NFL chief says his office will work for players’ protection, safety from concussion – NFL News
National Football League (NFL) commissioner, Roger Goodell, has reiterated the commitment of his office towards provision of a safer and secure environment to league players on the football field and their protection from head and other injuries.
He was answering questions around the filing of lawsuits by some of former players, and their criticism of the league’s concussion policies.
The commissioner said that the steps taken by the NFL so far to protect players from concussions and other injuries were just a beginning and that his office would continue to work towards promotion of on-field safer conditions for its players.
NFL’s boss has recently introduced placing of a certified athletic trainer at Press Box during each game, which would assist teams medical staff in monitoring, assessing and treating of players for concussions.
The measures, which have recently been launched, came as a result of the league’s review of the Cleveland Browns’ handling of concussion of their quarterback, Colt McCoy, who was let resume his game without being assessed by the team’s medical staff on the
sidelines.
Following the controversial handling of McCoy, a couple of players around the league have revealed that a sizeable majority of the football players prefer to hide their concussions to increase their chances of being able to play football without any hurdle
in the way.
The players’ preference to continue playing was more due to their financial needs as in case of concussion, which takes months to heal, forced them without the game and they are unable to support their dependents during that period of time.
Following, the McCoy controversy, the league has introduced the enhanced players’ safety measures, which resulted in one-game ban of Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker, James Harrison, who involved in the helmet-to-helmet hit on McCoy.
Roger Goodell’s assurance of keeping the players’ safety in the priorities of his office also came in the perspective of the legal fight that has been waged by a number of former league players.
They in their respective lawsuits before various courts in the US have accused the NFL of mishandling their head injuries and seeking compensation against the sufferings that they and their families had been through as result of those injuries.
The players have accused the league office of hiding information related to the head injuries and labelling of those injuries as dementia and other head problems.
NFL earlier defended itself against those lawsuits, saying he never had compromised on the players’ safety and continued towards promotion of safe playing environment on the field.
This is again that NFL boss has spoken of his office’s priority to ensure protection, assessment and treatment of players for concussions and other injuries.
He said that the measures introduced by the league were not an end to them, and they would continue to work for players’ safety in the future.
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