Catena1

JuliaCatena
BenHenderson
RhetoricandCivicLifeII
14April2016
HelmetConcussionSensorsCouldHelpNFLConcussionCrisis
SundaysformostAmericansinvolvespendingtimewithfamilyandwatchingNFL
football.ItisthetraditionalAmericanpastimethateveryonehasexperiencedbefore,whetherin
theirlivingroomorwatchingfromthebleachers.SuperBowl2015attractedover112million
viewers,makingitoneofthemostwatchedtelevisioneventsthatyear.TheNFLmadea
combinedrecordof$7.24billioninrevenuefromall32teamsintheleague.In2005,the
averageincomeofanNFLteamwas$82.4million.Thisgrewto$226.4millionby2014(Brady).
Asasociety,Americansworshipthissportandtheplayerswithoutgivingtheviolent
natureofthesportasecondthought.Theviolentnatureofthegameisthecauseofplayers
beingrepeatedlysufferingfromheadinjuriesandtrauma.Repeatedheadtraumacanleadto
chronicheadaches,difficultyconcentrating,depression,irritabilityandimpulsiveness(
Dekosky,
Ikonomovic,Gandy)
.Thesesymptomscanshowimmediatelyafterthehitbutcanalsolinger
monthsoryearsafteratraumaticbraininjury.
TheNFLconcussioncrisishasalwaysbeenanissue,butitreallycameintothespotlight
startinginthe1990swhendoctorsandspecialistsstartedtopublishresearchontheeffectsof
repeatedheadtrauma.In1994,starquarterbackoftheDallasCowboys,TroyAikman,tooka
kneetotheheadandendeduphavingtobehospitalized.Afterherecoveredheclaimedthathe
hadnorecollectionofanyofthegame.LaterthatyeartheNFLcommissionerPaulTagliabue
dismissedtheconcussionsconcernsclaimingthatthemediawasmakingabigdealoutof
nothing.Astimewenton,morestudiesfromtheAmericanAcademyofNeurologyandother


Catena2

sourcesbegantobereleasedonthetopicofheadinjuriesinfootball.Accordingtoconcussion
expertBennetOmalu,90%ofNFLplayershaveabraindiseasemorespecifically,theyhave
beendiscoveredtohaveCTE,ChronicTraumatic
Encephalopathy(Gregory).CTEisa
degenerativediseaseofthebrainthatiscausedbyrepeatedheadtraumaandhasrecently
beenfoundinmostlyathletes.ThiswasfirstdiscoveredinthebrainscanoftheplayerMike
Webster,whoclaimedfootballgavehimdementia.Websterlatercommittedsuicideafteralong
battlewithdepression.
Sincethe1990s,sixplayershavecommittedsuicide,andastudyoftheirbrains
determinedtheyallhadCTE.Inanotherstudyoftraumaticbraininjury,Acute,singleincident
traumaticbraininjuryisfoundin2030%ofAlzheimer'sandParkinson'spatients(
Dekosky,
Ikonomovic,Gandy
).Inthe2000s,theNFLbegantofundresearchintotheeffectsofrepeated
headtrauma.Theleaguealsobegantoinstilltougherconcussionprotocolsandchangedthe
rulesofthegameslightlytomakeplayersmoresafe.In2013,basedontherecommendation
fromtheHead,NeckandSpinecommitteeoftheleague,theNFLemployedaconcussion
protocolthatincludedasymptomchecklist,alimitedneurologicalexam,andcoordinationand
balancetests(Ezell).Despitethisstricterprotocol,concussionsandtheirdiagnosisofthemare
stillaproblemintheNFL.In2015,therewere271diagnosedconcussionsduringpreseason
andregularseasongamesandpractices,provingheadinjuriesarestillaveryprevalent
probleminprofessionalfootball(NFLConcussionFastFacts).Withtheconvincingevidenceof
thelongtermeffectsofbraininjuriessurfacing,theNFLmustrethinkthewayconcussionsare
treatedanddiagnosed.
Theleague'sconcussionprotocolshaveimproveddrasticallysincethe90sbutthereis
stillmuchroomforimprovement.AccordingtoofficialNFLrules,ifaplayerissuspectedtohave
aconcussion,hemustberemovedfromthefieldandimmediatelyhaveaphysicalexam.


