NFL pleased with improvement in players’ safety, specifically concussion detection and treatment
A National Football League (NFL) medical consultant said on Monday that the league has improved greatly in dealing with concussions after doctors allowed Stewart Bradley, linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles, back into the first game of the 2010 season
after suffering a concussion. He said that since then, the league has been able to deal with the detection and treatment of concussions much better since then.
The consultant, Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, proved that the league had taken a giant leap forward in treating such injuries in the correct fashion by pointing out two concussions to two players for the Seattle Seahawks team during the 2010 postseason game. Ellenbogen
was asked if Bradley’s incident was a factor in the improvement of concussion treatments, to which he replied "Had that not happened, we may not have had the NFL sideline examination (for concussions) this year." In that incident, Bradley was allowed back
into the game even though it was clear that he was still suffering from the effects of a concussion.
The league has now made sideline examinations for concussions mandatory for all 32 NFL teams and Ellenbogen, the league’s head, neck and spine committee co-chairman, said that making these tests standardized "will protect against exactly what happened in
Philadelphia."
During that specific game, first Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb went down with a concussion. While he was being examined, Bradley also suffered a concussion. While Kolb did not return to play, Bradley soon returned to the field, woozy, before being taken
out for the remainder of the game.
"That was the exception and not the rule," said Ellenbogen. He was pleased with the way injuries to Seahawks cornerback Marcus Trufant and tight end John Carlson were handled in 16 January’s playoff game. Ellenbogen said when Trufant was injured, “team physicians
and professional athletic trainers were all over that,” while Carlson’s injury was handled “perfectly” after he had to be carted off of the field.
"Remember, when someone is concussed on the field, there are other doctors and trainers watching the game," he said. "So when one player gets concussed, we have others who are watching to ensure the situation in Philadelphia will not occur."
Hall of Fame coach John Madden feels that this is a step towards improving player safety. Madden oversees the NFL’s player safety advisory panel and is happy that it is the doctor’s decision as to decided whether or not a player is well enough to continue
playing after suffering a concussion.
Madden also said that he is not proud of the lack of education for medical conditions and injuries sustained while playing. He said that he would only focus on bodily injuries and would not think that a hard hit could result in a concussion. They would just
“give him a couple of smelling salts and he will be back in.”
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