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Tag: concussions

  • 3 numbers that help contextualize the NFL’s new kickoff rule

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    As football fans were riding the highs of triumphant victories or weathering the lows of an early season loss, President Donald Trump criticized a recent NFL rule change.

    “The NFL has to get rid of that ridiculous looking new Kickoff Rule,” he wrote Sept. 15 on Truth Social. “How can they make such a big and sweeping change so easily and quickly. It’s at least as dangerous as the ‘normal’ kickoff, and looks like hell. The ball is moving, and the players are not, the exact opposite of what football is all about. ‘Sissy’ football is bad for America, and bad for the NFL!” 

    His post misleads about the recent rule adjustment’s dangers — 2024 season data showed it made the game safer.

    Trump was talking about the “dynamic kickoff,” a rule introduced ahead of the 2024 season. The change has kickers line up at the 35-yard line, and the rest of the team line up along the receiving team’s 40-yard line. Only the kicker and returners can move before the ball hits the ground or a returning team member touches it inside the 20-yard line. In 2024, kicks that went beyond the end zone were ruled touchbacks and went to the 30-yard line. This year, the league tweaked the rule so that teams receive the ball on the 35-yard line in that situation. 

    The NFL arrived at the rule change after years of review and experimentation as it sought to balance keeping the game entertaining and improving player safety.

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    Early evidence shows that this season’s change boosted the return rate to its highest point since 2010. Nearly 77% of kickoffs were returned in the first two weeks of play this season, The Washington Post reported.

    Before, players on opposing teams ran toward each other at high speeds and collisions often caused significant injuries. With players starting closer together, they collide at lower speeds.

    Trump has previously denied the severity of brain injuries. In 2016, he criticized the NFL’s concussion protocols. In 2020, he described traumatic brain injuries U.S. service members sustained during a missile strike as “headaches” that he didn’t consider to be “very serious injuries” compared with people who lost limbs. 

    Here are three data points that shed light on the NFL’s change:

    #1 Concussions decreased 17% after the 2024 rule change 

    In February, the NFL released data showing a 17% decrease in concussions during the 2024 season compared with the 2023 season. 

    “The new Dynamic Kickoff rule worked as intended,” the league reported. “Returns increased 57% in the regular season and there were 7 kickoffs returned for touchdowns, the most since 2021. The new rule slowed the average player speeds, as intended, which led to a lower concussion rate (down 43% vs. 2021-2023).” 

    During the 2015 to 2017 seasons, an NFL injury data review showed that while only 6% of plays were kickoffs, they represented 12% of concussions. 

    “Data suggested that players had approximately four times the risk of concussion on the kickoff compared to running or passing plays,” the NFL said. 

    A player who experiences one concussion becomes more vulnerable to future concussions,  exercise physiology professor Melissa Anderson told Ohio Today.

    Miami Dolphins wide receiver Malik Washington (6) runs with the ball as he returns a kickoff for a touchdown during an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sept. 14, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP)

    #2: Researchers found nearly 92% of former NFL players they’d studied had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

    In 2023, researchers at Boston University’s CTE Center said 345 out of 376 former NFL players’ brains — nearly 92% of the study subjects — had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a rare, degenerative brain condition likely caused by repeated head injuries such as concussions. 

    For comparison, when Boston University researchers studied 164 people from the general population who’d donated their brains to the Framingham Heart Study in 2018, it found only one with diagnosable CTE. The person was a former college football player, the university said. 

    CTE is incurable and can be diagnosed only after death. It can affect a person’s memory, thought processes, mood and personality and motor functions. 

    Boston University’s research could overstate the prevalence of CTE among NFL players because people might be more likely to donate their brains for research if they suspect they have CTE. 

    But the NFL and the sports medicine community have acknowledged that player safety is a significant concern. CTE was discovered in the early 2000s after the deaths of former NFL players. In December 2009, the NFL first acknowledged that concussions have long-term effects and introduced stricter rules about when players could return to play after concussion symptoms.

    A 2019 study looking at injuries in high school sports found that football has the highest concussion rate of 20 sports evaluated, including soccer, basketball and baseball. 

    From 2015 to 2024, the NFL has reported 2,210 concussions — including those sustained during practices, preseason games and regular season games. There are about 1,700 NFL players during a regular season — 53 players for each of the league’s 32 teams. 

    #3: In 2013, the NFL settled a concussion-related lawsuit for $765 million.  

    After more than 4,500 former players sued the NFL, in 2013 the league agreed to compensate retired players for concussion-related brain injuries, pay for medical care and fund research.

    The league denied wrongdoing, but the settlement followed decades of heightened scrutiny on NFL concussions, the league’s knowledge of concussion risks and NFL head injury protocols. 

    In 1994, the league created a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee, seemingly in response to high-profile incidents. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, for example, took a knee to the head during a 1994 championship game and later told his agent he had no memory of playing in the game. Merrill Hoge, a Chicago Bears player, retired in 1994 because of the dangers of continuing to play after several concussions, including one that left him unable to recognize his wife and brother.

    And for retired players, receiving the NFL’s settlement-promised payouts has been far from straightforward and, at times, mired in racism. 

    PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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  • What parents of young athletes should know about concussions – WTOP News

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    With the start of fall sports season, concussion specialists with UVA Health wants parents to know these tips for young athletes.

    With the start of the fall sports season, student athletes run the risk of getting a concussion.

    What happens while players are still on the field or sidelines after a head injury is important in ensuring athletes recover well, according to three members of UVA Health’s comprehensive sports concussion service.

