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Concussions, CTE, and other traumatic brain injuries in football

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BusNative;2169334; said:
That being said, the very nature of playing, say, fullback on a soccer field and being Zach Boren and running head on into a 240lb linebacker... well, my point is that those are two different things.
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Sure but research is starting to suggest that the long term effects of each isn't nearly as different as we've believed.

Football does seem to be the worst, and football is, on a relative basis, much more expensive than a soccer team when there is no TV or ticket revenue to offset the expense (I know that Princeton isn't selling out any games), so in the event of a high profile issue like serious brain trauma in football is coupled with a specific case like the UPenn suicide, my point was that Ivy League president's will probably review the pros and cons of football at Ivy League schools. I'm not sure what difference it makes to Ivy League football whether or not the same attention is paid to Ivy League women's soccer.
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I wasn't speaking so much about just how the Ivy will handle it as I was about we as a society will.

There have long been groups that want FB reduced/eliminated at the collegiate level for a variety of reasons. If the long term effects of FB are devastating they will have a powerful new weapon in their quiver. Some subsets of those groups specifically view FB as a threat to women's athletics because of the larger infrastructure it requires. If TBI is equally harmful to female athletes will those same sub groups ignore the effects on women in their zeal to attack FB?

Conversely you have places like the University of Oregon where FB is seen as a marketing tool by Nike and is compensated as such. If it is feasible will Phil Knight build a billion dollar state of the art treatment facility for the FB team? If so will it be off limits to soccer & lacrosse players as the current FB only facilities are?

There are special interest groups all over the spectrum who will use the results of this study to either attack or defend their particular turf. Will we let that happen if it means that the athletes themselves (regardless of the sport) are not adequately protected?
 
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BTW - it bears mentioning that this research will be spearheaded by Nebraska. Yes, we took a major hit to our academic reputation, but we're working hard to rebuild what we lost. Bear with us - we'll get there.
 
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Vick adding extra head protection

When Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick returns, he will do so with some extra protection. [Vick spent] Tuesday night being sized for a protective skull cap that he plans to wear under his helmet to safeguard against suffering another concussion. At the urging of neurologist Dr. Dimi Barot, Vick met at his home with Unequal Technology Corporation CEO Rob Vito to be measured for the new "dome" device made of the company's Concussion Reduction Technology. Vick had Unequal retro-fit his helmet with similar padding upon returning from a concussion in September 2011. The same company designed protective Kevlar devices that enabled Vick and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to play with serious rib injuries in recent seasons.
ESPN.com

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/352473-vick-adding-extra-head-protection

OK, if the extra head protection helps, why don't they require everyone to wear it?
 
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ScriptOhio;2267600; said:
Vick adding extra head protection

When Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick returns, he will do so with some extra protection. [Vick spent] Tuesday night being sized for a protective skull cap that he plans to wear under his helmet to safeguard against suffering another concussion. At the urging of neurologist Dr. Dimi Barot, Vick met at his home with Unequal Technology Corporation CEO Rob Vito to be measured for the new "dome" device made of the company's Concussion Reduction Technology. Vick had Unequal retro-fit his helmet with similar padding upon returning from a concussion in September 2011. The same company designed protective Kevlar devices that enabled Vick and Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo to play with serious rib injuries in recent seasons.
ESPN.com

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/352473-vick-adding-extra-head-protection

OK, if the extra head protection helps, why don't they require everyone to wear it?
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Guess it all depends on how much, if any, it impedes
 
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Coqui;2267603; said:
Guess it all depends on how much, if any, it impedes
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Interesting article:

However, Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison was quickly fond of it after being one of the first professional athletes to use it.
"I had no headaches after game. I haven't had any issues since I've been wearing it. Knock on wood," Harrison said. "That's not to say nothing's going to happen, though. Nothing is 100 percent."

Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/features/artic...-battlefield-to-football-field/#ixzz2DX6qhIR5
 
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ScriptOhio;2267605; said:
Interesting article:

However, Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison was quickly fond of it after being one of the first professional athletes to use it.
"I had no headaches after game. I haven't had any issues since I've been wearing it. Knock on wood," Harrison said. "That's not to say nothing's going to happen, though. Nothing is 100 percent."

Read more: http://www1.whdh.com/features/artic...-battlefield-to-football-field/#ixzz2DX6qhIR5
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It's different if you're doing it because you've already had one. But if the padding affects your peripheral vision, I could see the fight against it. That's all I meant.
 
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Junior Seau had degenerative brain disease CTE when he committed suicide, study shows

Junior Seau, one of the NFL's best and fiercest players for nearly two decades, had a degenerative brain disease when he committed suicide last May, the National Institutes of Health told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Results of an NIH study of Seau's brain revealed abnormalities consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

"The brain was independently evaluated by multiple experts, in a blind fashion," said Dr. Russell Lonser, who oversaw the study. "We had the opportunity to get multiple experts involved in a way they wouldn't be able to directly identify his tissue even if they knew he was one of the individuals studied."

.../cont/...
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Racing innovator Bill Simpson tackles football concussions with new helmet

Bill Simpson was a long time finding the National Football League, but it finding him might change football.

The former California drag racer, Indianapolis 500 driver and motorsports safety innovator has created a football helmet that he and others believe could revolutionize the sport. Simpson knows this because he knows what he's talking about when it comes to making safer helmets. Researchers believe it because they have seen data charts.

"Most helmets succeed at distributing force over a large area, but [Simpon's helmets] actually absorb the energy and dissipate the force more effectively," said Eric Nauman, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue University. "The results are impressive."

.../snip/...

To this day, Simpson avoids criticism of other people's work, but he thought then -- and is convinced now -- that the sport needs a more forgiving helmet.

.../snip/...

The other subject Simpson sidesteps is football politics. At times, NFL members have supported his efforts, at times they have not. All Simpson will say is that Collie went concussion-free in 2011 while using an SGH helmet -- only to suffer one in the 2012 preseason while using another manufacturer's.

"I can't make people wear them," Simpson said.

But he can keep making them, which is what he plans to do. Lacrosse players will be happy to know their sport is the next on his list.
According to NCAA statistics, 11 percent of all injuries in lacrosse are concussion-related.

"I don't know anything about that sport," Simpson said, "but I didn't know anything about football, either."
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The entire article is well worth reading. One thing Simpson has focused on is the issue of helmet mass which for some reason doesn't get discussed enough. When I first saw the ridiculous (and heavy) Schutt facemasks I couldn't help but shake my head in at the stupidity.
 
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Muck;2294351; said:
Racing innovator Bill Simpson tackles football concussions with new helmet

The entire article is well worth reading. One thing Simpson has focused on is the issue of helmet mass which for some reason doesn't get discussed enough. When I first saw the ridiculous (and heavy) Schutt facemasks I couldn't help but shake my head in at the stupidity.
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Makes perfect sense. Back in my playing days, I had a facemask on my helmet one year that felt like it weighed 30 lbs when I had my helmet on. It was the only time I ever sustained a concussion when playing a sport.

The weight of the facemask helps coerce the player to put their head down before making contact. The lighter the helmet, especially in the front, the less you ought to see players putting their heads down before contact.
 
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Muck;2294351; said:
Racing innovator Bill Simpson tackles football concussions with new helmet

The entire article is well worth reading. One thing Simpson has focused on is the issue of helmet mass which for some reason doesn't get discussed enough. When I first saw the ridiculous (and heavy) Schutt facemasks I couldn't help but shake my head in at the stupidity.
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Does Simpson's design have a lightweight face mask made especially for it? Sounds like he's pursued helmet design pretty holistically.

Edit: here's the website for the company that makes them: SG Helmets
 
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