How to stop concussions and brain damage?

[trj]

The settlement in the concussion lawsuit against the NFL has completely gone under the radar.

NFL, ex-players reach deal in concussion lawsuit - CNN.com


i am starting to wonder where football will be in 30 or 40 years, it seems as if more and more parents are not allowing their sons to play football. At first I thought it was just paranoid moms, but it is coming from both parents. Saying "paranoid moms" or using the word "paranoid" probably not right words to use I think everyone gets where I am going.

 

[SPGroth]

I too coach youth football. We spent the first two plus weeks of camp teaching properly blocking and tackling techniques. Making sure that there heads were up. Seeing what they were going to hit. Granted, that all has to be performed when the pads come on and you start to hit other people.

Additionally, my wife works with several high school teams. The biggest concern is returing someone back into competition too soon after they have sustained a concussion. This is where coaches, officials, and administrators must assist the Athletic Trainers to look for symptoms of a concussion. If they believe that someone is concussed, they need to be tested by trained medical personnel (Doctor, Athletic Trainer). They have implemented IMPACT testing. All athletes are required to take a baseline test BEFORE they begin any contact. If a player is concussed, they are required to sit out until they are symptom free. Once they are symptom free, they are required to retake the IMPACT test. The player is not allowed by on the court/field/mat until they score a certain percentage of their baseline test.

I understand that the OP is looking for ways to prevent concussions in the first place, which IMPACT testing can not do, but this type of analysis can be used as a tool to determine when an athletes brain is ready to get back into the action.

 

[uihawk82]

Instead of completely removing helmets, going back to leather helmets.
How about removing helmets for the o-line and d-line?

Occasional concussions are bad, for sure. But what really concerns me are linemen banging heads on every single play.

How about increasing the number of roster positions, then limiting the amount of plays a lineman can be on the field for? I don't know, just brainstorming here.

Help me out people.

Those are some good ideas but maybe lessening the contact and amount of pre-season hits and let's get rid of the pre-season games. I know this is a big revenue killer but a few scrimmages between teams not under the big spotlight of TV would let player personnel people know who to cut.

These veterans have to go to these camps and bash heads with each other every year to prove they can still make the squad.

 

[uihawk82]

Here is another idea, since force = mass times acceleration and they are not going to get away from big massive players lets at least take away the neutral zone before the snap and put the offensive and defensive lineman within inches of each other.

This will eliminate much of the acceleration that occurs at the snap of the ball. Now you have nearly two yards between players heads and it allows them time to explosively accelerate towards each other.

How does that sound.

 

[uihawk82]

I agree. It is the sudden change in direction that causes the brain to bang against the inside of the skull. I think the NCAA could take out insurance policies against season/career ending knee injuries, to compensate for playing the game with contact below the shoulders. Remember, back in the 80's-ish, it seemed like everyone was suffering careerending knee injuries and the tackles started going to the shoulder level.

Much of the knee injury issue and the torn ligaments was too long of spikes and the artificial turf used at the time.

That artificial turf in the 70's-90's was like velcro, if you were running or planting against the grain there was zero give and all the deceleration force went right the to weakest spot which was the joints.

There were hundreds if not thousands of non-contact ACL tears on that old astro turf.

Here is how good a coach and nice a coach Hayden Fry was because if you remember he hated astro turf and one time his hawk team wore tennis type shoes basically against tulsa and lost because they were skating all over the field. But they probably didnt have any non-contact knee injuries which were common with Dbacks stopping their backpedal action.

 

[uihawk82]

There have also been a lot less cervical area spinal cord injuries in the last decade since the heads-up type tackling training has been used. There was a time when head-down, crown/top of the helmet was how many players made their tackles and livings. That is asking to be paralyzed.

It is bad enough that it happens by accident.

 

[atxhawk]

Honestly, the only way to truly prevent concussions and brain damage is to eliminate the sport completely. This also goes for basketball, soccer, wrestling. . . basically any sport where there is any chance of contact or impact. Without going that far, I'm not really sure what the answer is. Would going back to the old leather helmets help? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[uihawk82]

The only way to really minimize concussions is to change the acceleration or more accurately the deceleration of the brain part of the equation. Maybe larger size helmets with some space-aged material that will absorb and give, which would perhaps lessen the deceleration.

The NFL profits are in the multi-billions of dollars as is college football. If someone put a huge monetary reward or mandate to use safer helmets then the research would be done.

 

[tm3308]

Honestly, the only way to truly prevent concussions and brain damage is to eliminate the sport completely. This also goes for basketball, soccer, wrestling. . . basically any sport where there is any chance of contact or impact. Without going that far, I'm not really sure what the answer is. Would going back to the old leather helmets help? Maybe, maybe not.

It won't, but will dramatically increase the number of skull fractures, either from incidental contacts (like when guys accidentally get kicked in the head in the process of a tackle) or from hitting the ground.