    “A concussion is not detectable by CT scan or MRI,” said Dr. Jose Posas, a neurologist.

    If a player loses consciousness, even for just a few seconds, in addition to the initial assessment from an athletic trainer or on-site health care professional, they “need at least a follow-up with a primary care physician or pediatrician, depending on the age,” Posas said.

    However, if a player doesn’t lose consciousness, progressive worsening of symptoms is another sign of concussion, Posas said.

    “If the athlete was injured in the first half the game, and they’re puking in a bucket and sweating, and complaining of a headache and being nauseous, and slurring words by halftime, that needs more urgent evaluation than, ‘Oh, let’s just wait until Monday,’” Posas said.

    If a player who gets off the ground after a big hit “wanders to the wrong bench, or wanders around like they’ve been drinking, that’s another big warning,” Posas said.

    While a player or coach might downplay any symptoms, Posas said if a player continues playing with a concussion, “second impact syndrome,” can cause a fatal injury.

    “If someone looks like they’re concussed to a health care professional who’s at the game, it is literally against the law in all 50 states for them to return the same day,” Posas said, referring to Lystedt’s Law, named after Zachary Lystedt, a high school football player who suffered brain damage.

    UVA Health athletic trainer Keith Thomson said while the player often provides symptoms of a possible concussion, “Quite often we hear from a parent, friend or teammate that are noticing that the athlete just doesn’t seem right.”

    Dr. Racheal Smetana, a UVA Health neuropsychologist ticked off her line of questioning when evaluating whether a young athlete has sustained a concussion: “I ask, ‘What happened? Walk me through it, before and after. What do you remember? What did your body feel like? How does it feel now?’”

    Smetana and Posas said in addition to asking questions, they observe the patient.

    “Are they wearing sunglasses or a hat indoors because their eyes hurt from bright lights?” Smetana asked

    “If you see a teenager who’s not actively on their phone trying to scroll TikTok or Instagram while they’re in the room with me, that’s a behavioral change,” Posas added.

    If a player is determined to have sustained a concussion, the healing period can take “between a week and a month,” said Smetana. For instance, if a player also sustained a neck injury, that can complicate recovery.

    Posas said the days of suggesting that a person with a concussion remain in a dark, quiet environment for extended periods of time are over.

    “We think the initial period of brain rest, or cognitive rest, at most should be about 48 hours,” Posas said. “Then, starting to introduce small things: try to read a book, do a bit of homework that’s not screen related, or a printout.”

    “There should be a ‘return to learn’ before we start talking about the ‘return to play,’” he said.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Neal Augenstein

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  • How a 12-Ounce Layer of Foam Changed the NFL

    How a 12-Ounce Layer of Foam Changed the NFL

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    Late in his team’s game against the Green Bay Packers on September 15, Indianapolis Colts tight end Kylen Granson caught a short pass over the middle of the field, charged forward, and lowered his body to brace for contact. The side of his helmet smacked the face mask of linebacker Quay Walker, and the back of it whacked the ground as Walker wrestled him down. Rising to his feet after the 9-yard gain, Granson tossed the football to an official and returned to the line of scrimmage for the next snap.

    Aside from it being his first reception of the 2024 National Football League season, this otherwise ordinary play was only noteworthy because of what Granson was wearing at the time of the hit: a 12-ounce, foam-padded, protective helmet covering called a Guardian Cap.

    Already mandatory for most positions at all NFL preseason practices, as well as regular-season and postseason practices with contact, these soft shells received another vote of confidence this year when the league greenlit them for optional game use, citing a roughly 50 percent drop in training camp concussions since their official 2022 debut. Through six weeks of action this fall, only 10 NFL players had actually taken the field with one on, according to a league spokesperson. But the decision was easy for Granson, who tried out his gameday Guardian Cap—itself covered by a 1-ounce pinnie with the Colts logo to simulate the design of the helmet underneath—in preseason games before committing to wear it for real.

    “I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t affect anything for me,” the 26-year-old told WIRED a few days before facing the Packers in week two. “I thought, even if it looks kind of silly, it’s worth it.”

    There is no ignoring the goofy aesthetics of the puffy, blobby Guardian Caps. The product’s parent company, Guardian Sports, even has staff T-shirts that declare, LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD, PLAY GOOD—with LOOK GOOD crossed out. “Condom caps, mushroom heads—we’ve heard them all,” says Erin Hanson, cofounder of Guardian Sports alongside her husband, Lee Hanson. “We just laugh, because we agree.”

    It can be tough to square the reality that the apparent future of football headgear resembles something out of a ’60s-era sci-fi movie. But the fact that Guardian Caps are now allowed at all in games in the NFL—a league known for policing every inch of player equipment to protect its image—doesn’t just speak to their lab-tested utility (even if published, peer-reviewed on-field data remains lacking). It also reflects the urgency of the moment for football at large.

    The dangers of strapping on a helmet have never been clearer, given the link between repeated blows to the head—whether concussion-causing or not—and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (otherwise known as CTE, a brain disorder associated with cognitive issues like depression and progressive dementia that can only be diagnosed posthumously). Not coincidentally, the race to find answers has become faster and more lucrative than ever, between the NFL’s funding of private research efforts and a rapidly innovating football headgear industry.

    And at the center of it all, on the sport’s biggest stage, is a literal mom-and-pop shop that, less than a decade and a half ago, was struggling to find a foothold in football as anything but a joke.

