In the middle of this NFL season, the powers that be are planning to implement a new policy to protect athletes who have suffered head injuries.

After suffering any injury, athletes must be cleared to return to play by the athletic training staff and team doctor (similar rules apply in the high school setting). This is done to insure that athletes safely and effectively return to their sport with the lowest risk of becoming re-injured. Though avoiding another injury is never guaranteed, it’s obviously better to get a medical opinion instead of leaving the decision up to the athlete. For head injuries this can be incredibly important, especially since there can be subtle underlying conditions that can be made much worse when the athlete returns to play too soon.

The new policy states that each NFL team will be required to have an independent neurologist approved by the league to supplement the medical staff to evaluate players who have suffered concussions. What took them so long?! This will take help take some of the pressure off the team medical staff who are often under fire to get players back as soon as possible – especially when an important game is coming up. I’ve seen this pressure at the high school level too. A good high school athletic trainer won’t give into the coach, parents or players but it can be difficult at times.

After watching an interview with Hines Ward of the Pittsburg Steelers this weekend, it is still clear to me that many athletes (even the professional ones) do not take concussions seriously enough. Ward stated that the team was questioning the decision to keep quarterback Ben Roethlisberger out of Sundays game after suffering a concussion the previous week. In my opinion his comments were way out of line! Incidentally, Ward just made a public apology to Roethlisberger on his Facebook page (read more about this NBC Sports article).

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What To Look For When Your Athletes Suffer A Head Injury

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