Even ordinary hits can lead to concussions, thanks to turf impact.

The Indianapolis Star is reporting this morning that six former Colts are among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last week against the NFL and helmet manufacturer Riddell.   The defendants are charged with negligence, fraud and liability in diagnosing and treating players’ concussions, and the plaintiffs allege that the dangers of head trauma have been known, but concealed, since the 1920s.  The former Colts involved in the filing include Jeff Burris, Vernon Maxwell, Newton Williams, Alvin Moore, Chuckie Miller and Chris Goode.

Concussion is an insidious injury that can leave a player functional long before he is ready to return to the field, and it’s understandable how long-term brain damage could result from repeated traumas.  However, the NFL seems bent on re-writing the rule book in an effort to prevent concussions, and I think that’s misguided at best.  Some of the recent changes, including those aimed at reducing contact with quarterback’s helmet and eliminating “launch” or “spear” contact may improve the situation marginally, but they also cause confusion and trepidation, which can’t be a good mindset for playing football.  If you watch replays of many concussion-inducing plays, it’s clear that head-to-ground contact is a major cause of the injury, not necessarily any specific hitting technique.

Guys shouldn’t be hitting helmet-to-helmet, of course, but I think that’s more  of a coaching issue and probably has a bigger impact on neck health than concussions.    Until we have airbags in the turf or the NFL manages to eliminate tackling, concussions will still happen.  The key to long-term recovery seems to be close monitoring and restriction of physical activity, areas where the league, to its credit, has also made strides.

The combine does provide two valuable tools however. It reminds us how dumb football executives can be. How on earth can anyone not see the value in a player like Myron Rolle? Questioning his commitment because he took the opportunity to study at Oxford instead of play football an extra year is absurd. If anything, executives should be chomping at the bit to sign this guy. He will easily be the smartest player on any team, hands down. His work habits will never come into question. Plus, being away from the game for a year insures that he is in top physical health. To wonder about his commitment because he chose to exercise all his options in life is just plain stupid.

It was also good to see the NFLready to take steps towards protecting players from head injuries. Every player that worked out at the combine was given a baseline brain activity test. Now in the future when whether or not the player has a concussion or has brain damage from one these test can be referred back to. These test will go a long way to deciding whether or not a player is ready to return to the field after suffering an injury.

“We have to admit, this is a tough game, a violent game, a collision game,” said John Madden, a Hall of Fame coach, former television analyst and now a consultant to the NFL. “How do we make it safer? We have to educate players and coaches and trainers, equipment is another way and rules changes are another way. But it can’t be just any one of those things. It has to be all of them together.”(Yahoo)