By Jordan Mamorsky
The helmet and neck snap back. Like a flimsy rag doll, the player is slammed to the turf. The crowd gasps. A body lies motionless on the ground.
For years, bone-crushing hits were a major part of the NFL’s on-the-field product. However, recently the NFL has focused on rule changes, marketing shifts, and lobbying of state and federal governments in an effort to mitigate the dangerous effects concussions have on the health of amateur and professional football players.
This effort by the NFL has intensified in recent weeks in the wake of the death of former Chicago Bear safety David Duerson. “Please see that my brain is given to the NFL’s brain bank,” said Duerson immediately prior to his tragic suicide on Feb. 17, 2011. 1 Duerson, a 50-year-old former NFL player, reportedly suffered from extreme depression because of a battle with degenerative health conditions caused by cumulative head trauma during his NFL playing career.
“We’re fortunate that we have more than 3.4 million young athletes playing football, and we want to continue to keep our player source strong and keep it large,” said Joe Browne, senior adviser to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. 2 “On this concussion issue we want to make participation fun and safe for all athletes no matter their gender or age.” 3
The NFL’s lobbying efforts have centered on promoting state legislation protecting youth from the dangers of head trauma. The leagues efforts have found traction in many states across the United States including Washington, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. 4 While similar bills have been introduced on the federal level, many believe that the 112th Congress will prefer to leave the concussion issue to state legislatures. 5
The key element of state legislation aimed at tackling the concussion problem is a mandate that a doctor examine and approve that the student athlete re-enter the game after suffering a head injury.
Such legislation is modeled after the “Zackery Lystedt Law,” adopted in Washington State. The Lystedt law prevents a player from re-entering the field of play if he has any concussion-like symptoms until a doctor approves his re-entry. 6 The legislation was named after 13-year-old boy, Zackery Lystedt, who collapsed on the football field and spent 30 days in a coma after he took a hard hit and reentered the game only 15 minutes later. 7
Michael McCann, Professor of Sports Law at Vermont Law School, believes that Lystedt legislation is necessary to remove the cultural stigma of being viewed as not tough enough for failing to re-enter the game after suffering a big hit.
“The legislation can help by encouraging the cultural norm of remaining out of the game,” Professor McCann said. “There will be less of a stigma to doing so. There should be no stigma for a player to remain out of the game after suffering a head injury. The new laws are a small step in mitigating a major problem for the league.”
The Lystedt laws provide a solution to preventing immediate exaggeration of head injuries previously suffered by players. Nonetheless, the legislation does not change the obvious brutality of the game of football.
Unless a major rule change occurs, players will continue to suffer multiple concussions during the course of their respective football careers resulting in serious health concerns. As modern players at the NFL level continue to only become more athletic and stronger the potential for concussions and severe head injuries will only continue to grow exponentially.
Consider this statistic: in the past 10 years alone the number of reported concussions in the NFL has grown from 36 in 2000 to 114 in 2010. 8 While this figure may be due to increased awareness by team doctors, it is undeniable that each year the crop of new players entering the NFL are only better equipped to supply the big hits that result in traumatizing head injuries to fellow players.
Not only is the concussion issue becoming more of a serious health concern for the NFL, but teams and owners are also scrambling to find a way to reduce increased worker’s compensation claims by former players claiming cumulative injury from head trauma. Because of favorable jurisdictional predicates, in California alone, retired players have brought 1,500 workers compensation claims against their former teams in the last two years. 9 In many of these cases, retired players are claiming compensation because of alleged dementia from serious head trauma suffered during their NFL careers. 10
This growing financial concern, coupled with increased public pressure to lessen the health risks for football players from the amateur level upward, has pushed the concussion issue to the forefront of CBA negotiations. The Lystedt laws are a small step towards ensuring fewer stories like David Duerson and more stories of former players living vibrant, healthy lives upon retirement.
1. David Whitley, “We Can’t Abolish Football, So How Do We Tackle Concussions,” THE SPORTING NEWS, February 28, 2011 available at: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2011-02-28/we-cant-abolish-football-so-how-do-we-tackle-concussions
2. Frederic J. Frommer, “NFL Urging States To Pass Youth Concussion Laws,” ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 23, 2011
3. Marc Kovac, “Legislation Tackles Concussions,” THE YOUNGSTOWN VINDICATOR, March 8, 2011, available at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/mar08/legislation-tackles -concussions/
4. “Lystedt Law,” NFL.COM, http://nflhealthandsafety.com/
5. Frederic J. Frommer, “NFL Urging States To Pass Youth Concussion Laws,” ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 23, 2011
6. Sandra Hughes, “Teen Inspires “Shake It Off” Law, CBS NEWS, May 14, 2009 available at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/14/eveningnews/main5014809.shtml
7. Id
8. Sam Fetchero, “NFL: Will the Rate of Concussions Increase If the Season Extends to 18 Games?,” THE BLEACHER REPORT, March 7, 2011 available at: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/629467-will-the-rate-of-concussions-increase-if-the-nfl-extends-the-season-to-18-games.
9. Mark Noonan, “Minding Dementia’s Impact on Worker’s Comp,” RISK & INSURANCE, August 5, 2010, available at: http://www.riskandinsurance.com/story.jsp?storyId=494391032
10. Id.
