Script, LETRR, and more (Feb. 27)

From last class I said I would post my final presentation script. Anytime I work outside of class on my script, the following thesis period I will post the work I had done outside of school. So without further ado, here is the introduction to my thesis project:

"Good morning and thank you all for being here, my name is Yousef Nofal and I am a senior at the School for the Talented and Gifted. The title of my thesis presentation is - Concussions and Football: A Hidden Epidemic. 

Is it safe to assume that everybody in this room watched the Super Bowl? Super Bowl 49 became the most watched program in American television history, with an average amount of 114.4 million viewers. That’s more than a third of the entire country. So with a third of the entire country watching, what do we see? An unacceptable handling of an issue the NFL has been trying to quell for years. 

He had 109 receiving yards and the game winning touchdown. You know what else Patriot’s wide recover Julian Edelman may have had? A concussion. As you see in this first clip, Edelman catches the ball down the middle of the field and immediately makes contact with a defender, only to remain upright and continue to “wobble” down the field. What time of contact exactly? An uncalled 15 yard penalty for helmet to helmet contact. Later on that same drive, we see Edelman catch another pass before falling to the ground and having to crawl and be assisted by one of his teammates to get up. Edelman did not come out of the game, allowing him to finish the drive, possibly concussed, and then receive testing. He wasn’t even led into the locker room for an extensive evaluation, just a quick baseline test that relies on honest self-reporting took place. And this story has some skeptical, for when asked whether or not he took a concussion test on the sideline, Edelman responded by saying, “we’re not allowed to talk about injuries.”

So who knows if Edelman underwent testing. The real question is - why all the secrecy from the NFL? Why are we having to rely on reports from outside observers and anonymous sources to find out if the NFL’s concussions protocol was followed to the letter? Wasn’t this policy created to appease fans’ fears of watching players wantonly destroy their own minds? This year’s Super Bowl was also known for its heavily emotional commercials. Yet, we did not see a single commercial about making the game safer and keeping the head out of the game of football. Death is an emotional subject. Let’s not forget all the players who have lost their lives from CTE or Alzheimer’s. 

Edelman clearly showed symptoms of a concussion. Whether he was concussed or not, he decided that he was not coming out in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. It all boils down to this point: players like Edelman shouldn’t have to, or even be allowed to, make that choice for themselves because they are not medical professionals.

I have spent the last 8 or so months, give or take, doing research in this field of study related to mild traumatic brain injuries and the game of football."

As evidenced by my seemingly random last sentence, I stopped at a transition into what would be LETRR, the acronym I created to solve the concussion crisis. The first part I am working on is the ET part, equipment and technology. This is because I don't have to actually "change" something myself, I have to just lay out a detailed plan on implementation  for the various new equipment that I've researched and the implementation of concussion sensors in helmets.


The RR part is like the ET part in that I will have to give a detailed plan of implementation, but is like the L part in the respect that I will have to alter the rulebook as I make rule changes to the game of football.


The L. This is in my opinion the most crucial and most difficult of the acronym to discuss in detail and alter. It all comes from within me, the changes I will propose to existing legislation and future legislation as I try to outline a plan to keep the game safe at a young age.


When you think about it, it's like a latter. Legislation is that first step of security to get you where you need to go. Equipment and technology is the next step, it's the outside, visual, physical changes you can see in the exterior of a player that helps him be safe. Rules and regulation are the last step, it's the safety net of the entire process, to keep the game safe at no matter what level of play. It's like the ground that the latter is on, it's part of the earth just as rules and regulation are part of the game, but just as the ground gives support to the latter, newer and more stringent rules and regulation will give that same support to the game of football that has been non-existent before and is desperately needed.

Thesis Progress

I'm must likely going to start bringing my laptop to class from now on as that is where my presentation is and that is where all my progress and work is.


