Concussion protocol.
If you"re a fan of the National Football League, as I am, you are very familiar with this relatively new term regarding players" long-term health and the game"s safety upgrades.
In a nutshell, it"s a five-stage process that players follow as they recover from a concussion. And make no mistake, players get concussions on a regular basis during practice and games. It"s as inevitable as Jay Cutler throwing a mind-boggling interception or a strip-sack-fumble by the Bears beleaguered quarterback.
The NFL"s concussion protocol is a four-page document compiled by the league"s head, neck and spine committee, with contributions from the NFL Players Association, the NFL Physicians Society and the Professional Football Athletic Trainers Society.
It essentially outlines five steps that a concussed player must pass before being allowed to play again in a game at full contact. Nevertheless, it"s not that clear-cut in real-life situations, as the protocol details state.
"Each player and each concussion is unique," the document states. "Therefore, there is no set timeframe for return to participation or for the progression through the steps of the graduated exercise program set forth below. Recovery time will vary from player to player."
Because of this wiggle room, some players can be out for a few days while other players can be out for weeks or months. This, however, is unlikely because of a cold, sobering truth about the NFL players want to play at almost any cost, and NFL team owners want them to play at almost any cost. Period.
It"s a multi-billion dollar business that has become a near religious experience each Sunday in this country. This fact can never be forgotten, not even by a concussed player or a concussed fan base.
After years of debates, lawsuits and even the deaths of former players, this already contentious issue is back on the field of play with "Concussion," the controversial movie released on Christmas Day.
Starring Will Smith and Alec Baldwin, the film dramatizes the game-changing discovery by forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu. He explored chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in deceased NFL players. The film shows Omalu"s tireless efforts to expose his findings to fans, the league and mainstream America.
None of us wanted to hear it, or believe it.
NFL players are our modern-day gladiators, and they act like it. It"s on them to first decide to play the game, and then to continue playing after the first tackle, the first injury or the first concussion. Rarely do any of them choose to quit on their own unless their deteriorating body dictates it.
When the family of late Chicago Bears Super Bowl champion Dave Duerson sued the NFL, essentially blaming the league for his suicide, I felt badly for the family. But I still didn"t entirely agree with the collective lawsuit, accusing the NFL of knowing the harmful effects of the repeated head concussions Duerson absorbed as a player. And also not sharing such crucial medical information with him or other players.
When I first wrote about this issue in 2011, many readers slammed me for not entirely blaming the league for its greedy negligence. I do blame the league, which is based on greed as much as the game itself, but I also blame the players.
At the NFL level, players know full well the obvious dangers of the dangerous sport, including multiple concussions. They don"t care. Or at least they don"t care enough to stop playing on their own.
They"re addicted to the game, the accolades, the money and the fame. And, with many of them, they pay for it with their body, their health and sometimes their life. We"ve watched their sad tales of severe memory loss, crippling brain disease and allegations of suicides caused by CTE. The new film only dramatizes what most of us already know.
A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury that changes the way the brain normally works. It"s typically caused by bump, blow or jolt to the head. And even getting "dinged" or having "your bell rung," as they say in the NFL, can be serious business.
Most concussions occur without loss of consciousness. And players who"ve had a concussion in their career have an increased risk for another concussion, and another, and another.
Many of our retired gridiron heroes have come forward to say they have some form of brain damage from their glory days. Joe Namath, Brett Favre, Tony Dorsett, Terry Bradshaw, Harry Carson, the list goes on and it will continue to grow.
I have no pity for them.
Deep down, even those old-school players knew football couldn"t really be "safe" (especially with such little padding, ill-equipped protection and faulty helmets). Still, they wanted to believe it was, like all of us want to believe our own self-serving delusions and rationalizations.
As with most things in life, this issue comes down to personal responsibility. It"s like smokers who blame cigarettes or obese people who blame fast food or, ahem, newspaper columnists who complain of not making much money or losing their job in a dying industry.
On this football Sunday, let"s remember what former Michigan State University football coach Duffy Daugherty and Geen Bay Packers legend Vince Lombardi are both credited with saying: "Football is not a contact sport, it"s a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport." End of description.
And with this truism, the players" passion for the sport collides with their own self-preservation. Deep down, every NFL player knows this fact yet they try their best to pretend it"s not true, even these days amid so much evidence of proof.
Maybe they should consider a new term I"m coining today longevity protocol. They won"t. As a fan, I"m fine with it. They collide at dangerous speeds and angles while I watch and cheer.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-davich-concussion-protocol-st-1227-20151225-story.html
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