Concussions occur least frequently at the youth level, because those players simply aren't big enough and don't move fast enough to do the kind of damage you see in players in older age groups. It's all about momentum, and your brain is like a driver who isn't wearing a seatbelt while frequently engaging in head-on-collisions. And there's nothing we can do to change that.

 

[tm3308]

The only way to really minimize concussions is to change the acceleration or more accurately the deceleration of the brain part of the equation. Maybe larger size helmets with some space-aged material that will absorb and give, which would perhaps lessen the deceleration.

The NFL profits are in the multi-billions of dollars as is college football. If someone put a huge monetary reward or mandate to use safer helmets then the research would be done.

Maybe something like this would help with the plays where a player bangs his head off the turf, but I don't know how much. You can really only go so big with a helmet, and there's only so much time for the deceleration to take place. I feel like there's probably a balance where slowing it down too much might open a player up to other types of injuries

 

[tm3308]

The only way to really minimize concussions is to change the acceleration or more accurately the deceleration of the brain part of the equation. Maybe larger size helmets with some space-aged material that will absorb and give, which would perhaps lessen the deceleration.

The NFL profits are in the multi-billions of dollars as is college football. If someone put a huge monetary reward or mandate to use safer helmets then the research would be done.

Maybe something like this would help with the plays where a player bangs his head off the turf, but I don't know how much. You can really only go so big with a helmet, and there's only so much time for the deceleration to take place. I feel like there's probably a balance where slowing it down too much might open a player up to other types of injuries

 

[hawkfan1319]

Soccer. Can make more money and have a safer career. Most will scoff at this idea but I doubt I will let my kids play the game. Even though I love football.

 

[HerkyDude]

Make players wear a ball and chain, ya that's the ticket

 

[blubberhawk]

Don't play football. It's just like boxing or UFC. You know going in that it's hazardous to your health. Even with all the money these NFL guys are making, I personally don't think it's worth it. Would you rather be able to walk after turning 50 (or be able to count to 3), or make a couple million? Most long term NFL guys can't even function without copious amounts of pain meds. The NFL's cover-up of what happens to ex-players bodies is unbelievable.

Hell, most of the country THAT DIDN'T play football are taking meds for something after 50. Football is a high risk, high reward, profession. Get in, make your money and get out.
Same with Rodeo, Auto Racing, boxing, MMA.
They all know the risks involved.

 

[blubberhawk]

Soccer. Can make more money and have a safer career. Most will scoff at this idea but I doubt I will let my kids play the game. Even though I love football.

Just curious, are you going to let your kids drive a car?
I feel safer with my kid being at football practice than if he were out driving around like his classmates that aren't out..

 

[tm3308]

Soccer. Can make more money and have a safer career. Most will scoff at this idea but I doubt I will let my kids play the game. Even though I love football.

Football has more concussions in total, because more kids are playing football by the time concussions are a legitimate concern for an athlete. But soccer has a very high concussion rate, among the highest of all sports. Football just gets more of the publicity.

 

[ICHawk24]

Concussion Statistics for High School Sports | MomsTeam

Concussion rates are increasing in high school sports.

The current rates per 100,000 athletic exposures (an AE is one athlete participating in one organized high school athletic practice or competition, regardless of the amount of time played), according to the two most recent studies [8,10] are as follows:

Football: 64 -76.8
Boys' ice hockey: 54
Girl's soccer: 33
Boys' lacrosse: 40 - 46.6
Girls' lacrosse: 31 - 35
Boys' soccer: 19 - 19.2

 

[Xerxes]

For the NFL, get players off HGH and require mouth guards for all players.

 

[HawkAttack]

What about that foam helmet cover Don Beebe wore for a time with the Bills? :

I don't remember if he wore it because of concussions or something else but regardless, it seems to me better helmet design and proper tackling technique are the only answers outside of outlawing the sport itself. I think a big problem is that for decades referees at all levels basically stopped calling Spearing penalties so defenders got accustomed to launching themselves like torpedoes in order to make 'highlight' hits and to physically intimidate/injure ball carriers (although ball carriers sometimes do it too).


Just spitballing since I have no idea if the Beebe helmet would offer extra protection against concussions.

 

[okeefe4prez]

What about that foam helmet cover Don Beebe wore for a time with the Bills? :

I don't remember if he wore it because of concussions or something else but regardless, it seems to me better helmet design and proper tackling technique are the only answers outside of outlawing the sport itself. I think a big problem is that for decades referees at all levels basically stopped calling Spearing penalties so defenders got accustomed to launching themselves like torpedoes in order to make 'highlight' hits and to physically intimidate/injure ball carriers (although ball carriers sometimes do it too).


Just spitballing since I have no idea if the Beebe helmet would offer extra protection against concussions.

I don't think so, brah. Issue is the sudden change of direction. Even with a big pad on a helmet, the skull still decelerates rapidly when a player's head hits the ground or a body part on another player. That deceleration is what drives the squash into the skull, which is where the concussions come from. If Beebe's thing worked, it would have been rolled out already. It's similar to how Earnhardt (allegedly) died. Sudden deceleration is very dangerous.