I've started working on my presentation and I will recall as much as I have done up until this point:


To me, an introduction and a conclusion are what make a presentation. You can have all the facts and data and everything that you could possibly want, but if it's not delivered in a way that makes you remember the information and step back and say "wow" then the presentation completely failed what it was suppose to do: get the message across. I've started working on my introduction and I have the script of it on my computer at home, so I will post that script on next times blog. I will summarize to the greatest extent that I can of what my introduction deals with and I will explain the importance of it.







Julian Edelman's Super Bowl Concussion


Concussion? Before we can even begin to talk about that we have to discuss the blatant no call by the referees. With 10:50 left in the 4th quarter, Patriots down 24-14, Edelman catches a pass thrown down the middle of the field to him, only to make helmet to helmet contact with Seahawk's big bodied strong safety Kam Chancellor. Edelman, miraculously, remains upright and continues to "running": running is in quotes because it was more of a wobble.


What should have happened: 15 yards should have been assessed at the end of the play. Edelman should have gone out immediately to be checked for a concussion, as he visibly showed clear symptoms of a concussion.


What actually happened: None of the above. A flag was never thrown. Edelman never even left the game. He played the remaining of the Patriots snaps. I can't post the videos of the plays that clearly show Edelman dazed and confused, but I show them in my presentation,


114.4 million people. Over a third of the nation. That's how many tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. That's also how many tuned in to watch a breakdown of what the NFL had been trying to fix for over a decade now. I can go on and on about this topic, but instead I'll just bottle up my thoughts until next class when I publish my script.



LETRR


LETRR is an acronym I came up with (pronouned like Letter, as in Letterman jacket).


It stands for:

Legislation
Equipment
Technology
Rules
Regulation


Obviously equipment and technology go together as does rules and regulation, but for the sake of the acronym I split them up, even though I will be presenting them as one entity (this makes sense because acronyms are what stick in people's head, LETRR is very memorable as it's tied with Letterman Jackets that football players wear.)


Right now I'm focusing on the implementation of ET, equipment and technology as seen by my last thesis post on MIPS. I still have to talk about Neuromuscular mouthgards, Shockbox helmets, Neck Rolls, no helmet/leather helmet, rule book alteration and combinations, and I have a newspaper article to present that deals more with the technology aspect of fixing the game.

Implementation Process

Implementation. Here is where my year's long work in thesis will be coming down too:

How do I implement the changes that I call forth?

What I am going to be focusing on in the next couple of class periods is the implementation of each  product that I want to introduce into the game.

So to start, I will begin with everything that falls underneath my equipment and technology sub-field and the things I want to implement within that field.


I want to re-iterate the fact that there isn't a perfect solution to the problem. Can concussions ever go away from the game of football? No. Injuries are a part of the game, injuries are really a part of life, you can get injured no matter what you are doing. However, the key concept that I am trying to make clear is that the status quo is not acceptable. And it is honestly a down right shame that I have to make that clear. Fans of the game of football don't think that's a true statement. "The players know what they are signing themselves up for." I'm sorry. No. No they do not. And why am I so certain about the fact that no football player knows what they are getting themselves into? It is because we are dealing with the brain. No one, not even medical professionals, knows the risks and the degree of risks of brain damage in professional football. The brain is the least known part of the human body. It is also the most important part of the human body. To make matters worse, each generation of athletes become more and more athletic. I mean this is a fact, just look at world records for marathons or the hundred yard dash throughout the last century. They progressively get shorter and shorter in time. We live in an era where a 6'3, 245 lbs linebacker that runs a 4.45 forty can collide with a return specialist that can run a 4.3 forty. Where the NFL messed up is not in its attempt to change the game, but rather in the fact that the NFL is reacting to problems that have been around for a generation and that might be too little, too late.  


First off:

MIPS - A proactive, rather than reactive, solution to the concussion crisis. 



I've already talked in great depth about MIPS as a helmet and what it brings to the table. Here is a quick summary of the helmet itself:

The idea behind MIPS is simple: The plastic layer sits snugly on a player’s head beneath the padding. By allowing the head to float during an impact, MIPS can eliminate some of the rotational force before it makes its way to the brain.

