Just recently, a government agency compiled a workplace safety fact sheet which was based on a study of degenerative brain disease in retired NFL players. While many suggestions were made, one comment stood out: a request that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (also C.T.E.), a disease resembling Alzheimer's, be removed from the list of ailments linked to repeated head trauma in NFL players.
Despite spreading awareness and making rule changes regarding head injuries in past years, the NFL was hesitant to accept the link between injuries incurred by NFL players and C.T.E., a serious, life-threatening condition. An NFL doctor, who expressed doubts over the validity of the connection due to a lack of evidence, proposed that a substitute, traumatic brain injury (T.B.I.), be used instead.
Jeffrey Kutcher, a neurologist at the University of Michigan, responded with disapproval, stating that the proposed change was a digression from the results of the original Niosh study.
Richard Ellenbogen, the chairman of the University of Washington’s neurological surgery department and a co-chairman of the NFL’s head, neck and spine committee, also agreed to proceed with caution, stating that T.B.I. was a clinical diagnosis that could be observed in living patients where as C.T.E. is a pathological diagnosis that is relatively difficult to identify.
Whether C.T.E. or T.B.I. is included on the list, it should be noted that several thousand retired NFL players have accused the NFL of purposefully downplaying the dangers of head injuries.
Questions: Do you think it's important to provide information regarding not only concussions but also other serious diseases which stem from repeated head trauma to all football players, especially NFL players? Do you think the NFL is doing more harm or good in spreading awareness while simultaneously hushing severe illnesses in NFL retirees? Should C.T.E. or T.B.I. be placed on the list of diseases / disorders linked to NFL head injuries / concussions? What's more important: medical accuracy or addressing a potentially serious condition?
4 comments:
In response to Keaton's overall question, I personally think that player safety should be the highest priority of the game - in others words, transparency regarding health hazards and taking adequate precautionary measures. That being said, the issue this post highlights raises serious question regarding the viability of football overall. This NPR story discusses this very problem (http://www.npr.org/2013/01/31/170789994/brain-injuries-and-the-nfl-a-fans-5-stages-of-grief), and I was struck by the language found midway through to the effect of "we know that there's a big problem with the way things are now, but all we're doing is implementing minor adjustment to make it seem like we're making deliberate, meaningful progress to a safer program."
These questions are especially intriguing when we look at high school football programs and initiatives like the one that was introduced within the San Mateo Union High School District last year (the concussion waivers). With an apparent national shift toward greater safety awareness, how much longer is the NFL as we know it going to stick around?
I completely agree with Sangwon in regards to the safety of the players. I would hope that the NFL would be forced to add CTE to the list of possible occupational hazards, instead of downgrading this threat to simply TBI. What is important to note are the incentives behind each party as they approach this issue. Why would the NFL want TBI instead of the deadly CTE? In my perspective it's all about the future NFL players; with more risks associated with football at the higher level, there would be some rational people who would not want to have the possibility of hurting themselves seriously for money, fame or glory (this is not meant to say that all football players are irrational). With a deterrent, there may be many talented football players lost because they either never start playing football or stop before the NFL due to the risks. Therefore, in my opinion, splitting hairs over CTE and TBI should not be the issue, as long as players realize the most serious complications that could potentially arise.
Although it seems like people are being more safety cautious, I personally find it unlikely that the NFL will change (in response to Sangwon's question). The Super Bowl this year did in fact have lower ratings than last years, but it was still a highly watched event with " 108.41 million viewers" (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/04/us-superbowl-cbs-ratings-idUSBRE9130P720130204). Additionally, while most countries have undying loyalties to soccer teams, the US seems to have that obsession with Football (for an interesting graphic of football allegiances see this website http://io9.com/5979818/nfl-fans-by-us-county-according-to-facebook). As further proof that Americans are invested deeply in the football culture I would point to the amount of money colleges and high schools are willing to pour into their football programs. With a country so invested in football in so many different ways, I doubt that, even with more research, safety will become more of a concern at the professional level unless the football watching demographic or the public lobbies for it.
First off, I must say that this is not anything new. There have been reports about brain injuries from concussions (especially from sports) in the past. Football players ought to know by now the inherent dangers of playing their sport. There are many trade-offs in playing sports that one should be aware of. Still, I do feel it is best to provide information about the dangers of concussions if there exists a significant ignorance about this issue. But again, this shouldn't be anything new. Football isn’t exactly the safest sport.
The NFL really ought to address this problem since it affects the physical health of the players. I agree with Sangwon that the players' safety should come first. The NFL should not "hush" illnesses in NFL retirees because the players ought to understand the impact (pun not intended) concussions have. In sports, it is important that the players can have fun and be safe at the same time. As the saying goes, "it's only fun until someone gets hurt."
It has been noted that concussions might not be the other reasons for these brain problems. This article puts out the suggestion that drugs and alcohol are possible factors that affect brain performance during games. Another reason is that perhaps depression from the loss of money or family members negatively affects players’ long-term performance. Still, I suspect concussions are the major culprit in this issue.
Finally, regarding Karthryn’s statement on the football culture, I feel that Americans really should care more about the well being of the football players they are so entertained by on television or in the stadium. Safety is definitely, though unfortunately, second to the thrill Americans get from watching players tackle and injure each other. Of course, there is the risk for injury in all sports. But perhaps more time should be taken for football if concussions do significantly lead to long-term brain damage.
Here are a series of passages regarding concussions I found interesting to read, though tiresome.
I definitely think the well being of the players involved is a very important issue that should be monitored by the NFL and the players union. That being said, the NFL has already done a lot and to protect players and this has not been taken well by many fans and players. They have already created many rules protecting recievers and quarterbacks that have, changed many of the dynamics of the game.
Brain injuries should definitely not be taken lightly, and the NFL should take measure to prevent concussions and things like TBI and CTE as much as possible, but football is a sport that thrives off of big hits and hard collisions. Taking away much of the action will slowly lose much of the fan base.
A couple of weeks ago, just after the NFL put a new rule on the way running backs could run, Raven's safter Bernard Pollard explained that he believed that with the constant changing of the rules, the NFL would cease to exist in 30 years (http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8889447/bernard-pollard-baltimore-ravens-nfl-not-exist-30-years). If that is how the players are feeling, it would be strange to put rules on people who don't even want them.
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