Concussions

The recognition of concussion syndromes a, their evaluations and return to play guidelines have evolved dramatically since the late 90s. The most recent consensus statement from the third international concussion group held in Zurich is helpful for background http://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/Fulltext/2009/05000/Consensus_Statement_on_Concussion_in_Sport_3rd.1.aspx

And of course, there is the recent DocTalk blog with concussion tidbits
http://www.mddirect.org/blog/index.php?/archives/256-concussion-tidbits.html

 

I agree that no one should be surprised that an NFL player offers this perspective, and the idea that this will gradually get better is wishful thinking.

How does this attitude change? A death on the field. The death of Dale Earnhardt finally prompted NASCAR to take safety more seriously.

 

It has been getting better, but I wonder if that will go far enough. I don't mean the players. There are always going to be plenty of players doing everything they can to play no matter what. The change has to come among the coaches and medical staff.

 

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207802-66.stm

Tony Dorsett the latest to join the lawsuit against the NFL.

 

I heard a former player this week on one of the talk show say that bunkers were actually slight concussions. If that's the case, Yowza. I got those all the time when I played ball. My entire right side went numb for 30 seconds and I ke

 

I had about 15 minutes to edit that AP story for one of our editions yesterday. I would have liked to have at least 2 hours. A little more than half of it ran. Lots of good quotes in that story.

 

Bunkers? You mean burners?

 

Yeah burners. Stupid IPhone. Point is anyone who played high school ball had more than their fair share.

 

No doubt, and that is the culture football needs to change at every level. Won't happen as long as even the NFL keeps trying to shove its head back into the sand.

 

Wait -- you're telling me a piledriver wasn't legal in "real" wrestling?

 

Anyone who has played football from the high school level on up will tell you that someone among the 22 players on the field suffers concussion-like symptoms on nearly every regular play. It doesn't take much to slosh the brain from one side of the skull to the other.

 

That is a wild exaggeration.