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    Alex Prewitt

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  • A redesigned app helps prevent and respond to concussions in youth sports – WTOP News

    A redesigned app helps prevent and respond to concussions in youth sports – WTOP News

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    Being part of a youth sports league has a lot of benefits — but it also brings with it an increased risk for injuries, including concussions.

    Being part of a youth sports league has a lot of benefits — it boosts kids’ confidence and physical activity, and research shows it can help improve educational outcomes as well.

    But it also brings with it an increased risk for injuries, including concussions.

    “Everybody thinks of football,” Dr. Gerard Gioia — the director of the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education (SCORE) Program at Children’s National Hospital — said. Other sports, he added, such as soccer, lacrosse, rugby and skateboarding, can be hazardous, too.

    But if we are talking football, “We need to teach kids that you do not use your head in any way to try to tackle or block or contact another person,” Gioia said, and that a helmet is meant as a protective device, not a weapon.

    The SCORE Program has a newly redesigned app that aims to do just that. Called SCORE 4 Brain Health, it helps parents, coaches and others identify, monitor and respond to concussions. The free app has educational resources, including a list of questions parents should be asking youth sports organizations.

    “There’s a set of three questions that relate to the league’s policy,” Gioia said. “Is there a concussion protocol and guideline? How are parents informed about a suspected concussion? And tell us about your return to play protocol, and what documentation do you require after a youngster is supposedly ready to return?”

    Other prompts focus on concussion training for coaches and whether children are being trained against using their heads to tackle.

    Gioia said if a child does suffer a blow to the head, a parent should get on the phone with the child’s doctor that day.

    The SCORE app has a list of 12 warning signs to know when to take a child to the emergency room, including loss of consciousness or difficulty moving an arm or a leg.

    He said concussion treatment has advanced in the 20 years he’s been in the field.

    “Right now, what we do is we activate kids. We used to say, ‘Rest, rest, rest.’ And no longer do we recommend rest, except maybe the first day or two,” Gioia said. “But we get kids up walking. We want them to return to school — with support, of course. We want them to start doing both physical activity and social activity.”

    There are also more targeted treatments for symptoms, whether the child is suffering from emotional adjustment issues or is having difficulties with balance.

    Currently, all 50 states and the District have passed legislation on children’s sports and safety. Gioia said all require high school coaches to go through CDC concussion safety training. He estimates about half include guidelines for youth coaches, as well, including in Virginia, Maryland and D.C.

    The SCORE 4 Brain Health App is available to download on the App Store and Google Play.

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    © 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Shayna Estulin

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  • First professional female athlete diagnosed with degenerative brain disease CTE | CNN

    First professional female athlete diagnosed with degenerative brain disease CTE | CNN

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    Brisbane, Australia
    CNN
     — 

    Scientists in Australia have diagnosed the world’s first case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in a professional female athlete, with implications for millions of girls and women who play contact sport.

    Heather Anderson, an Australian Football League (AFL) player, was found to have low-stage CTE during an autopsy by scientists at the Australian Sports Brain Bank, whose peer-reviewed findings were published last week in the medical journal Acta Neuropathologica.

    CTE is a neurodegenerative disease that can occur after repeated traumatic brain injuries or hits to the head, with or without a concussion, and to date it has only been diagnosed in professional male athletes.

    But the rise of women’s participation in the same sports over the past two decades means they too are susceptible, the paper said, and especially so given research indicates that women are more vulnerable to concussion than men.

    “Colleagues overseas been watching the professionalization of women’s contact sports over the last 10 years, and the surge in popularity and surge in participation by women in contact sports, so we’ve all been sort of thinking sooner or later, this disease is going to pop up,” said neuropathologist Michael Buckland, the paper’s co-author.

    “It’s a bit like smoking and lung cancer. Early on lung cancer was enormous in men … and then women took up smoking in equal numbers. Then 20 years later, there was a big surge in women’s lung cancer,” said Buckland, a clinical associate professor at the University of Sydney.

    “So I think we’re at the start of seeing the consequences of that surge in participation, both at the amateur and professional level.”

    Anderson started playing football when she was five years old and went on to play contact sport for 18 years across two codes – AFL and rugby league – before her death by suicide at 28 last November, according to the paper.

    Her professional career included 8 games over the 2017 season with AFL Club the Adelaide Crows, before she suffered a shoulder injury that ended her sporting career. She also worked as a medic for the Australian Defence Force.

    Originally from Darwin, Anderson was known for wearing a bright pink helmet on the pitch so her vision-impaired mother could see her play. Scientists say helmets and headbands can prevent skull fractures but don’t keep the brain from moving around inside the skull when someone is hit.

    During her career, Anderson had one confirmed concussion, and suffered another suspected four, according to her family, who donated her brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank for more answers as to why she died.

    According to the paper, Anderson had no known history of alcohol or non-prescription drug abuse and had not exhibited any signs of depression or unusual behavior in the months before her death.

    “While there are insufficient data to draw conclusions on any association between CTE and manner of death, suicide deaths are not uncommon in the cohorts where CTE is sought at autopsy,” the paper said.

    Buckland said Anderson’s diagnosis shows women’s contact sports also need CTE minimization plans to reduce players’ exposure to cumulative head injuries, and those plans need to start at the junior level.

    “I don’t think any child should be playing the contact version of a sport before high school,” he said. Other ways to reduce exposure include restricting contact during training, playing just one contact sport, and taking time off after a game when players have suffered hits, he said.

    Awareness of the risks of head injury in sport has been growing over the past two decades, and scientists are still working to examine the impact of repeated knocks on the brain.

