NFL Commissioner on Concussion Research: ‘There Are Shortcomings to Most of Those Studies’

FLORHAM PARK, NJ—NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pointed to “shortcomings” in medical research on brain injuries and football earlier this week.

A recent medical journal article on head injuries by doctors at the Boston University School of Medicine claims that among the 111 NFL players whose brains were donated, all but one was found to have CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a degenerative brain disease.

Roger Goodell was at New York Jets training camp in Florham Park, New Jersey, on Monday for a town hall with fans, and was asked about the BU study.

“We appreciate the work they are doing about traumatic brain injuries and what the impacts are,” Goodell said. “I think the one thing everyone agrees on is there are a lot more questions than answers at this point, and what it leads to is we need to do an awful lot more research, and we in the league have agreed to put $200 million dollars into specific research. including research from BU, so that we can get those answers and understand them. In any study, they add to the medical debate and that is a good thing. There are people that have different views about it. In fact, there are shortcomings to most of those studies which need to be addressed. That is why we are looking for more research.”

Goodell feels the NFL can’t wait for all the studies to be complete to take action.

“What are we doing to make the game safer?” he asked. “It starts with rules of the game. We have made 47 rule changes in the last 10 years to take the head of the game, essentially. It’s impossible to take it entirely out of the game, but it’s about trying take the head out and make guys safer.”

Also, the NFL is looking to improve helmet technology.

Second is research to help make the equipment safer. What we found was there wasn’t enough research and development on helmets. With all the technology, with all the new material out there that can be developed, we were not advancing them. These guys can wear the new helmet that came out of the GE Head challenge called VICIS. It’s a helmet that might be able to take the impact out of the actual head.

Goodell also believes improved tackling techniques will help.

“We are trying to make the game safer on all levels by teaching the right (tackling) fundamentals because I think we got away from those fundamentals,” he observed. “It starts when you’re young.”

And lastly, it’s about making sure players are diagnosed quickly and sit out the appropriate amount of time.

In the past if you had a head injury, you didn’t talk about it. Now we have spotters upstairs if we see somebody (injured). You can’t expect a player who is injured to raise his hand, necessarily. We have spotters. Teammates are saying, ‘You know what, [he] doesn’t seem right’ and you get that care earlier. A lot of the research indicates with these injuries, you need to recover fully, and if you don’t recover fully, there is a chance you could have a more significant injury the second time.

So, to their credit, the NFL is certainly not sitting on their hands when it comes to concussions and player safety.