Who Will Protect the Brains of College Football Players?

Abstract

As recognition of the neurological consequences of concussions and head impact exposure (HIE) has grown, most sport governing bodies have begun implementing reforms to prevent concussions and reduce exposure to head impacts. While many sports have focused on rules, penalties, and equipment, football has seen the greatest gains not by changing how the game is played, but how it is practiced. Therefore, there are significant policy implications of the study by McCrea et al1 into where college football players experience concussions and HIEs. Identify all potential conflicts of interest that might be relevant to your comment. Conflicts of interest comprise financial interests, activities, and relationships within the past 3 years including but not limited to employment, affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria or payment, speaker's bureaus, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, donation of medical equipment, or patents planned, pending, or issued. Err on the side of full disclosure. If you have no conflicts of interest, check "No potential conflicts of interest" in the box below. The information will be posted with your response. Not all submitted comments are published. Please see our commenting policy for details.