In the wake of the untimely and unfortunate death of former NFL Linebacker Junior Seau, one can’t help but to ask questions. Injuries just don’t happen when an athlete makes it to their professional sport of choice; they happen at all levels of play. Concussions are becoming more common the more intense the sport evolves and the ones that should be looked at the hardest — the college athletes — are being ignored.
A New York Times article was written about concussions in October of 2010. Their findings were: “a concussion is not a bruise to the brain caused by hitting a hard surface,” and can often lead to “confusion, blurred vision, memory loss, nausea and sometimes unconsciousness.” When asked about concussions, neurologists say athletes are four times as likely to get another one.
So who is going to tell me that this is just a professional injury? Nobody, because you would be seriously wrong.
For example, current Detroit Lions running back Jahvid Best, a Cal Golden Bears athlete, was held out of his last four games of the season after sustaining not one but two concussions in as many weeks. He had no symptoms for the next year and was drafted 30th overall by the Lions. He missed time again in training camp and was lost for the season in week six because of multiple concussions. Stanford, the close rival to Cal, had their recent issues with a student-athlete and concussions as well. Chris Owusu, the school’s number one wide receiver and top kick returner had his season cut short Nov. 5 because of his second concussion in three weeks – those weren’t his only two. He received two clean bills of health from physicians at UC San Francisco and NFL doctors.
Who are protecting these students? Why are they being allowed to go on to play careers in the NFL when clearly their heads are as together as a bowl of yarn? It’s not that they aren’t capable of being great athletes. It’s not that they aren’t smart enough, it’s that their brains cannot take the punishment. It’s understandable that these kids want to be professional athletes, it really is. But why aren’t doctors preventing these things from getting out of hand? Why are there no limits to how many concussions one can take before they are allowed to step on a field again?
The NCAA has avoided responsibility for far too long. Remember that term used earlier in the column called “student-athletes?” That’s right; the NCAA came up with that term to avoid worker’s compensation liability because their claim is that these players are students, not football players. What a travesty. The NCAA should be ashamed. They sure enjoy that $845.9 million for the 2010-11 academic year don’t they? What if we took that away from them?
Currently, there is a class action lawsuit against the NCAA alleging the organization has been negligent in raising awareness and implementing proper treatment of brain injuries. Four separate athletes have documented their time on and off the field that suffered as a result of these head traumas – that went overlooked by coaches and athletic departments. After these students’ grades had dropped and lost scholarships did anyone but the students take notice? The NCAA should be ashamed of not having a correct methodology to protect their “student-athletes” with concussion awareness, contact strategies and return-to-play programs for rest and medical observation. The NCAA is obviously more worried about their million-dollar machine than the students that drive it.
