The 2011 NFL season had a lot of different story lines; from Tebow to Green Bay’s run to San Francisco coming from nowhere. However the biggest story, as far as we are concerned, was the concussion issue. Looking back at last year we posted our final numbers for 2010 and some thoughts going forward.
Of the suggestions proposed in the wrap-up last year the only issue addressed (kind of) was the awareness component. This is actually not measurable, however with the increase in the number of concussions this year I would confidently say that it was better. As for the NFL Concussion database, we don’t know, hopefully that did occur (or perhaps this is their database). The other proposal of having different helmets on different positions; that was a stretch to get done, but it still stands true, as some positions are more likely to sustain a concussion. The NFL did add some components for safety: officials on the look out and an athletic trainer in the press box to find concussions that may be missed.
There are some trends that remain the same after last year: defensive backs are the position with the most concussions and offensive lineman saw a huge jump in concussions as the season wore on. The DB issue is one of speed and improper tackling technique, where as the offensive lineman cases are a little disconcerting. Research and evidence shows us that there is a compiling effect of traumatic forces to the brain. The sub-concussive hits can be just as dangerous over a long period of time, and they eventually manifest themselves as concussions or worse as the players age. There were actually more concussions for the offensive lineman over all and the reporting seemed to be consistent all year (late spike), what was not as evident was the number of OL losing the season due to concussions.
As we look at the following statistics remember these numbers are for regular season action only. They do not include the 46 preseason concussions found, nor any of the post season concussions. After this first set of numbers we will include the preseason numbers for comparison to last year.
The 200+ concussions should not come as a surprise, as we told you to expect that back in the preseason, the main reason being the better reporting of the issue. Players seemed to capitulate, slightly, to the injury as the season wore on, yet there is still the stigma present in the game. It surely would be nice to see the NFL take the route the NHL seems to be taking, at least it is trickling down to the adolescent levels. There are still issues with the reporting of the injury for what ever reason, as evident with some teams. For example of the 384 found concussions the past two years Cincinnati has only reported THREE or 0.78% of all concussions, Tampa Bay, Houston and Buffalo are not much better, if the injury was truly random then each team should be reporting about 12 a year. There are teams that do deserve a ton of credit for being what I believe to be forthright with concussions: Oakland, Cleveland, Carolina, Minnesota, Baltimore and St. Louis. Those teams have been at the top the last two years: 21, 21, 21, 19, 19, 19 respectively, comprising 31.25% of all the concussions the last two years. Those teams that have the higher reporting numbers seem to be more near the actual number than those at the bottom.
Create a truly independent think tank. This think tank should be composed of various types of people and ones that are not concerned about what they find or say. Just like taking a band-aid off, this group would be good at getting the necessary information and providing recommendations no matter how critical or imposing they may seem. Their information should be transparent and thorough. I believe this group should be composed of the following 20 people: 4 independent researchers, 2 independent neuropsychologists, 2 independent physicians, 2 psychologists, 1 active NFL athletic trainer, 1 college athletic trainer, 1 high school athletic trainer, 2 media personalities, 2 active NFL players, 2 former NFL players, 1 current NFL Head Neck & Spine Committee member.
Compile and publish a concussion database for NFL injuries that includes at the least: total number of career concussions, time missed.
Again look for the proper helmet for the position, let alone get rid of all helmets that are technologically older than 15 years. This would mean the removal of the old model Riddell, Shutt and Adams.
Use the league and players to promote the proper management of concussions, including full rest until asymptomatic then a graded stepwise recovery. This may be different from professional players but make that clear, adolescent brains are different from that of the mature adult.
We will continue to track what concussions we can find in the post season. It is rather difficult, but those numbers will be included after the Super Bowl for an over all total for 2011.
I would like to thank everyone that has helped in the data collection and crunching of stats. Although we feel this is a VERY GOOD data set, it is far from 100% correct there are still limitations. Again, we do think this is the most comprehensive and correct number associated with concussions in the NFL at this time.
It is pretty suspect that HOUSTON had 2 concussion in one game in the preseason, but none in any other games and CIN had no concussions all year. I think you are correct when you say that there should be more like 12 per team, which would about double the total number of concussions. Concussions from practices and training camp I am sure are drastically under-reported.
The helmet issue is one that needs to be addressed by the NFL. Many players still wear the old Riddell helmets and use only a single strap-type chinstrap. Studies show that having double chinstraps is much safer. QBs such as Aaron Rodgers wear the single chinstrap and older style helmet. It is surprising that players who have concussions won’t change their helmets to the newer styles.
Based on your data it seems clear that most of the concussions occur in the secondary. Offensive and defensive linemen have the lowest rates of concussions while RB, TE, WR, and DBs have the highest rates of concussion. Do you agree? If so, could we focus on changes in game play associated hits in the secondary?
One thing I see as unnecessary in the game are big hits on receivers or ball carriers in the open field when the defender doesn’t make an effort to wrap up. When defenders try to separate the ball from ball-carrier by impact alone, it not only results in concussions, but it also is probably bad defense. How many times have we seen a defender lay a big hit on a ball-carrier who merely bounces off and keeps on running? I think we could change the rule so that hitting without trying to wrap up, or going for the ball, is illegal.