    The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “the research to date suggests that CTE is caused in part by repeated traumatic brain injuries, including concussions, and repeated hits to the head, called subconcussive head impacts.”

    Repeated knocks can lead to the degeneration of brain tissue and an unusual buildup of a protein called tau, which is associated with symptoms such as memory loss, confusion, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, impaired judgment and suicidal behavior.

    In the United States, the most recent research from the Concussion Legacy Foundation and Boston University’s CTE Center found that nearly 92% of 376 former NFL players who were studied were diagnosed with the brain disease. It’s also been found in the brains of former boxers, and ice hockey and soccer players.

    In Australia, lawyers representing dozens of former professional AFL players have filed a class action suit against the Australian Football League (AFL), seeking compensation for injuries caused by alleged negligence.

    The AFL has acknowledged a link between head trauma and CTE and says it’s committed to mitigating the risks. It was one of dozens of parties to provide submissions to an Australian government inquiry into the issue that is due to report on August 2.

    The AFL Player’s Association, which represents the athletes, is pushing for greater support for current and former players, many of whom are living with the impact of successive brain injuries.

    But Buckland said with so many other competing priorities, including broadcast rights and ticket sales, the industry can’t be expected to self-regulate, and an outside body needs to set the rules to ensure they’re followed.

    CTE has been diagnosed in people as young as 17, but symptoms usually don’t appear until years later.

    In 2019, about 15% of all US high school students reported one or more sports- or recreation-related concussions in the previous year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Boys’ football, girls’ soccer and boys’ ice hockey were the sports with the highest concussion rates, according to the study.

    Buckland said what’s most needed is a shift in attitudes, so that it’s no longer encouraged or even acceptable to expose children to activities where repeated head injuries are part of the game.

    “It’s more than just a medical problem, it’s a sociological problem, as well. How do we change society? I think in the long run, it’ll be like smoking. (Stopping) smoking has taken generational change, and I think that’s what we’re looking at here.”

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  • Force of head hits increase odds of developing CTE: study

    Force of head hits increase odds of developing CTE: study

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    Force of head hits increase odds of developing CTE: study – CBS News


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    A new study finds the chances of football players developing the brain disease CTE isn’t just about the number of impacts to the head, but the combined force of those hits over a career also plays an important role. Dr. Daniel Daneshvar, lead author of this study and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, joined CBS News to talk about his findings.

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  • McConnell treated for concussion after suffering fall at DC hotel | CNN Politics

    McConnell treated for concussion after suffering fall at DC hotel | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is being treated for a concussion and is staying at a hospital for observation after a fall at a hotel in Washington, DC, on Wednesday evening.

    “Leader McConnell tripped at a dinner event Wednesday evening and has been admitted to the hospital and is being treated for a concussion. He is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days of observation and treatment,” David Popp, communications director for McConnell, said in a statement released Thursday afternoon.

    “The Leader is grateful to the medical professionals for their care and to his colleagues for their warm wishes,” the statement said.

    The fall happened at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, DC, which was formerly the Trump International Hotel, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    McConnell was attending an event for the Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-aligned super PAC, another source familiar with the matter said.

    The 81-year-old is the Senate’s longest-serving GOP leader, known for helping the party achieve key Republican priorities, including stocking the Supreme Court with conservative justices, passing Trump-era tax cuts and frequently thwarting Democrats’ legislative agenda.

    His hospitalization this week comes as the Senate is narrowly divided, with Democrats controlling the chamber by a 51-49 margin.

    Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Dianne Feinstein of California have also been hospitalized in recent weeks, with Fetterman seeking treatment for depression and Feinstein for shingles.

    Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have publicly sent McConnell well wishes.

    Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opened his floor remarks on Thursday by wishing McConnell a “speedy and full recovery” and noted that he called McConnell Thursday morning and spoke briefly with his staff.

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he and his fellow House Democrats were praying for a “swift and a full and a speedy recovery,” a sentiment echoed by Senate Minority Whip John Thune, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate.

    The minority leader previously fell at his Kentucky home in 2019, fracturing his shoulder.

    This story and headline have been updated with additional information.

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  • Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered concussion on Sunday, head coach says | CNN

    Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered concussion on Sunday, head coach says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, head coach Mike McDaniel said on Wednesday.

    McDaniel told reporters Tagovailoa’s status for Sunday’s game at the New England Patriots is uncertain and that the team is moving forward with Teddy Bridgewater as the starter.

    The 24-year-old Tagovailoa, who was diagnosed with his second concussion this season, is improving and is at the team’s practice facility on Wednesday, according to McDaniel.

    “He’s better than yesterday,” McDaniel said. “Beyond that, I feel like it’s weird to extrapolate beyond good, which is what he tells me.”

    McDaniel on Monday announced Tagovailoa was in the concussion protocol, a day after the quarterback played the entire game against the Packers. The coach could not pinpoint a moment in the game where Tagovailoa might have been injured.

    It was the second time this season the quarterback landed in the concussion protocol – the league’s policies for assessing and caring for players who sustain a concussion.

    McDaniel on Wednesday said that when he and other coaches reviewed game film on Monday they “had some questions” about Tagovailoa’s health, so the head coach urged the quarterback to see team doctors.

    Tagovailoa started the game well, throwing for 229 yards and a touchdown in the first half. It was a different story in the second half with Tagovailoa throwing interceptions on three consecutive drives to end the team’s 26-20 loss.

