^for reference purposes
I've been hard at work on my thesis proposal but I have been keeping up completely with the entire Chris Borland story that is going on right now. Hopefully I will have time to discuss more about in a later blog.
I have continued working on my proposal. Here is the work I have accomplished for the Equipment and Technology section of my proposal so far. I will post the rest of it when I finish the section next class.
Equipment and Technology
Helmets. Those are the first pieces of football equipment that comes to mind when people associate concussions with football. It makes perfect sense - a helmet covers the brain, a blow to the brain can cause a concussion. So instead of circling around the issue, why not attack it head on? Modern day football helmets are ineffective. They are big and bulky, allowing for the transmission of a great amount of force when used as a weapon to bring down or run over an opponent. Modern day helmets give players a psychological belief that they are invincible, leading to more reckless decisions on the field. One sentiment that is widely shared between former NFL players and some members of the medical community is the reinstatement of old school, leather style helmets. Justification for this decision is evidenced by data taken from a study on head, face, and neck injury occurrence in youth rugby. The results of the study counteract the argument that by giving up the helmet a huge influx of catastrophic injuries (skull fractures and such) will occur. Statistically, that is just not true. Out of the 1841 injuries that were recorded in the study, only two were deemed to be catastrophic. One of those two injuries was due to improper tackling technique. Catastrophic injuries already occur in the game of football. The change to a more lightweight helmet would not only reduce the concussion rate in football, but also have either minimal or no effect at all on the occurrence of catastrophic injuries in the game. Removing the helmets of today will force players to make safer decisions on the field and tackle properly. Plainly, players will start feeling the immense stress they put their brains under. Bulky helmets were just hiding this pressure all these years - hiding but still causing damage. Thus, I introduce MIPS, the multi-directional impact protection system. MIPS helmets are the best of both worlds, offering more protection to the brain while maintaining the same degree of security against catastrophic injuries. MIPS helmets have undergone extensive evaluation and testing. The data collected has produced very impressive results - a reduction in brain rotation by as much as 40 to 50 percent. There is no more time left to just sit around and hope that the concussion crisis will fix itself. It is time to start the implementation of MIPS helmets in football. To begin, there must be comparable concussion data to justify a transition from regular helmets to MIPS helmets. This is where legislation is crucial (the interconnectedness of LETRR is very pertinent to its success). If legislation can pass that mandates all states to collect concussion data (as I proposed earlier) , than clear evidence can be seen in the reduction of concussions before and after the implementation of MIPS helmets. Implementation will begin at the elementary, middle, and high school levels because of the relative ease in securing an equipment contract compared to the battle of fighting off sponsors in the NCAA or NFL. After a set period of time, whether it be a year to three, it is expected that MIPS helmets will show a significant decrease in the concussion rate. At this point, an offensive strategy must take place. Persuading higher division leagues, like the NCAA, NFL, or CFL will be simple because said leagues will be under intense scrutiny if nothing is done to alleviate the concussion crisis when a clear cut solution has been proven to be a success. While a helmet change is of the greatest necessity, other more minor changes should be made as well. One of these changes is making mouthguards mandatory. Most people do not even know that mouth guards are not mandatory in football. The reason why mouthguards are not mandatory in football is because players complain that they are uncomfortable and interfere with breathing and communication between teammates. The reason why the NFL is not making mouthguards mandatory is because doing so would mean that they are admitting guilt for something they should have done sooner.
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