With the focus on head injuries in football being put under a microscope the past few seasons, the NFL is taking an important step in making sure players don’t return to the field while still suffering from the after-effects of a concussion.
According to Andrea Kremer of the NFL Network, the NFL will have unaffiliated neurological consultants on the sidelines during games beginning next season.
Per Kremer, it’s a move the NFL Players Association was strongly in favor of.
Players who have suffered head injuries in games have still needed to be cleared in order to return to the field. The problem has been that the doctors that needed to clear a player to return were on the team’s payroll. While most team doctors have probably treated each case correctly with the player’s best interests at heart, the move by the league to add an independent voice on the sideline should remove any question of impropriety.