    “There were some things that caused us to really prod,” McDaniel told reporters Wednesday. “As a result, we felt like he needed to see medical professionals.”

    An NFL spokesperson said Wednesday the league and the NFL Players Association are reviewing “the application of the concussion protocol” in Tagovailoa’s latest case.

    “We welcome that review, and as we have done previously, we will report the results in conjunction with the NFLPA,” the NFL’s Brian McCarthy said.

    Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion on September 29 after being sacked in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Tagovailoa laid motionless on the field for several minutes before he was placed on a backboard and stretcher. He missed the team’s next two games.

    That concussion came just days after Tagovailoa suffered an apparent head injury and was later allowed to continue playing in a game against the Buffalo Bills on September 25.

    Despite assurances it was actually a back injury, the NFLPA initiated a review into the handling of that case, and the union and the NFL subsequently agreed to update the concussion protocol.

    McDaniel on Wednesday was non-committal on shutting down Tagovailoa for the season even if he is cleared to play again.

    “I will do what the medical experts advise me to do, and I’m sure they’re not going to advise me in the wrong direction when it comes to his health,” McDaniel said.

    “I’m not going to go in direct conflict with what the doctors have told me to do which is to worry one day at a time. … His health is the first, foremost and only priority.”

    With a record of 8-7 and a playoff spot on the line, the Dolphins close out the season at the Patriots and then host the New York Jets on January 8.

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  • USC not liable in former football player’s death, jury finds in landmark case

    USC not liable in former football player’s death, jury finds in landmark case

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    A Los Angeles jury on Tuesday rejected a claim by the widow of a former USC football player who said the NCAA failed to protect him from repeated head trauma that led to his death.

    Matthew Gee, a linebacker on the 1990 Rose Bowl-winning squad, endured an estimated 6,000 hits that caused permanent brain damage and led to cocaine and alcohol abuse that eventually killed him at age 49, lawyers for his widow alleged.

    The NCAA said it had nothing to do with Gee’s death, which it said was a sudden cardiac arrest brought on by untreated hypertension and acute cocaine toxicity. A lawyer for the governing body of U.S. college sports said Gee suffered from many other health problems not related to football, such as liver cirrhosis, that would have eventually killed him.

    FILE — In an undated photo provided by USC Athletics, former USC player Matthew Gee plays in an NCAA college football game.

    AP


    The verdict could have broad ramifications for college athletes who blame the NCAA for head injuries.

    Hundreds of wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits have been brought by college football players against the NCAA in the past decade, but Gee’s is the first one to reach a jury alleging that hits to the head led to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease known by its acronym, CTE.

    Alana Gee said the college sweethearts had 20 good years of marriage before her husband’s mental health began to deteriorate and he became angry, depressed and impulsive, and began overeating and abusing drugs and alcohol.

    Attorneys for Gee said CTE, which is found in athletes and military veterans who suffered repetitive brain injuries, was an indirect cause of death because head trauma has been shown to promote substance abuse.

    The NCAA said the case hinged on what it knew at the time Gee played, from 1988-92, and not about CTE, which was first discovered in the brain of a deceased NFL player in 2005.

    Gee never reported having a concussion and said in an application to play with the then Los Angeles Raiders after graduating that he had never been knocked unconscious, NCAA attorney Will Stute said.

    “You can’t hold the NCAA responsible for something 40 years later that nobody ever reported,” Stute said in his closing argument. “The plaintiffs want you in a time travel machine. We don’t have one … at the NCAA. It’s not fair.”

    Attorneys for Gee’s family said there was no doubt that Matt Gee suffered concussions and countless sub-concussive blows.

    Mike Salmon, a teammate who went on to play in the NFL, testified that Gee, who was team captain his senior year, once was so dazed from a hit that he couldn’t call the next play.

    Gee was one of five linebackers on the 1989 Trojans squad who died before turning 50. All displayed signs of mental deterioration associated with head trauma.

    As with teammate and NFL star Junior Seau, who killed himself in 2012, Gee’s brain was examined posthumously at Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center and found to have CTE.

    Jurors were not allowed to hear testimony about Gee’s deceased teammates.

    Gee’s lawyers said the NCAA, which was founded in 1906 for athlete safety, had known about impacts from head injuries since the 1930s but failed to educate players, ban headfirst contact, or implement baseline testing for concussion symptoms.

    Attorneys had asked jurors to award Alana Gee $55 million to compensate for her loss.

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  • ‘Landmark’ Concussion Trial Pits Widow Of Late USC Linebacker Against NCAA

    ‘Landmark’ Concussion Trial Pits Widow Of Late USC Linebacker Against NCAA

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    The widow of a former University of Southern California football player suing the NCAA for failing to protect her husband from repetitive head trauma is taking what could be a landmark case to a Los Angeles jury Friday.

    Matthew Gee died in 2018 from permanent brain damage caused by countless blows to the head he took while playing linebacker for the 1990 Rose Bowl winning team, according to the wrongful death suit filed by Alana Gee.

    Matthew Gee led the USC Trojans in tackles during the 1991 season.

    Of the hundreds of wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits brought by college football players against the NCAA in the past decade, Gee’s is only the second to go to trial alleging that hits to the head led to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease. It could be the first to reach a jury.

    “For years (the NCAA) has kept players like Matthew Gee and the public in the dark about an epidemic that was slowly killing college athletes,” the lawsuit said. “Long after they played their last game, they are left with a series of neurological conditions that could slowly strangle their brains.”

