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The concussion dilemma in football

By Dan Heaning

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As Miami Dolphins tight end Dion Sims lay motionless on the field with a concussion after diving to catch a badly thrown Ryan Tannehill pass against Washington last weekend, a cruel reminder should have set in for football fans watching the contest.  The concussion dilemma in football is still quite prevalent in the National Football League. While Sims injury did not come back contact with another player, it doesn’t make the matter any less serious.

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Including Sims’ injury, Forbes counted nine concussions that forced players out of action in just week one alone. Though they didn’t tally exactly how many players were sidelined and then returned.  Frontline counted 12 head injuries total in the entire preseason bringing the unofficial count to 21 so far in this young season.

If the NFL averages nine concussions every week of the regular season, the total would be 144 head injuries not including the preseason or postseason. It would be a sharp increase from 2014’s total sum. Also, with preseason injuries factored in, it would be slightly above 2013’s 152 count. However, it would not even touch the 171 concussions suffered in 2012.

The 2015 NFL Health and Safety Report reports that concussions have declined by 35 percent since 2012, but the NFL’s math is misleading as it does not factor in preseason or playoff games.  Frontline combined the injuries accumulated throughout the entire NFL slate of games and found concussions went down by 28 percent instead. Still declining, but not as starkly as the league is leading people to believe.

While Frontline found total concussions are declining, the rate isn’t going down for everyone. Cornerback head injuries increased from 2013 to 2014 while linebacker concussions have grown every season from 2012 to 2014. Offensive tackle head injuries have also gone up in the same time span.

These numbers suggest that while head injuries are decreasing for some, especially for the skill positions of quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. But the figures  are not fixing the core issue.

With rules in place to protect wide receivers from defenseless hits, they were still concussed more than any other offensive player last season. Running backs had as many concussions as offensive tackles (11).

It is on the defensive side of the ball where most of the concern lies. The NFL lacks many rules to protect defenders and it shows in the concussion numbers.

Cornerbacks are concussed more than any other position with safeties and linebackers not far behind. The total concussions suffered just by linebackers and the secondary make up 47 percent of all the head injuries sustained last season.

And now Frontline reports that 87 of 91 former NFL players tested positive for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. That’s 96 percent of NFL players whose brains have been studied have had the degenerative disease that’s linked to cause memory loss, depression and dementia.

It was also reported that 79 percent of professional, semi professional, collegiate, and high school players tested endured CTE as well.

That last number is the one everyone should pay particular attention to. A popular defense against these reports is that football players get paid millions so they’re well compensated for the punishment they take.

College and high school players are paid nothing. Yet, high school and college players have died on the field, whether in a game or practice, from head injuries.

Will McKamey, a freshman playing football for United States Naval Academy, died while in a coma after a hit to the head rendered McKamey unconscious. The Capital Gazette reported that a blood vessel ripped in his brain.

But with every report of head injuries being linked to football comes the blow back. That the science isn’t fully known or that the changes needed to end concussions would result in the death of the game itself.

This isn’t a post to call for the demise of football. Far from it.

It’s a call to action for football fans to stop the descent into a blood thirsty mob comparable only to the Ancient Romans who watched gladiators do battle. We’re not far from that stage and some argue we’ve surpassed that level of brutality.

This isn’t about the wussification of football or the United States. It’s about keeping a game we all love around and safe so it has a future.

It’s about bringing this game into reality because we, as a society, cannot sit by and watch kids and young adults die on the field. Once is too much and it’s happened too many times already.

It’s about preventing grown men, who have indeed made a decision, from losing their essence. The brain is what makes the person truly who they are. If they lose that, no amount of money can bring it back. It’ll be gone and all that’s left is pain. And it usually ends horrifically, like the case of legendary linebacker Junior Seau. A man gone at 43 years, leaving behind a heartbroken family.

It’s easy in today’s fantasy football world to not think of these players as people. The word “fantasy” is right there. But in reality, many of these men are or will suffer not just physically, but mentally for the work they performed on the field.

We, as a society, cannot allow that to continue. We can’t continue to ignore this as an “inconvenient truth.” We have to demand larger strides to make football safe.

Following the path we’re on will lead us to a crossroad: the end of football or the death of our collective civility.

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