Implementation. Here is my preliminary thoughts on going about implementing MIPS in the game of football:


1) Data collection and analysis has been already done by the Swedish institution that developed MIPS. Therefore, MIPS has already been scientifically proven to be a possible solution to the concussion crises. This is a preliminary task that has already been done and must be known.


2) There needs to be comparable data. Numbers are what talk to people, so a comparison of concussion rate before and after MIPS helmets will be crucial in solving the problem. This will be a problem because no lower league football teams have concussion data because of plain ignorance.


3) To begin implementation, select elementary, middle, and high school football teams within
selected school districts from throughout the country must sign a contract that requires them to utilize MIPS helmets in their future endeavors as a football program. Teams will compete against each other using the helmets and concussions will be monitored.


4) After a few years of data collection, it is expected that MIPS will show a vast decrease in the concussion rate. By then, it will not be a surprise of the data can easily persuade football at the college and professional level to implement MIPS as the NCAA and NFL will be under intense scrutiny if they were to ignore, what would be at that time, a public outcry.


5) The NFL and NCAA can start preliminary testing by using MIPS helmets during training and the preseason.

Product Focus

As my presentation date looms over my head, I've been reviewing the product guidelines so I can have a better understanding of how I should structure my product.


My product will be typed out proposals/plans that relates to every field of study that I have been looking into.


It's one thing to say "this needs to be implemented" and another to say "this is how the NFL should go about implementing said practices." So I have a lot of work to do in regards to being able to explain a plausible and realistic way of implementing the plethora of changes I want to bring to the NFL and football in general in order to make the game safer.


I want to talk about some evidence and data that I found that supports the "outlandish" idea of playing the game of football without one of the modern day helmets. Note how I said the "modern day helmets", I believe in MIPS helmets or bringing it back to the old school leather helmet days.


The data pertains to the sport of rugby. Extrapolation of data is very risky, but there are some points that just make so much sense where I believe it can be sustained scientifically.


First off here is the short abstract from the experiment in order to give you an idea of what it is about:

• "In this study, the incidence of head, neck and facial injuries in youth rugby was determined, and the associated risk factors were assessed."

Here are the things I've taken away from the experiment:



There was a total of 1841 injuries experienced by 1159 players during the two season the experiment took place. That's definitely a large enough sample size.


Out of 1841 injuries, only 2 were deemed to be resulting in catastrophic consequences. That is a .1% chance of a catastrophic injury. Those against removing helmets entirely from the game of football bring up the fact that rugby players suffer more catastrophic injuries than football players. Of course playing without a helmet leaves the neck and head defenseless, but as seen by the data, it is extremely rare. Out of the 1841 injuries there were 199 that suffered a concussion. If you were to say that only 2.5% of those that suffered a concussion would end up with a debilitating mental illness than you would have 5 cases, which is 3 more than the extremely small number of 2 in regards to catastrophic injury. But remember that in the NFL, 3 out of 10 football players are said to face cognitive woes in there future. 30%. So 30% vs. .1%. Remember that isn't 1% that is one tenth of a percent, .1%. I think it's a no brainer when it comes to the overall safety of the game. No helmets FORCES player to tackle around the waist and use proper techniques, thus reducing the risk of concussions, and thus saving a plethora of lives.


Scrum. First off, what is a scrum in rugby?

Scrum definition: 

an ordered formation of players, used to restart play, in which the forwards of a team form up with arms interlocked and heads down, and push forward against a similar group from the opposing side. The ball is thrown into the scrum and the players try to gain possession of it by kicking it backward toward their own side.

The scrum is the most dangerous part of the game of rugby and it is said that this is where most catastrophic injuries take place.


The scrum, it's a part of the game, it's unavoidable.


Oh wait. We're talking about football. Football has no scrum. Catastrophic injuries in rugby occur at a .1% rate. Football referees give out much more penalties and enforce rules more stringently.