    The NCAA, the governing body of college athletics in the U.S., said it wasn’t responsible for Gee’s death, which it blamed on heavy drinking, drugs and other health problems.

    “Mr. Gee used alcohol and drugs to cope with a traumatic childhood, to fill in the loss of identity he felt after his football playing days ended, and to numb the chronic and increasing pain caused by numerous health issues,” NCAA lawyers wrote in a filing in Los Angeles Superior Court.

    The issue of concussions in sports, and football in particular, has been front and center in recent years as research has discovered more about long-term effects of repeated head trauma in problems ranging from headaches to depression and, sometimes, early onset Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.

    A 2018 trial in Texas led to a swift settlement after several days of testimony by witnesses for the widow of Greg Ploetz, who played defense for Texas in the late 1960s. In 2016, the NCAA agreed to settle a class-action concussion lawsuit, paying $70 million to monitor former college athlete’s medical conditions, $5 million toward medical research and payments of up to $5,000 toward individual players claiming injuries.

    The NFL has been hit with similar suits and eventually agreed to a settlement covering 20,000 retired players providing up to $4 million for a death involving CTE, which is found in athletes and military veterans who suffered repetitive brain injuries. It’s expected to exceed $1.4 billion in payouts over 65 years for six qualifying conditions.

    After years of denials, the NFL acknowledged in 2016 that research done at Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center showed a link between football and CTE, which is associated with memory loss, depression and progressive dementia.The center has found CTE in the brains of 110 of 111 deceased former NFL players and 48 of 53 former college players, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

    Hall of Famers diagnosed after death include Ken Stabler and Mike Webster and Junior Seau, a teammate of Gee’s at USC. Gee, 49, was one of five linebackers on the 1989 Trojans squad who died before turning 50. As with Seau, who killed himself in 2012, Gee’s brain was examined posthumously at BU and found to have CTE.

    The defense has sought to exclude any testimony about Gee’s teammates and the NCAA said there was no medical evidence Gee suffered from concussions at USC. Two ex-teammates, however, testified at depositions about blows they routinely took at a time when they were told to hit with their heads.

    Mike Salmon, who went on to the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills, recalled Gee and other linebackers being “out of it” during hard-hitting practices. “Matt hit like a truck,” Salmon said. “I saw him quite a bit coming back to the huddle. You could tell … he wasn’t all there.”

    “It was our job to make helmet-to-helmet contact in the ’80s,” Gene Fruge, a former nose-tackle, testified. “There was no question about it. That was your job, to explode the man in front of you.”

    The NCAA, which required schools in 2010 to have a concussion protocol, said long-term effects of head injuries weren’t well understood at the time Gee played. Gee’s lawsuit said the debilitating effects of concussions and other traumatic brain impacts have been known for about a century, first from studies of “punch drunk” boxers and later from findings in football and other contact sports.

    “The NCAA knew of the harmful effects … on athletes for decades, they ignored these facts and failed to institute any meaningful methods of warning and/or protecting the athletes,” the lawsuit said. “For the NCAA, the continued expansion and operation of college football was simply too profitable to put at risk.”

    In his senior year, Gee was team captain and led USC in tackles, forced fumbles and fumbles recovered.

    After graduating in 1992, Gee was cut by the Los Angeles Raiders in training camp. He married Alana, his college sweetheart, and they had three children as he ran his own insurance company in Southern California. For 20 years, he lived a “relatively normal” life, the suit said.

    That changed around 2013, when he began to lose control of his emotions, the lawsuit said. He became angry, confused and depressed. He drank heavily. He told a doctor days would go by without him being able to recall what happened.

    When he died on New Year’s Eve 2018, the preliminary cause of death was listed as the combined toxic effects of alcohol and cocaine with other significant conditions of cardiovascular disease, cirrhosis and obesity.

    Joseph Low, a Los Angeles lawyer for clients with traumatic brain injury who is not involved in the case, said drug and alcohol abuse can become a symptom of brain injuries as those suffering try to self-medicate. Blaming Gee’s death on substance abuse will not shield the NCAA from evidence showing he had CTE, which is not caused by drugs and alcohol, Low said.

    “That’s a distraction,” Low said. “It’s really a disgusting way to do character assassination. It’s what you call defense strategy 101.”

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  • NFL’s Concussion Protocol Modified After Tua Tagovailoa Review

    NFL’s Concussion Protocol Modified After Tua Tagovailoa Review

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    MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to modify the league’s concussion protocol following a joint investigation into the league’s procedures after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered an injury against the Buffalo Bills last month.

    The league and players’ union said in a joint statement Saturday that the outcome of the Tagovailoa case “was not what was intended when the Protocol was drafted.” As a result, language addressing abnormality of balance/stability was added to the league’s protocol list of symptoms that would keep a player from returning to action.

    In the first half of the Sept. 25 game against Buffalo, Tagovailoa took a hit from Bills linebacker Matt Milano, which caused him to slam to the ground. He appeared disoriented afterward and stumbled as he tried to get to his feet.

    Tagovailoa was immediately taken to the locker room and taken through the NFL’s concussion protocol, after which he was cleared of any head injury. He started the third quarter, drawing criticism from viewers about why he was allowed to return to the game.

    The NFL and NFLPA said they reviewed video and jointly interviewed members of the Dolphins’ medical staff, the head athletic trainer, the Booth ATC Spotter, the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant and Tagovailoa.

    They found that Tagovailoa did not show any signs or symptoms of a concussion during his locker room exam, during the rest of the game, or throughout the following week. But immediately after he took the hit from Milano, gross motor instability was present.