Catena3

AccordingtotheMaddenRule,ifaplayerisdiagnosedwithaconcussion,heisnotallowedon
thefieldortotalktothepressuntilmedicallycleared.Thephysicalexamsareconductedby
professionalphysicians,andsometimestheteamswillbringinneurospecialists.Eventhough
theprotocolshavebeendrasticallyimproved,thereisalimittotheknowledgeonecanobtain
aboutahitfromjustaphysicalexam,whichcouldcauseaplayertobesentbackintothegame
withaconcussion(
NFLHead,NeckandSpine)
.Tosolvethisproblem,theNFLneedstoturn
theirattentiontotheadvancedtechnologythatisavailabletothemtoimprovethedetectionof
concussions.
Toinsurethattheplayersaregettingamoreaccuratediagnosis,theNFLshouldslowly
implementtheconcussionmonitoringsystemInSitebyRiddellthatputssensorsinthehelmets
andsendsdataabouttheseverityofhitstomonitorsonthesidelines.Riddellalreadysupplies
twothirdsoftheNFLwithhelmets.Beforethe2014seasonwasreadyforkickoff,Riddell
releasedtheirSpeedFlexhelmet,aregularhelmetwiththesensoralreadybuiltin.Thedeviceis
simple:ifaplayersustainsamoreforcefulthannormalhit,thesidelineswillbenotifiedviaa
wirelessmonitor.Thereareafewothercompaniesthatmakesuchsensors,butitcoststhe
averagedivisiononeteam$60,000,sotheyarenotwidelyused.TheseRiddellhelmetsare
immenselycheaper,comingtoatotalcostofonly$13,000foran85playerteam.The
concussionmonitorshavebeenimplementedatdivisiononeschoolsincludingLSU,Alabama
andUCLA.
AccordingtoVirginiaTechEngineeringProfessorStefanDuma,
thesensorsare
extremelyimportantforhavinganideahowmanytimesaplayerwashit,howhardtheywere
hit,thatshugeintermsofansweringtheultimatequestionthatwerealltryingtofigureout.How
muchistoomuch?Yourenevergoingtoanswerthatunlessyoucanquantifythatexposure


Catena4

(Kaufman).
Coachesarenotifiedimmediatelyofapotentialdebilitatinghit.Thisway,theplayer
canbeimmediatelyevaluatedwithevidenceotherthanjustaphysicalexam.
Therearemanyyouthfootballprogramsthatusethesesensorssincekidsareata
greaterriskforbraininjurybecausetheirbrainsarestilldeveloping.Coachescanthushave
moreconfidenceinthesafetyoftheirplayers.Oftheprogramsthathaveimplementedthe
helmetsensors,thefeedbackfromtheparentsandcoacheshasbeenpositive.Danny
Crossmanworkedwithyouthsportscoachestodevelopasimilarconcussionsensorhelmetfor
youthsportsprograms.Crossmansaidsince[thesesensors]cantrack
themagnitude,
location,andfrequencyofhitsovertime,parentsorathletictrainerscanexaminewhether
unusualbehaviorscorrespondwithtackles.Wegetalotofcommentsfrommomsthatthey
madeitthroughfootballseasonbecauseof[thesensors](Eagleson).
Thesechangeswouldbefairlyeasytoimplementandwoulddetectheadinjuriesintheir
earlystages.Thesemonitorsalsogivecoachesandteamphysicianstangibleevidenceofa
hardhitinsteadofjusteyeballingitonthefield.Also,theinstallationofthissystemisactually
quiteinexpensive.EachRiddellhelmetwiththesensorcosts$150andthemonitoringsystem
costs$200.Thiscomesdowntoonly$150perplayer.Withateamthatbringsinanaverageof
$226.4millionaseasonandhastobuyhelmetsanyway,thesesensorhelmetswouldbeasolid
investment(Flam).Afewyearsago,NFLactuariesestimatedthat$675millionwouldbe
enoughtocoverfuturelawsuits.Thismoneywassetasideinaseparatefundforthispurpose.
AccordingtoNFLactuaries,about5,900retiredplayerswilldevelopcompensableinjuries.Of
theseplayers,60percentareexpectedtofileclaimsagainsttheNFL.ThiswillcosttheNFLan
estimated900milliondollarsinfuturelawsuits,$225millionmorethantheleagueestimated.
Withtheemploymentoftheseconcussionmonitors,therewillbelesschanceofaseverehit
goingunnoticedandthereforepossiblebraintraumagoingunnoticed.Withclosermonitoringof


