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The NFL is hosting a seminar that's aimed at improving and discussing the NFL's efforts at reducing the amount of concussions around the league.
Speaking to a group of roughly 300 people, Goodell said the focus of the seminar was one part of a larger movement towards overall player safety.
The NFL has two new co-chairs of the NFL Medical Committee on Head, Neck and Spine -- Dr. Richard Ellenbogen and Dr. Hunt Batjer -- who are formulating plans to make the game safer starting at the youth level.
"They will schedule their meetings and timelines and decide when information is ready to be made public," Goodell said of the co-chairs. "We are supporting them and giving them full independence and transparency to do their work. And they would not have it any other way."
Medical reps from all 32 NFL teams are in attendance.
The NFL is hosting a league-sponsored seminar at Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday to help educate medical personnel from all 32 teams on the latest findings on concussion research. Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, an expert in the field of memory and cognitive issues, spoke with Alex Marvez and Jim Miller on Sirius NFL Radio:
"They're going to go over all the data and information concerning the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries in football players,"
Ellenbogen and Dr. Hunt Batjer have recently been slated as the new co-chairmen of the NFL's head, neck and spine committee, where they hope to emphasize making professional football safer for current athletes, as well as improve the standard of living for players of past eras. The co-chairmen were recently criticized before a House Judiciary Committee for not focusing more on improving data recovery methods for safety equipment.
Ellenbogen refuted these claims on Sirius:
"(We) are absolutely on the cutting edge of studying helmet technology. We need to know what kind of helmet technology will prevent concussions, but that's only part of the picture."
"The NFL wants this committee to look at the ‘return to play' (rules) and dissect them carefully. They also want us to go to the best researchers in the world and ask what it is that we need to do that we're not doing to protect the player and make it safer. Sit them out longer? Are there cognitive exercises they can do to heal better? All that (research) is being done at the same time."
As of last fall, players who have suffered a head injury or concussion must receive medical clearance before re-entering a game. The NFL also mandated that each of the 32 teams have a on-site neurologist available for consultations.
Committee: NFL Needs 'Culture Change' On Concussions
Speaking at the NFL's seminar at Johns Hopkins University, the heads of the NFL's Head, Spine and Neck Committee suggested the NFL needs a "culture change" if efforts to improve player safety will improve.
Ellenbogen and Dr. Hunt Batjer are the new leaders of the committee. They've previously expressed interest in distancing themselves from the previous committee who weren't as aggressive in identifying concussion problems in the league.
The biggest problem, the way I see it, is actually getting players to report the injuries. There's a perception that teams view injuries as a weakness so for a player that's on the roster bubble, there may not be an incentive to tell someone about an injury, specifically to the head.
Jun 03 11:25a by Joel Thorman - 0 comments