Football, an observer once noted, is not a contact sport; it is a collision sport.
On any given weekend, hundreds of thousand of people gather at high school, college and NFL stadiums to watch football, It long ago supplanted baseball as our “national past-time.”
The passion for football is especially intense here in the South, where the game is closely identified with our Southern culture.
Yet we realize that those who play the game may pay a price. Often the price is too high. In virtually every game, players are injured. The most common injuries are not serious – strains, sprains and bruises. Others are. Dislocated bones and fractures are not uncommon. And some, of course, are frightening – fractures, spinal cord injuries and head injuries, the latter two potentially life-threatening.
Improvements in equipment, changes in rules and training methods have greatly reduced spinal cord injuries. Meanwhile, the great frontier for researchers is in the area of head injuries, the most common of which are concussions.
Concussions have long been recognized as “an occupational hazard,” but only in recent years has the full impact of concussions, especially multiple concussions over a period of time, been understood. Repeated concussions have been linked to diseases such as ALS, dementia and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Those with CTE suffer symptoms that include mood swings, depression, lack of balance and even suicide.
In 2014, the NFL settled a class action suit involving 4,500 current and former players for $675 million. The suit claimed the NFL was aware of the serious health issues related to concussions but did little to make the game safer or make players aware of the dangers.
But what, if anything,can be done?
Some of the best research in the area of concussions is being done right here in Mississippi.
At Ole Miss, researchers are using something called a “X Patch” placed in a player’s helmet, which allows for detection of concussions in real time. This technology, and the network of researchers, professors, and others behind it could ultimately change the world for victims of concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
The research that will come from this will greatly contribute to our understanding of what happens during a concussion.
Meanwhile at Mississippi State, mechanical engineering professor Dr. Mark Horstemyer and his team of graduate students are closing in on the first big step forward in developing a helmet that will greatly reduce the probability of concussions. When compared to helmets currently being used, test data suggests the team’s Phase One helmet is three times more effective at protecting the brain from concussions.
The first prototypes of the Phase One helmet will arrive at MSU this month where they will be tested by members of the MSU football team.
Football, by its nature, carries some risks, but those risks should not be life-altering.
The research currently being conducted at Ole Miss and MSU should contributed significantly toward making the game safer.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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