Is it safe to say that something as simple as removing helmets or replacing the big bulky helmets of today with a new modern, sleek and slim helmet could be all that it takes to reduce and even eradicate the concussion crisis of today? Who knows, but it's definitely a proposal that I'm supporting.

Elizabeth Nabel and the NFL

First and foremost, I just want to state that I am continually adding more and more information to my Google Doc as it is the basis from where I will build my final presentation from.

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/09/elizabeth-nabel-chief-medical-advisor

On to the main topic I would like to discuss today: Elizabeth Nabel and the NFL's new position of "Chief Medical Advisor"


The NFL is finally responding to the consistent beating it gets every year on its dealing with concussions. The chief medical advisor is stated to be "a new position created by the NFL to assist efforts to make football safer"


So what does the NFL do? They hire someone who just last week said she had "no intention of leaving our beloved Bringham"


Here is her responsibilities:

"to participate in the league’s medical advisory committees, identify areas for the NFL to enhance player safety, care and treatment, oversee the league’s medical policies and work “with players, medical personnel and others to continually update the league's healthy and safety guidelines."

For the first time in NFL history, there was an inductee to the Hall of Fame that was not able to receive his award. Instead, his (Junior Seau's) two sons accepted the award on his behalf. I found the NFL's tribute to him both heartfelt and disturbing. The NFL has every right to ignore the tragic event that occurred on May 2, 2012. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame shouldn't be marred with such a tragic event.

But when you think about it, maybe that is exactly what the NFL needs in regards to player's safety. The commercials that aired in this year's Super Bowl were much more morose and macabre than usual. That grabbed everyone's attention. Of course this may have been a result of all the domestic violence awareness the NFL is trying to promote. But than again, commercials like the "throw like a girl" one promoted social awareness to such social norms. However, there was not a single commercial about keeping the head out of the game of football. And in regards to Seau's tribute, there wasn't a single thing said about the events that lead up to his death. The NFL could have mentioned what happened and turned it around in a positive light to show all the work that they have done from then on to promote player safety to make sure a tragedy of this magnitude would never occur again. If there was anytime to really hit their viewers emotionally, it would have been now.

I make a big deal about Junior Seau because his case is probably the most important in regards to what can be done to help solve this crisis. Seau was a first ballot Hall of Famer. His death isn't like the one of Tupac or Biggie, in which their deaths may have played a role in bringing their music to godly levels in which nowadays the two are seen to be some of the best rappers alive. Seau was a plain beast on and off the field. He already made his name in the game of football as one of the greatest to ever lace up his cleats and play the game. You can't help but think about all the kids that grew up looking up to him. The same goes to players like Tony Dorsett. As much as some people hate on sports, the impact it has on our youth and to the American culture is undeniable. We look up to athletes because they represent our city, our state, our nation. And to see the same athletes that we once admired commit such tragic acts in which they themselves cannot even control can be detrimental to the surrounding people involved. Football is a "man's sport". You put everything you got on the field and you leave it there. But I can guarantee you one thing; nobody would ever set foot on a football field if it meant costing their entire life. Seau's kids may be too young to realize just how crazy their dad's death was in regards to everything football related. And most Americans see Seau as one of the greatest linebackers to ever play the game. This is a correct statement. At the same time, he was something more than that. He was a father. A husband. Football aside for a moment, there is now one more family that does not have a father.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:iXmOyfW0rGoJ:www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul_McCrory/publication/5467854_Head_face_and_neck_injury_in_youth_rugby_incidence_and_risk_factors/links/0a85e535cf8792294c000000.pdf+RATE+OF+neck+injuries+rugby&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

^for next class

Tony Dorsett

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/10/tony-dorsett-on-living-with-cte-i-didnt-know-end-would-be-like-this-but-im-battling/

http://deadspin.com/tony-dorsett-on-cte-i-didnt-know-the-end-was-going-to-1684734846

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/12300070/tony-dorsett-battling-cte-had-no-idea-end-was-going-this

A 3 time First-Team All American. Winner of the 1976 Heisman Trophy. The second overall pick in the 1977 NFL draft. A Super Bowl champion. One of the greatest running backs not only in Cowboy's history but in NFL history. A hall of famer.

