A renewed, valuable perspective

There has been a lot of attention paid to professional athletes who sacrifice so much of themselcpves for our entertainment recently. This includes a major lawsuit brought by former NFL players that suggests that these players were doing so blindly because the NFL "told them it was safe to play." They claim the NFL minimized the risk of concussion injuries while making a lot money. However, the validity of this argue net is not the point of this post. Whether the players are right or if it is the NFL owners that have the high ground inps a debate for another time.

This brings me to my point. These athletes are crying foul while most of the youngest retirees (and some of which were a part of the lawsuit) made a lot of money playing a game. Let me say that again. They made a lot of money playing a game. And yes, I understand that the medical costs and the squandered fortunes that are often associated with these ex-players is also devastating. However, I met somebody this weekend that gave me a whole new perspective on this discussion.

This weekend, the high school that I work with hosted an alumni football game as a fundraiser that helped the athletic departments of the my school and that of our next door neighbor. During the pre-game, I met a father who is an alum of the high school where I am employed. (He also has at least two sons that we talked about that evening who are students in the same district.) This gentleman came in to get his ankles taped before the game.

I asked for a brief history of his injuries so I could give him the best treatment I could. After a remarkably long list of injuries, I had to ask how a person who appeared to be in his mid 30s ended up with such a dubious collection. He explained that he has been a military man for his entire career of 16 years if my memory is correct. He then offered that he is soon expecting to reenlist for another 6 years and hoped that it would be his last enlistment.

What struck me the most is that he was not looking for anything except the taping for his ankles. I regret that I did not have the time to talk to him more about his experiences and his injuries. I look forward to talking to him again and I hope he will be willing to share more about his experiences.

Here is thing that has really bugged me; prompting me to write this post. Here is a hero, a real hero, that is sacrificing as much and risking so much more than the professional athletes that we give so much attention to. He isn't asking for fame, isn't expecting a fortune for doing what he does, and yet, is doing much more. Most people will agree that it is always appropriate to always thank our members of armed services, but the irony of this conversation just heavily reinforced for me the need to follow though on it.

In short, I am thankful (and regretful) that God introduced me to this person and I look forward to our next conversation so that I can correct my oversight. God bless the men and women who do such tremendous service to our country and keep them safe.

Here we go again

Another professional athlete makes some irresponsible statements and a major newspaper is more than happy to perpetuate the mistake by publishing his comments.  This time, Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears admits that he would hide potential TBI symptoms form the team's medical staff so that he could continue to play.  The comments are incredibly irresponsible and they give kids terrible ideas on how to usurp their medical staffs and stay on the field.  It is because of incidents like this that the education of the public slows to a crawl.  It would be my hope that at some point, the NFL would be able to fine athletes for comments like this, but I don't see that ever happening without risking a lawsuit from the ACLU.

NFL athletic trainers in the booth

In light of the incident with the Browns and Colt McCoy's belatedly diagnosed concussion, the NFL has decided to put an independent athletic trainer in the press box of every football game to watch each of the league's 32 teams for proper adherence to TBI assessment protocols.  This can be a unique opportunity to promote the profession of athletic training and to demonstrate that we are capable of performing more than just taping ankles and getting ice.  I hope that this will not only bring more stability to the NFL, but will also promote the safety of the players, and bring some positive publicity our profession.

Upon reading many comments of fans and others interested in the TBI crisis, I found a great many of them had a very negative response to this new rule.  Many of them were asking "Why can't a doctor just be hired to do it and forgo the AT.  To this, I have two answers.  The first is cost.  ATs are far cheaper to hire to watch from the press box than are physicians.  Secondly, according to neuropsychologist Dr. Mickey Collins at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the designers of the ImPACT program, "There is a large number of athletic trainers that are practicing better medicine with regards to this injury than many physicians."  I can't think of a better endorsement than that for allowing ATs to have this chance.

One thing is certain, I will be investigating the position and see if I can get into this for a side job.  After all, it sounds like fun.

Outdated helmets identified as a potential problem in NFL with TBIs

A fellow blogger, Dustin Fink ATC, has identified a potential problem in the NFL with the use of outdated helmets leading to an increased risk of TBIs.  His findings are published on his blog, http://www.theconcussionblog.com/ where he used video to identify the kind of helmet worn by NFL athletes that received TBIs. His findings were that 45% of the TBIs in the NFL were sustained by athletes wearing outdated helmets.  This is staggering considering the amount of emphasis that was place on updating helmet technologies and making sure that youth football players had the latest helmets this past season.

Image credit: © iStockphoto.com/LUGO