“The race is on to see if football can change,” Peter King writes for Sports Illustrated, “and so far, after three years, the effort is there on all levels.” In “Head Trauma in Football: A Special Report,” King notes that after the NFL agreed to a $765 million dollar settlement in a suit brought by retired players over the head injuries they sustained throughout their careers, a “trickle-down effect” has occurred where not only the NFL is taking more safety measures to prevent head injuries where it can, but high school football coaches are following suit.
After the settlement, the NFL has implemented new rules that are intended to reduce the severity and frequency in which players sustain blows to the head. According to King, 41 of 49 polled high school football coaches purport to have modified their training techniques to prevent head trauma as well. One such technique is the “heads up” technique, which encourages young players to tackle each other with their heads raised, as opposed to “using the helmet as a battering ram.” One coach has even told his players that if any of them duck their heads while playing, they will be barred from playing. Such measures are significant not only in preventing head injuries, but also in promoting an idea of safety that perhaps was not present in the game before. For instance, one young player in King’s article admits to having hidden a concussion from his coach and parents for the love of the game. Promotion of safe techniques will hopefully encourage players to report head injuries by enforcing the idea that head injuries are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.
Of course, with the nature of football as a sport, coaches are aware that they cannot prevent concussions and head injuries in their entirety. As a result, football is being avoided altogether in some high schools. King reports that one Pennsylvania high school has more students signed up for the lacrosse team than for the football team, something previously unheard of in the area.
Regardless, King writes that he believes “football will survive the storm,” so long as coaches and parents continue to work towards making the game safer. And with the trickle-down effect of the NFL’s new safety measures safely solidified throughout the country, perhaps in several years, football will be considered a safer game, one less synonymous with head injury.
If you or a loved one has suffered a traumatic brain injury as the result of someone else’s negligence, such as a rear end collision, call us for help. We will talk to you and review your case for free. The Tyrone Law Firm specializes in representing those who have suffered a devastating injury, such as traumatic brain injury resulting from the negligence of another.
Our personal injury firm here in Atlanta has a very successful record of trying such cases.
Nelson Tyrone handles Brain Injury, Spine Injury and RSD/CRPS cases throughout the United States. He involves only the top medical, rehabilitation and life-care plan experts in the field. His results on behalf of clients include several of the largest settlements and verdicts on record.
You can reach us at 404-377-0017 or via email at admin@tyronelaw.com. If we can’t help you, we will do our best to put you into the hands of lawyers who can.
Additional Resources
“Head Trauma in Football: A Special Report,” Peter King, The MMQB (Sports Illustrated) (Oct. 22, 2013)
Hayley serves as a Labor and Delivery Nurse Consultant for the Tyrone Law Firm. She attended and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Public Relations. After graduation she moved to the gulf coast where she pursued a career in real estate and development.
