November 15, 2018: CTE & Football – Policy & Protection
Summary:
Before passing away, Mike Webster suffered from severe memory issues.
Post-career, Webster behaved strangely, had unusual nervous symptoms, and psychological symptoms like mood swings and suicide attempts.
There are both tangible and intangible costs associated with CTE (lost income, loss of functioning, low quality of life).
CTE can occur in even early career football players, not just professionals.
Concussions aren’t prerequisite to development of CTE; sub-concussive hits are adequate.
Omalu argues that the game can’t be made safer. Allowing children to play has a 100% risk exposure. Others argue that it would be “child abuse” to not allow them to play.
Discussion:
Whose responsibility is it to protect youth?
Initial responsibility could fall on parents to not put their kids in a situation where they could get brain damage.
Policy-makers/governing bodies could implement anti-football.
Currently illegal sports: cockfighting, dogfighting, street racing… all illegal because of the danger involved.
Some blame could fall on coaches and program directors who teach players to block with their heads and play more aggressively than necessary.
NFL players are responsible, as they don’t say something or intentionally make the sport about animosity/destruction.
Is allowing a child to play football child abuse (per Dr. Bennett Omalu)?
Seems we need more information to form a definite opinion. Data should come in future years.
There is a difference between allowing a child to participate and forcing a child to.
Data does suggest that players who began playing before age 13 had symptoms onset on average 2.4 years earlier than those who started playing after.
Still no definite link between youth football and CTE, and there could be confounding variables, like other sports, drug abuse, family history, genetics, etc. Our sample is far from random and is likely not representative.
How can football players be protected at various stages of their careers?
USA Hockey outlawed bodychecking until age 12. Similar rules exist in soccer, women’s lacross, softball.
It’s difficult to fight a giant like the NFL.
Could youth leagues shift to flag football until high school?
Spreading information about the health outcomes of football players is important. Boxing lost a fair amount of popularity when Ali got dementia pugilistica.
Leagues need external whistleblowers who aren’t susceptible to team loyalty/reverence.
If we reduce padding, maybe people won’t weaponize their heads so much.
What needs to happen before we can made moves?
Football culture promotes a lot of dangerous practices and needs to be addressed.
Football is so tied up in money, making it difficult to change.
We need more informaiton about CTE and football’s role in it.