Tony Dorsett.

CTE.

Need I say anymore?

One of the greatest players to ever grace the football field has been diagnosed with CTE, a disease that tortures a man's mind.

Here's a snippet about what Dorsett had to say to 1310 The Ticket in Dallas:

"I signed up for this when, I guess, I started playing football so many years ago," Dorsett told 1310 The Ticket in Dallas. "But, obviously, not knowing that the end was going to be like this. But I love the game. The game was good to me. It's just unfortunate that I'm going through what I'm going through.

This quote really hit me hard:

"I understand that I'm combating it, trying to get better. But, you know, some days are good. Some days are bad."

The same man that would make defenders miss left and right is now in this constant battle with himself. The only difference is that you can't juke your brain.

He never knew "that the end was going to be like this." The vast majority of current football players, at levels ranging from Pee Wee to NFL, don't know how "the end" will be for them as well. Probably the worst thing about my entire thesis presentation has been stories like this. Ever since I've started becoming aware of the situation, I've realized that this isn't a little problem. This is a huge matter to deal with. Bellini, Kosta Karageorge, and now Tony Dorsett. When I first learned about CTE I thought it occurred rarely even in football players. Now, I start seeing a more and more former athletes popping up with the disease. Concussions and Football: A Hidden Epidemic. The title of my thesis project makes more sense now than it ever has before.

Dorsett has describe the fact that his daughters are scared of him as "painful."

Dorsett made some very level headed remarks about the direction of the game of football:

"Dorsett said he doesn’t like all of the changes to the game that have been made in the name of player safety because they’ve changed the game from the one he played, but adds there’s “no question about” making those changes if they make life better for players. He also said that he’d still let his son (Anthony Dorsett played eight NFL seasons) play football knowing the potential downside, although he’d pay more attention to the physical toll that the game can take on those who play it."

I found this response to this comment about the whole situation regarding Dorsett to be extremely informative:

The comment:

These men are gladiators. They pay the physical price for the fortune and fame, and perhaps that's why we love them as heroes. It's important to keep in mind that their choices to sacrifice their bodies for this glory is indeed a choice; I have no sympathy for those living a life of privilege and excess that ultimately succumb to the consequences.

The response:

I gotta agree with these guys. Dorsett knew that there was a good chance of knee and other joint problems later in life due to playing football in the 70s and 80s. He knew that there was a chance he would suffer a spinal injury. If he was complaining about those issues you would have a case. 

CTE, or the liver issues suffered from guys who were pumped full of Toradol are completely separate issues. Not only were they not aware of these risks, the NFL in later years did everything possible to keep the players and the public from being aware of these risks.

February 6, 2015

I watched Kim Gorgens Ted Talk on protecting the brain from concussions, especially the youth brain.


Thinks to take note from the video:

A car accident at 40 miles per hour produces 35 G's of  force

A heavyweight boxer punching you in the head produces 58 G's of force

A tackle at the high school football level can produce over 100 G's of force, enough to cause a concussive force

High school athletes are 3 times more likely to sustain a concussion than their college aged peers and it takes high school athlete longer to recover from concussions

The more concussions that one has, the higher chance for a repeat concussion to occur.

3 step play that she proposes:

Study Up - learn about concussions
Speak Out - let legislators know what us, the constituents, want
Suit Up - wear a helmet


I listened to a short segment about football and ethics that was discussed last Tuesday at the Perot museum here in Dallas. Melani Ismail, wife of former Cowboys running back Raghib Ismail. spoke candidly about the emotional ride her life has been due to her husband's injuries. She talked about how she always steered her son towards playing basketball instead of football, but this year changed as her son took an interest in playing the sport his dad mastered. Former Denver Broncos receiver Nate Jackson was present, alongside Nahshon Ellerbe, a TCU senior and running back who will be playing football and studying at Rice next year.