    After the game, Tagovailoa and Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said the quarterback had suffered a back injury earlier in the game on a quarterback sneak.

    The review said Tagovailoa told the medical staff that he aggravated his back injury on the play in question and that his back injury caused him to stumble. It also said the medical staff determined that the gross motor instability was not due to a concussion.

    Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) is attended by medical staff after being sacked by Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou during the second quarter of an NFL football game at Paycor Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

    Miami Herald via Getty Images

    In their statement Saturday, the NFL and players’ union said there was not examination of the QB’s back during the concussion examination, but that they “instead relied on the earlier examination conducted by other members of the medical staff.” The conclusion then was that the back injury was the cause of Tagovailoa’s instability.

    As a result of the joint investigation, the league and union agreed to change the league’s concussion protocol to include the term “ataxia.” In the statement, they defined ataxia as “abnormality of balance/stability, motor coordination or dysfunctional speech caused by a neurological issue.”

    Ataxia replaced the term “gross motor instability” and has been added to the list of symptoms that would prohibit a player from returning to the game. The others are confusion, amnesia and loss of consciousness.

    “The Protocol exists to establish a high standard of concussion care for each player,” the league and union’s statement said, “whereby every medical professional engages in a meaningful and rigorous examination of the player-patent. To that end, the parties remain committed to continuing to evaluate our Protocol to ensure it reflects the intended conservative approach to evaluating player-patients for potential head injuries.”

    On Oct. 1, the union fired the Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant who handled Tagovailoa’s situation during the game.

    Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president overseeing health and safety, said in a virtual news conference Saturday that he believes this is the first time a UNC has been fired, and that the NFL did not support the decision to fire him.

    Less than a week after the injury, Tagovailoa started against the Cincinnati Bengals in a Thursday night game. He suffered a concussion in the first half after taking a hard sack, and displayed the fencing response after the scary hit. He was stretchered off the field and immediately taken to the hospital. He remains in the concussion protocol and will miss Sunday’s game against the Jets.

    Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer, said that under the league’s amended protocol, Tagovailoa would have been diagnosed with a concussion on Sept. 25 under the ataxia term, thus making him ineligible to come back into that game.

    Sills said there’s no exact timetable for return for a player diagnosed with a concussion, but it would be “extremely unlikely” for a player diagnosed with ataxia to be able to play on Thursday night. The median time out with a concussion is nine days, he added.

    Sills also alluded to how difficult it is to definitively diagnose concussions. He mentioned that blood and saliva tests could help make concussion examinations more accurate.

    Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a fan forum in London Saturday that the NFL will make a “change or two” to its concussion protocol.

    McDaniel, asked repeatedly in the days following the incident about the decision to allow Tagovailoa to return, emphasized his confidence in the team’s handling of the situation.

    “This is a player-friendly organization that I make it very clear from the onset,” McDaniel said last week, “that my job as a coach is here for the players. I take that very serious, and no one else in the building strays from that.”

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  • NFL players’ union terminates neurotrauma consultant involved in evaluation of Dolphins’ player concussion, reports say | CNN

    NFL players’ union terminates neurotrauma consultant involved in evaluation of Dolphins’ player concussion, reports say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The National Football League Players Association has terminated the unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was involved in the evaluation of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for a concussion during their game against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday, according to multiple reports, including from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, citing unnamed sources.

    The unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant was terminated after it was found they made “several mistakes” in their evaluation, according to ESPN, citing an unnamed source.

    CNN has reached out to the NFLPA but did not immediately receive a response.

    The National Football League and the NFLPA released a joint statement on Saturday, saying that while the investigation into the handling of Tagovalioa’s concussion protocols remain ongoing, both sides have agreed that updates to the protocols are required.

    The NFL and NFLPA said they “anticipate changes to the protocol being made in the coming days based on what has been learned thus far in the review process.”

    On Sunday, the NFLPA told the league it would initiate a review into the handling of Tagovailoa’s apparent head injury. The NFL later confirmed to CNN that a joint investigation would take place.

    In the Dolphins’ 21-19 win over the Buffalo Bills, Tagovailoa was knocked out of the game briefly in the second quarter after a hit by Bills linebacker Matt Milano forced the back of his helmet to hit the turf. The 24-year-old third-year quarterback got up stumbling and was taken to the locker room for a concussion check. Milano was flagged for a roughing the passer penalty.

    The Dolphins initially announced Tagovailoa was questionable to return to the game with a head injury but came back out onto the field in the third quarter and finished the game throwing for 186 yards and a touchdown.

    Tagovailoa told reporters after the game that he fell onto his back before his head hit the turf causing his back to lock up and the stumbling. He added that he was evaluated for a concussion but was ultimately cleared.

    “The adrenaline kept me going,” Tagovailoa added.

    Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel alluded to a back injury after the game, saying that Tagovailoa back got “bent” on an earlier play but the hit “loosened his back” causing his legs to get wobbly. McDaniel added that Tagovailoa told him that his back was like “Gumby.”

    The NFL and Dolphins are under scrutiny for the decision to allow Tagovailoa to play another game on Thursday.

    Tagovailoa was sacked by Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Josh Tupou in the second quarter of that game and lay motionless on the field for several minutes. The entire Dolphins sideline walked onto the field as he was placed on a backboard and stretcher before being taken to the hospital. Bengals fans in attendance at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati showed their respect as Tagovailoa was carted off the field.

    In a statement Thursday night, the NFLPA said player health and safety were at the “core” of their mission.

