Only then will they do the right thing but it will be because of bad PR and lawsuits (potential and actual) rather than actually caring about the players.

There will be some teams screaming that they simply cannot afford to chip in their share to hire these extra personnel. Total BS. Would you rather pay a few hundred thousand dollars a year for the new guys and better safety equipment or multi-millions in lawsuit settlements that damage your team in more ways than just the checkbook? Because, once one player wins a negligence lawsuit – and one eventually will, there will be an avalanche of suits filed, tons of legal fees and settlement payments, big damage to ‘the brand’ – but that will end eventually and you will be making money hand over fist again much sooner if you can prevent future lawsuits by instituting policies now that actually do protect the player to the best possible extent. Because, really, to the league and the owners, it’s all about the money. Which use of funds is better for the bottom line, guys? Basic Business 101.

You can fix a bone or ligament, even muscle, but you cannot fix a brain; you only get one.

The idea of the protocol is to keep the players safe, FROM THEMSELVES. This is a mainly subjective injury, when it becomes objective/observational research has told us that it means a much more complicated outcome.

You can play with a broken bone, it can be fixed, you can play with a torn ACL, it can be fixed, you cannot play with an injured brain, not only because of the lasting effects but the chance of greater damage during the time of injury.

I believe football should stay the same, a gladiator sport for public consumption, but if you want you favorite gladiators to live long and productive lives after the fact then you must protect them from themselves.

team and refs ignore signs of concussion. Quarterback hands off the ball, and the running back takes it in for the score. the quarterback gets hit again while blocking, and he stammers to the sideline.

years later he sits in a dark room, depressed, angry, confused. His children cant make any noise because of his headaches so they stay away. And he cant actually remember winning that playoff game. Or enjoy any of the money he made because he can’t function normally.

But you remember it, and i guess thats all that counts, right?

“NFL and Helmet Maker Riddell Sued by 75 Retired Players Over Concussions”

“In the agreement, Riddell will see its helmets used throughout 2014. The company has been the official helmet of the NFL since 1989.”

NB2: Why in the world was Dielman not fully evaluated before getting on the plane, as if you fly with concussion – you do risk having a Grand Mal seisure. Yhe cabins are pressurized to about 8,000 feet – and blood flow to the brain (and other parts of the bodies) is not as strong, so if you have a bruised/damaged brain/swelling, whatever – you can be at risk.

Hey Norv, did you ever think that maybe they can’t “understand if they aren’t able to go”, because they have a concussion?

You can’t be THAT stupid….can you?

It has to start by improving the protective equipment. Players are getting bigger, stronger and faster. The equipment is getting lighter and smaller. Look at the pads these guys wear now. Are lineman wearing QB pads now? Shouldepads and helmets should be designed to work as a unit to absorb the impact from these collisions.

So they probably erred on the side of . . . winning.

Thumbs down if you feel the NFL needs to stop meddling and give these franchises the benefit of the doubt.

The solution is far easier: put this in the hands of the officials. If an official notices concussion-like symptoms, make it their RESPONSIBILITY to stop the play and get that player to the sideline neurologist.

You have the officials on the field, watching the play as it is. Use them. Make it part of their job.

The lack of independent doctors on the sidelines is the very example of the hypocrisy that’s going on here.

But hey, better to get everybody’s attention on five figure penalties to distract from the obvious inconsistencies in these nebulous and mysterious league rules.

You can’t have it both ways guys. The way it stands now, it’s a farce.

They have to state the injury is a concussion/head injury. Several of the symptoms are subjective, and a stumble after a particularly long play could be attributed to anaerobic muscle fatigue, cleat stuck in turf, cramp, someone stepping on a foot, etc. Since a concussion/head injury diagnosis makes a player unavailable, in a professional game, it’s a harder call. It is hard to see everything in the mass of 22 bodies, and if I’m evaluating a person, I’m not stopping to watch the replay on the jumbo-tron. My focus is on the athlete, so you have to hope your athletes are honest sometimes. If I were an NFL AT, I’d have 1 assistant watching the replay, and the rest of the on-field staff watching the game/tending to other players, but that’s just me.

As an added point, in my legal aspects of sport I learned that the AT’s were on contract like the players and if you didn’t clear enough to continue in a game you could get fired. Now this is before the crackdown on injuries, so this may be a moot point. Regardless, the players need to remember in game situations, your AT’s are there to be the voice of reason and protect you and help you. We are not the enemy keeping you from your paycheck…sometimes we are actually saving your life!

I know there is a very vocal facet of people that think things like this are just “part of the game” or part of some “trade” the players make for getting paid a lot of money. In some cases, they even have a point. Coal miners don’t get paid as much, but they also have an extremely dangerous job. I think the error in judgement occurs here however. The goal should be that all jobs try as hard as possible to ensure the safety of those working. The fact that there are other dangerous jobs doesn’t mean that it’s ok for the NFL to allow some guy who is wobbling around to stay in the game.

I hope the people that hear these stories and think “so what. It’s part of the game,” understand that no amount of money is worth your health, and if players, in the heat of the moment can make that calculated decision, than the choice needs to be taken out of their hands, and put into the hands of a medical professional who has no stake in the outcome of the game or the reputation of the player.

And at high school games we should have a buzzer and independent neurologist?
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At high school games you have people who genuinely care about the players more than the game. Also, the players are kids, not adults, and coaches have an extra obligation to keep them healthy.

If a coach knowingly let a kid who was showing effects of a concussion continue to play they would be horrible examples of humanity. And they would get sued within an inch of their lives.