Jackson had this to say about what he dislikes about the way football is played in the NFL:

“I think one of the biggest problems right now is that the players never have a say, whether it’s their own bodies, the medical health care stuff or the media stuff,” Jackson said. “So not only are their bodies controlled, but their minds are controlled.”

We see how the media controls players, dictating what they can and cannot do. This was made especially evident with all the Marshawn Lynch 'interviews" that occurred throughout this year. If you are not doing what the NFL wants, even if you are one of the best players in the entire league, then you will pay a hefty price, both figuratively and literally.

Ismail had this to say about football:

“I think football is a violent sport by nature. You have bodies flying around full speed, but it’s not a sport for violent people,” he said. “So, if you’re a violent person – if you have violent intentions – don’t pick up a football and think that’s going to be your way out.”

Athletes need to be aware of the risks the sport poses and need to understand that the game isn't for everyone. When your on the field, nothing crosses your mind except the game that's taking place. You won't think about your health or your body, you only can focus on the game of football. And, honestly, that's very frightening. Nobody wants to play with a level of cautiousness because that hurts performance. But wouldn't playing with a level of cautiousness insure more time to have the ability to perform? I think that is a pretty good trade off to make. 

I also watched Junior Seau's, Hall of Fame special on his career 

February 4, 2015

Friday will mark exactly 2 months from when my thesis project will be due. Exciting.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969996114003325

It's about damn time. What exactly am I talking about? Science Direct's February medical journal on Neurobiology of Disease was released just a few days ago (February 1) and within the journal was a whole section dedicated to....:

Neuroinflammation and brain atrophy in former NFL players: An in vivo multimodal imaging pilot study

This is HUGE news. When football is easily being transported into the medicine world than you know a heightened awareness is surrounding the entire medical field. Most medical journals are very structured and only those with a very sophisticated knowledge in medicine can take interest and understand what is being discussed. So this article within the journal is a breath of fresh air. 

Here are some of the highlights gleaned out from the article:

Former NFL players were imaged with positron emission tomography (PET) to study a marker of neuroinflammation. 

Several brain regions showed signs of neuroinflammation in former NFL players.

Hippocampal atrophy was also observed on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the same players.

If interested, here is the entire abstract which is easy to follow and provides a greater insight into the topic:

Abstract

There are growing concerns about potential delayed, neuropsychiatric consequences (e.g, cognitive decline, mood or anxiety disorders) of sports-related traumatic brain injury (TBI). Autopsy studies of brains from a limited number of former athletes have described characteristic, pathologic changes of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) leading to questions about the relationship between these pathologic and the neuropsychiatric disturbances seen in former athletes. Research in this area will depend on in vivomethods that characterize molecular changes in the brain, linking CTE and other sports-related pathologies with delayed emergence of neuropsychiatric symptoms. In this pilot project we studied former National Football League (NFL) players using new neuroimaging techniques and clinical measures of cognitive functioning. We hypothesized that former NFL players would show molecular and structural changes in medial temporal and parietal lobe structures as well as specific cognitive deficits, namely those of verbal learning and memory. We observed a significant increase in binding of [¹¹C]DPA-713 to the translocator protein (TSPO), a marker of brain injury and repair, in several brain regions, such as the supramarginal gyrus and right amygdala, in 9 former NFL players compared to 9 age-matched, healthy controls. We also observed significant atrophy of the right hippocampus. Finally, we report that these same former players had varied performance on a test of verbal learning and memory, suggesting that these molecular and pathologic changes may play a role in cognitive decline. These results suggest that localized brain injury and repair, indicated by increased [¹¹C]DPA-713 binding to TSPO, may be linked to history of NFL play. [¹¹C]DPA-713 PET is a promising new tool that can be used in future study design to examine further the relationship between TSPO expression in brain injury and repair, selective regional brain atrophy, and the potential link to deficits in verbal learning and memory after NFL play.

http://hub.jhu.edu/2015/01/26/nfl-players-concussion-research

This is thesis class so you won't see my discussing colleges like some of my fellow classmates would do (throwing some shade, all in good fun), but Johns Hopkins must come up in my research because a Johns Hopkins study of retired NFL players has shed new light on concussion related brain damage, and, to no surprise, the research provides further evidence of potential long-term neurological risks to football players who sustain repeated head injuries. 

