Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Player Safety: Past, Present, and Future


Since Roger Goodell took over as Commissioner of the NFL, one of his main priorities has been to improve player safety.  Many fans and players disagree with Goodell’s new rules and claim that he is “ruining the game”.  Rules have been changed for kickoffs, how defenders can play, and how quarterbacks can be hit.  Most of the rule changes have aimed to eliminate flagrant hits on players who are unable to defend themselves. James Harrsion has also been  made an example of, being the first player suspended for continuing flagrant hits.

            During the 2010 season, the following rule changes were made:
1) A player who has just completed a catch is considered a defenseless player.  When a player is considered defenseless, he is protected against hits to the head or neck area from defender’s helmets, elbows, etc.  Defenders also are not allowed to “launch” themselves at the ball carrier.
2) Kickers and Punters are now considered defenseless players after kicking the ball to the opposing team.  Quarterbacks are also considered defenseless players after a turnover. 
3) If the ball carrier’s helmet comes completely off, the play is dead at the current spot of the ball.
            During the 2011 season, some new rule changes were added: 
1) Kickoffs were moved from the 30 yard line to the 35 yard line.  This rule was put in place to increase touchbacks and give coverage players less time to accelerate to engage in flagrant hits.  There have been talks of completely eliminating kickoffs for player safety reasons; however this rule has not been passed yet. 
2) All kicking team players must be set within 5 yards of the 35 yard line kickoff spot.  This eliminates the “running head start” that players have had in the past. 
3) Players are protected against “blindside blocks”.  This occurs when the blocker approaches the other player from the side or behind while moving toward his own end zone.  Now players are not allowed to make contact with the top of their helmet or the forehead part of their helmet. 
4) A receiver is considered defenseless until he is able to protect himself against contact or until he established himself as a runner.  Prior to this rule, receivers were only protected against contact to their head and neck or against defenders launching themselves at them.  
         
   One of the major reasons for the new focus on player safety is the recent spotlight on player concussions.  Both current and past football players are coming forth admitting to laying with concussions, something that can be detrimental to their health. Of course, nearly no player would admit to these symptoms because doing so would eliminate them from the game. Aaron Rogers withheld his symptoms in order to continue playing, locking up a Super Bowl berth in 2011. A standardized sideline test has now been implemented to test for concussions with a “’simple go or no go’” for players to return to the game.
            One of the greatest examples of this system failing occurred last season in a game between the Browns and Steelers. In the 4th quarter Colt McCoy scrambled attempting to make a play when James Harrison leapt at him, hitting McCoy in the facemask with the crown of his helmet. 

McCoy was out for two plays before being allowed to come back. TWO PLAYS. On the following Monday McCoy failed a concussion test, leading the league to believe the Browns skipped the concussion test altogether. Coach Pat Shurmur said McCoy was not showing concussion like symptoms. Though, any spectator could see he was NOT alright.
Though concussions can be suffered as easily as any other injury in sports, none have the devastating long-term effects as concussions do. Two such cases can be found in the members of the Chicago Bears' Super Bowl winning team of 1985. The first case is that of Dave Duerson. Known for his physical style of play, Duerson was one of the game’s premier players. However, this style of play led to numerous concussions that eventually ended his NFL career. The effects of the concussions would still haunt Duerson's post-NFL life, as he developed CTE, a neurodegenerative disease linked to depression (1). This depression eventually caused Duerson to commit suicide in 2011. Another member of the Bears who his still dealing with the effects of concussions is former quarterback Jim McMahon. The boisterous quarterback was known for taking quite the pounding by defenses during his NFL career, leading to the development of many concussions. While McMahon does not suffer from depression like Duerson did, McMahon suffers from memory loss and has worked with neurosurgeons to try and remedy the issue (2). The most recent case of the severity of concussions has come from the tragic death of Junior Seau. Much like the late Dave Duerson, Seau suffered from depression in his post-NFL life. Seau eventually succumbed to the depression and committed suicide. Though it is uncertain, relatives of Seau said he had suffered concussions in this NFL career and have considered donating his brain to science to see if concussions had anything to do with his depression (3). Though numerous lawsuits have been filed by former players on the issue of head injuries (4), these three cases are paramount in the understanding on how severe concussions can be.
                The players make the NFL, and without them football would not be as popular. Ale believes that with the advances in sports gear that promote safety, there is no excuse by the NFL that would be good enough to deny using them. He insinuates that it is not the game that needs to be changed, but rather the protection worn by the athletes that needs to improve.
Inconsistency remains a huge issue in the NFL by what defines a flagrant penalty or a defenseless player.  Referees remain unsure and are often confused about penalties which result in blown calls.  Some of these penalty calls need to be judgment calls by the refs.  The NFL has sent video examples of acceptable hits and flagrant ones to all 32 teams, however there is still a lot of confusion.  Matt believes these rules are ridiculous and are taking away from the game, at this rate the NFL will turn into flag football. Charlie agrees with both Matt and Alex. The game should be safe for athletes, but some of these rules are going too far. More focus needs to be put on improving the protective gear of the players. If NASCAR drivers can crash their cars and walk away without concussions, NFL players should protection that gives them no fear that they aren’t safe.


Word Count: 1102

Sources

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)