Add in bicycle riding, skate boarding, snow skiing, hiking, and just generally living life, it's all a risk

Will Smith said that he probably will not be getting invitations to the Super Bowl any longer.

The game of life has lots of things that can be dangerous especially for youth. Let's just bubble wrap our young men and keep them inside playing video games from the time they are 3-18 and see what happens.

Coach Brophy posts a good rundown in his blog, but at the end of the day the issue is always going to be primarily in the NFL. The body can adjust to the types of impacts made on a youth, middle, high, and even college level. But when you have "super" athletes in the NFL having collisions, the body was never designed to and cannot take the force impact...that whole physics thing. Concussions will ALWAYS be an issue. Helmets can help stop HEAD trauma, but will NEVER eliminate concussions (brain trauma). The brain is a free floating organ and when it's set in motion (you moving) and the head is violently stopped abruptly (mostly when head hits the ground-rare are the concussions from head to head due to the neck being a flexible area for the head to bobble or move upon) then you have the brain being stopped by the skull...and thus the concussion. Helmets CANNOT prevent this...nothing can. Same reason you can get concussions riding your bike, playing ANY ground based sports, skateboarding, trampoline bouncing....etc. The only way to stop a concussion...don't move. My concern as a dad when my son plays little league has ZERO to do with head to head contact, but rather his head hitting the ground. Exponentially higher chance for a concussion than any head to head contact. Even in head to head contact you usually see a neck issue, which is a subject in itself. Will the movie change football...probably not. Those who have concerns would more than likely have not allowed their child to play anyway, but what I find odd is how the spotlight is more on football than soccer....far more concussions in that sport. In fact the US soccer commission has banned heading the ball in youth soccer...didn't see that one hit the national headlines did we??

If you put the mushroom on the outside of the helmet it voids the helmet.. The precautions and testing for high school and middle school players is much greater than before. Coaches know that the steps to follow when a player shows signs

Even knowing all that I know about the risks, I would still do almost absolutely anything I could to go back in time and go to a HS that had football. Big empty hole in my life.

Concussions can and will happen in all sports. The problem is those who are participating with concussions or after having multiple concussions.

HS/MS Athletic Trainers have to be better trained in this area. Most are poor in their evaluations and are ultra conservative. Had 2 bad experiences around this. One was in a National Championship game!

Honestly, I have not followed this too closely because I think some of the former players jumped on board with something they new the effects of. Who in the hell didn't know repeated blows to the head may cause trauma? Seriously? Is the basic premise of this movie that a doctor confirmed this and the NFL tried to keep him quiet?

The game has changed over the past few years. I am not sure what this movie will do to change that.

HS/MS Athletic Trainers have to be better trained in this area. Most are poor in their evaluations and are ultra conservative. Had 2 bad experiences around this. One was in a National Championship game!

 

Seriously? Please explain your rationale to say that MOST are poor in their evaluations. What medical expertise do you base this on?

HS/MS Athletic Trainers have to be better trained in this area. Most are poor in their evaluations and are ultra conservative. Had 2 bad experiences around this. One was in a National Championship game!

Ultra conservative? As a coach you better be ultra conservative to protect the kid and your own tail. If a kid shows any signs he is done for at least a week.

Bottom line is if you're a coach and a kid shows any sign of concussion you had better sit him/her or your butt could be criminally liable. State law says if a concussion is suspected by a coach the kid can't play again until the concussion is ruled out by a medical professional (doctor, nurse or certified athletic trainer), and if it's determined by a professional that a concussion has occurred he/she must be cleared in writing by a physician to return to play after recovery.

 

I'm still curious what ultra-conservative means.

I have heard a few interviews from former nfl players, coaches, agents, and a doctor. They all basically said the same thing. This movie will make an impact at the youth level, but won't do anything for the nfl and college football.

 

Their point being this: what sport replaces nfl and college football? Biggest sporting event in the US is the Super Bowl. College football is more popular than ever, and cherry on top of it all: parents that say they won't let their kids play are still going to games and throwing parties at home when their team is on TV.

How UC's innovative work is helping to prevent concussion

 

Attached is a link to an article on Cincinnati.com that discusses a couple of different concussion prevention studies happening at the University of Cincinnati. Several large D1's and a few NFL teams have been using technology called Dynavision D2 to help prevent and treat concussions as well as improve the overall peripheral vision of athletes in a variety of sports including football. As documented in this article the UC and other programs have seen significant results in the reduction of concussions when this technology is used on a consistent basis. The main premise of the technology is that by improving the athletes peripheral vision it helps them avoid more collisions reducing their exposure to head trauma. This technology is also used to treat concussion and other brain related injuries like strokes to improve neurological functionality. There are several YouTube videos about this technology that is built right here in the tri-state in West Chester, OH.

 

The article also mentions another test UC is doing with some local high school football teams involving a collar that is worn by the athlete during competition. The basic premise is the collar restricts blood flow to the brain cavity maintaining a higher level of fluid surrounding the brain so as to keep it more stabilized. This article doesn't mention it but I read a national article last year (can't remember the publication) while I was researching helmets. That article mentioned a very unconventional study the NFL was funding that involved this same blood restriction theory. The NFL found a physician who had done extensive research on animals that experience severe and frequent head trauma but appear to suffer no neurological abnormalities as a result. Two of the animals I recall it mentioning were woodpeckers and rams. The article stated that woodpeckers experience hundreds of ultra high impacts to the head within seconds as a result of feeding. The researchers found that woodpeckers have a tendon that wraps around their neck restricting blood flow to/from their head when they begin to peck for food. This restriction causes a greater amount of fluid to be maintained in the woodpeckers brain cavity protecting the brain from experiencing trauma.

 

The research done on rams in the Rocky Mountains found a similar tendon wrapped around the neck of the rams that again restricts blood flow to the head when rams intentionally hit each other head-to-head during territorial fights. Researchers also believed the higher altitude of the ram's natural habitat was also helpful in minimizing brain trauma. In fact the article stated the researchers reviewed past concussion related data reported by all NFL teams and found that teams in higher altitudes such as the Denver Broncos reported statistically significant less concussion related injuries than teams at lower altitudes. Of course this data is only as good as the information reported by each team. If I find this NFL funded research article I'll post that link as well.