NFL needs to get out ahead of concussion problem
From Indianapolis — The rooms were separated by 40 steps. It could have been 40 miles. It might, one day, be 40 lifetimes.
In a hotel ballroom here Friday, in his annual Super Bowl address, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke glowingly about concussion treatment goals.
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In a meeting room around the corner, an hour later, officials from a brain studies center talked somberly about concussion treatment realities.
In the ballroom, there were hundreds of media members.
In the meeting room, there were seven.
“It’s not a sexy topic,” said Chris Nowinski, Sports Legacy Institute chief executive. “Nobody wants to think about this.”
In the ballroom, there was a sparkling stage, glittering lights, the commissioner of a violent sport smoothly selling the masses on his commitment to safety.
In the meeting room, somebody hastily hauled away an NFL lectern before the brain people could begin speaking behind it. Once they began, their words were sometimes drowned out by nearby dance music.
“We’re talking about needing a dramatic culture change,” Nowinski said. “We’re talking about redefining manhood.”
Forty small steps, two vastly different agendas.
The NFL is wrestling with the notion that its best asset is also its deadliest. Realizing that the highlight head shots that popularize the brand might also be killing the players, the league is trying to figure out how to convince its teams to forgo victories to save lives.
The Sports Legacy Institute, in conjunction with Boston University, wants to take the politics out of all this by simply showing that concussions kill — and they have the brains to prove it.
So far, with financial help from the NFL, they have collected more than 100 donated brains from deceased athletes and soldiers. They have tested 80 of those and diagnosed 60 with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a neurological disease linked to concussions and repeated head trauma.
The brains of Dave Duerson and Andre Waters, two former star players who committed suicide, are among those diagnosed with CTE. There are countless other stories of aging players suffering dementia from too many hits to the head.
“Making people understand is like, many years ago, making people understand the connection between smoking and lung cancer,” Nowinski said. “One thing doesn’t come immediately after the other. Players don’t walk off the field and immediately get dementia. Everybody looks fine. Nobody has any idea.”
In the ballroom, hundreds of media members heard Goodell talk about the league’s effort to protect its players, which includes increased penalties for head shots and the utilization of an independent trainer to identify likely concussions when they happen.
In the meeting room, seven media members heard the brain people talk about how that’s just not enough.
This was the season when Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy was leveled by a devastating blow to the head from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ James Harrison, suffering a concussion that was viewed by millions . . . yet he was not even examined for a concussion and was sent back into the game.
This was also the season when Kris Dielman, a San Diego Chargers guard, was knocked silly during a game against the New York Jets, yet remained in the game, and later suffered a seizure on the flight home.