Catena5

theseverityofhits,themedicalstaffcanmoreaccuratelyandquicklyrespondtoapossible
concussion.Thismoreimmediateandmoreinformedresponsewillleadtolessundiagnosed
episodesofbraintraumainplayersandcouldendupsavingtheNFLmoneyfromfuture
lawsuitsdealingwithpossibleundiagnosedbraintrauma(Belson).
Earlydetectioncouldpreventfurtherbraininjuriesandpossiblypreventfuturelawsuits.
Justlastyear,ajudgeruledthattheNFLmustpay$1billionover65yearstoretiredplayers
whoseliveshavebeenaffectedbybraintrauma(JudgeOks65YearDeal).Thesehelmets
couldpreventtheaccidentalreleaseofaplayerbackintoagameafterabighit.Thesesensors
alsoprovidethecoachesandanalystswithquantifiabledataofhits.Soeventhoughthesensor
themselvescannotpreventconcussions,thedatafromthemcouldgiveinformationaboutthe
mostdamagingstylesofhits,andpenaltiescouldbeinplacetodeterthisdangerouscontact
withotherplayers.Althoughthereisonlyaboutadecadeofresearchbehindthesehelmets,
teamsthathavealreadyinstalledthemaregivingpositivefeedback.Theimplementationof
thesemonitorscouldbedoneovertime,installingtheminthehelmetsofacoupleteamsa
season.ThiswouldgivetheNFLtimetomeasuretheworthofthesesensorsandgivethe
teamstimetotestthemoutattheprofessionallevelwhichisconsideredmoreaggressivethan
thehighschoolandcollegiatelevel.
Concussionsinsportsisabigproblemfacingourculture.Notonlyisitaproblemonthe
professionallevelbutalsoforyouthinvolvedincontactsports,whosebrainsarestilldeveloping.
Today,concussionsareamajorconcernintheNFLaftermuchevidenceofbraindiseasein
formerplayershavesurfaced.Theinstallationofimpactsensorsinfootballhelmetsisastepin
therightdirectiontotacklingthisissue,Thesesensorsallowforfasteractionuponbraininjuries
andprovidemoreevidenceoftraumatotheexistingphysicalevidence.Thesehelmetshavethe
potentialtoimprovetheoverallsafetyofthegame.


Catena6

WorksCited
Belson,Ken."BrainTraumatoAffectOneinThreePlayers,N.F.L.Agrees."
TheNewYork
Times
.TheNewYorkTimes,12Sept.2014.Web.13Apr.2016.
Brady,James."TheNFLBroughtinEnoughMoneyLastYeartoPayfor10PlutoMissions."
SBNation.com
.VoxMedia,20July2015.Web.8Apr.2016.
Dekosky,StevenT.,MilosD.Ikonomovic,andSamGandy."TraumaticBrainInjuryFootball,
Warfare,andLongTermEffects."
NewEnglandJournalofMedicine
363.14(2010):n.
pag.MassachusettsMedicalSociety,22Sept.2010.Web.
Eagleson,Holly."IsKeepingKidsSafeFromConcussionsasSimpleasaHighTechSensor?"
TakePart
.TakePart,n.d.Web.13Apr.2016.
Ezell,Lauren."Timeline:TheNFLsConcussionCrisis."
FRONTLINE.
PBS,8Oct.2013.Web.
10Apr.2016.
Flam,Lisa."HelmetSensorsMayHelpDetectConcussionsinYoungFootballPlayers."
TODAY.com
.NBCNews,n.d.Web.8Apr.2016.
Gregory,Sean."ConcussionExpert:Over90%ofNFLPlayersHaveBrainDisease."
Time.

Time,22Dec.2015.Web.8Apr.2016.
"JudgeOk's65YearDealOverNFLConcussion."
ESPN
.ESPNInternetVentures,22Apr.
2015.Web.9Apr.2016.
Kaufman,Joey."UCLAJoinsProgramUsingHelmetSensorsThatMonitorHeadTraumaand
BuildDataforConcussionProblem."
TheOrangeCountyRegister.
TheOrangeCounty
Register,22Dec.2015.Web.10Apr.2016.
"NFLConcussionFastFacts."
CNN.
CableNewsNetwork,15Mar.2016.Web.9Apr.2016.
NFLHead,NeckandSpineCommittee'sConcussionProtocolRegardingDiagnosisand
ManagementofConcussion.
NFL,n.d.PDF.


Catena7