    “Our concern tonight is for Tua and we hope for a full and speedy recovery,” it said. “Our investigation into the potential protocol violation is ongoing.”

    McDaniel told reporters on Friday that Tagovailoa was in concussion protocol after Thursday’s but gave no timetable for his return to the field.

    Video showed Tagovailoa’s forearms were flexed and his fingers contorted – a sign that CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, said is a “fencing response” and can be linked to a brain injury.

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  • Two concussions don’t always add up to second impact syndrome | CNN

    Two concussions don’t always add up to second impact syndrome | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The NFL has been thrust back into the concussion debate after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took two big hits just four days apart.

    This time, the debate involves whether Tagovailoa was appropriately cleared to play, with some fans concerned he was at risk of a condition called second impact syndrome.

    On Sunday, Tagovailoa left a game in the second quarter after a hit from the Buffalo Bills’ Matt Milano caused him to fall backward and hit his helmet on the turf. On his way back to the line of scrimmage, Tagovailoa stumbled and fell.

    NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport said Tagovailoa was checked for a concussion and cleared, and he came back onto the field in the third quarter.

    In a postgame news conference Sunday, Tagovailoa explained it felt as if he had hyperextended his back.

    “My back kind of locked up on me. But for the most part, I’m good. Passed whatever concussion protocol they had,” he said.

    On Thursday, Tagovailoa was back in the lineup against the Cincinnati Bengals. During the second quarter, he was sacked by defensive lineman Josh Tupou and lay motionless for several minutes before being taken off the field in a stretcher and sent to a hospital for evaluation.

    The Dolphins reported Tagovailoa was diagnosed with a concussion at the hospital but cleared to fly back home with the rest of his team. On Friday, head coach Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa is following the NFL’s concussion protocol, with no clear timeline of when he’ll return to the field.

    A concussion is a brain injury which happens after a hit to the head causes the brain to move back and forth inside the skull. But even after the organ itself stops shaking, there can still be changes in the brain.

    Neuroscientist Julie Stamm, a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes it as a cascade of chemical events. “It takes time. Each of these metabolites and chemicals in the brain has a different trajectory in how they recover,” she said.

    She pointed out it can typically take 10 to 14 days after a concussion for the brain to get back to its baseline condition.

    Stamm has not treated or evaluated Tagovailoa but noted, based on what she saw of Sunday’s game against the Bills, it is very possible he had a concussion.

    “He initially grabbed his helmet and shook his head. That is a clear sign that you’re trying to shake the cobwebs,” she observed.

    Watching him fall was particularly concerning. “It didn’t look like it was his back that caused him to fall down. It looked like he just lost balance, and then his teammates are trying to hold him up.”

    The team stated it followed the concussion protocols, and Tagovailoa was cleared to return to the game.

    Later, McDaniel told reporters, “Tua went out with a lower back. He really got bent back on a quarterback sneak earlier. … His legs got wobbly because his back was loose. As he described it, his lower back was like Gumby.”

    But Stamm acknowledged even if someone doesn’t notice symptoms, they can still have a brain injury. “It’s possible that he may have felt better after, so he may not have felt like he had symptoms anymore.”

    Before Thursday’s game, social media lit up about Tagovailoa starting despite his injury from Sunday. But after Thursday’s hit, many fans began to suggest Tagovailoa may have second impact syndrome.

    “What we currently believe second impact syndrome to be is a second blow to the head or second concussion prior to the resolution of a first one. And that can result in uncontrolled swelling of the brain,” explained Steven Broglio, director of the University of Michigan’s Concussion Center. Broglio is a certified athletic trainer and is a lead author on the National Athletic Trainers’ Association position statement on management of sport concussion. He has not been involved in Tagovailoa’s care.

    Broglio said to think of your skull like a box, with your brain inside the box. In the case of second impact syndrome, the second hit compresses the box, and portions of the brain controlling vital functions like breathing and heart rate can stop working.

    Stamm said the changes happen very rapidly and can lead to permanent brain injury or even death.

    But both Broglio and Stamm stressed second impact syndrome in this sense is very rare, and happens typically among younger athletes.

    “This is a part we don’t quite understand, but it tends to be only in younger athletes; so middle school or high school,” Broglio said.

    Even if Tagovailoa had been concussed in Sunday’s game, what happened Thursday night wouldn’t be second impact syndrome in the traditional sense, Broglio emphasized. “If somebody had true brain swelling and potentially brain herniation through the bottom of the skull, he would not be getting out today.”

    But even without brain swelling, a potential second concussion could make recovery worse, Stamm added.

    “When someone has a second concussion before they’ve healed from the first one, we often see worse symptoms compared to the first one. Those symptoms can be more severe. The symptoms tend to last longer. The recovery is much slower,” she said.

    Of greatest concern to Stamm is immediately after Thursday’s hit, Tagovailoa’s hands were stiff and splayed, a posture known as the fencing response.

    “That was something that jumped out at me right away,” she recounted. “Whenever you have a posturing like that, it suggests an injury that is potentially involving the brain stem.”

    McDaniel admitted after the game “it was a scary moment. … That was an emotional moment that is not part of the deal that anyone signs up for, even though you know it’s a possibility in football to have something that you have to be taken off on a stretcher.”

    Tagovailoa issued a statement on Twitter on Friday, which read, “I’m feeling much better and focused on recovering so I can get back out on the field with my teammates.”

    The NFL Players Association is conducting an investigation into whether the Miami Dolphins violated concussion protocols in determining Tagovailoa’s readiness to play.

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