Jennifer Coughlin is an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral studies at JHU and she states: 

"That may mean individuals are able to make more educated decisions about whether they're susceptible to brain injury, advise how helmets are structured, or inform guidelines for the game to better protect players."

.^ Once again, the basis of my entire thesis project.


Links for next class: http://www.ted.com/talks/kim_gorgens_protecting_the_brain_against_concussion

http://keranews.org/post/players-and-families-talk-nprs-michel-martin-about-footballs-ups-and-downs

February 2, 2015

First off, what a Super Bowl. It had everything you could ask for: a close well fought game that game done to the last second, an amazing halftime performance, and even a concussion.

I'm going to try to finish talking about all the links I wanted to discuss last class today, then from there I will start working on my final presentation and product.

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_27243298/nfl-concussion-protocol-hit-players-safety

key things to point our from this article:

1. "Per rules, players diagnosed with concussions must go through a mandatory return-to-play process involving observation, comparison to preseason baseline cognitive testing and physical exertion. Before resuming practice, a player must be cleared by the team doctor and an independent neurological consultant." - this has only been recently implemented. Before only the team doctors had to clear the player, which could result in a biased tendency to return the players back to the game. This is a great step in the right direction.
2. "The protocol is on the right path. As a player you have to do something to help yourself too. I tried to do my best on the test to make it even harder to get back on the field," said Anderson, who also made another change to help himself after getting his concussion. "I changed my helmet to a more padded one. When I get hit, I might get another one, but I feel a lot better with this helmet." - Players determine there baseline results. If the test isn't taken seriously, then concussion protocol is just thrown out the window. 

One thing I have now looked into is neuromuscular mouth guards. To my surprise, mouth guards are not mandatory in football. There isn't any scientific proof that mouth guards protect against concussions but they have been linked with prevention and I believe this should be more of a precautionary measure that must be taken. Only the QB or the signal caller of defense should possibly be allowed to forgo a mouth guard because of their crucial need to talk to their teammates. However, if everybody was to use mouth pieces, would it even out the playing field and make everything still as fair as possible?

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/2009-11-16-neuromuscular-mouthguard-cover_N.htm

The above article talks a lot about the positive reasons as to why a neuromuscular mouth guard should be used. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sports/football-high/poll-wealthy-college-educated-less-likely-to-want-kids-to-play-football/

"In one recent poll, a majority of Americans said they expect football to be just as popular in 20 years, but 50 percent said they would not want their son to play the game. Joining the chorus of those worried about children playing football is Mike Ditka, the legendary coach of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears, who in an interview this month on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel said, “I think the risk is worse than the reward. I really do.” - that's right. People don't want their children playing the game of football anymore,especially those that are college educated or wealthy. Football could end up being a game played by those that are less affluent and less educated.

http://www.swsportstech.com/shockbox_football_helmet_sensors.html

I mentioned shockbox helmets a long while ago, but I'll bring them up again on the basis that it is another possible solution to fix the concussion crisis and my job is to find every possible thing that could help reduce the concussion rate and make the game safer.



http://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/youth-football-brain-disease-suicide#.dxLJ08VloQ

Very said story about a high school football player who suffered from CTE at a young age and committed suicide. Awareness is key. Do you really want to be aware of the ramifications that sustaining a concussion can cause after it occurs? Of course not. How can you tell someone that football can lead to serious brain damage if they are already six feet under?


Next class I need to watch a Ted talk Michelle sent to me. I am now keeping a google drive document to help sort out all the information I will be presenting on April 6th.