.

As someone who has had suffered several concussions myself from contact sports, I do not take this issue lightly and recognize the serious implications of the injury. I, therefore, commend the NFL for upping the ante.

However, it is the anti-NFL tone of the NYTimes article and the public's conversations on the issue that bother me. As a former employee of the NFL, I have been involved in the NFL's concussion policy development. I can firmly say that the NFL takes the issue seriously and has been developing appropriate safety techniques and equipment for brain injuries for many years. This issue has NOT been ignored. Even where studies were inconclusive as to the long lasting effects of brain injuries, the NFL still took precautions. For example, the league has worked with Riddell Sports, its helmet company through 2014, to design the safest product. Moreover, the NFL has worked with software companies designing programs to track and study player injuries for present and future treatments. These examples stand amidst a bevy of tactics the NFL has used to prevent further injury.

Furthermore, why is it that only the NFL is being attacked for brain injury prevention? Why aren't the players and their Union doing more on their own? The NFL is constantly attacked by its union (the "NFLPA) for not doing enough. Well, the NFL seems like the only one doing anything. The bottom line is every job has its risks. The more you want a job the more likely you are to agree to a higher level of risks. NFL players are fortunate to be fulfilling their dreams. In doing so, they need to realize that there are inherent risks, such as suffering injury, by playing the game of football. Although all NFL participants should do what is possible to minimize risks, the players in particular need to recognize the challenges in their dream jobs and take some of their own initiative if more is to be accomplished. Don't just rely on the NFL to go above and beyond for you in your job, take some of your own millions and invest in additional protections.