News and Views

There was a good Frontline program on last night with the same title as this post about brain damage in NFL players.

The evidence seems very conclusive that playing football at any level (NFL, college, high school, and even younger) can and will cause brain damage in almost every player. The damage seems to be worse if the player has multiple concussions, but even without a concussion the stresses of the head jerking around with every hit take an accumulated toll.

The NFL, just like the historical tobacco companies and cancer, refuses to accept the data and insists that the verdict is still out and that more research needs to be done. Considering the multi-billion dollars they rake in every year, it’s not surprising that they are desperate to protect their product.

It’s a quandary. The game is fun to watch and fun to play. I don’t see any way to successfully protect the players without fatally modifying the game. At a minimum, the NFL should admit the problem, and players should be made completely aware of the risk they are taking. Then the NFL should compensate and pay for health care for any player found to have suffered typical football-related cerebral damage, even if it shows up 20 years after playing.

Of course improved helmets might help too, and changing the rules e.g. against “leading with your head” (as has been done to some extent) makes sense. In any other industry the company would be forced to protect its workers from occupational hazards. But it’s hard to imagine how to eliminate the problem and preserve football as we know it.