Brain Trauma and Football: Reform Of Some Kind Is Needed

My son was born on September 8, 2007, which I remember not just for his birth, but also because it was the day that Dennis Dixon ran wild against Michigan in the Big House on the heels of Appalachian State stunning the Wolverines a week earlier.

Now, in 2007 most of us football fans hadn’t yet heard of the term chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. We might have heard of punch-drunk syndrome, which CTE is a variant of, but CTE itself was not really on the radar screen.

Well, over the last couple of years, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist in Pittsburgh, this condition is now known and public. CTE recently re-entered the news in football as Chris Henry, the former West Virginia Mountaineer and Cincinnati Bengal, was diagnosed as having the condition. Henry died last December when he fell from the back of a pickup truck during an argument with his fiancée.

One of the thoughts about what causes CTE is repeated blows to the head. They don’t have to be full on, diagnosed concussions, though; rather, a person can have lots of smaller blows to the head that cumulatively damage the brain.

Remember, the brain is not right up against the skull. There is a space between where the brain is located in the skull and the edge of the skull. Brain injury results from the brain hitting the skull with force.

According to Dr. Omalu in an article by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Chris Henry’s brain “didn’t look like the brain of a 26 year old.”

(Picture from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

And keep in mind, Chris Henry was a young wide receiver. Not a retired offensive lineman like Pittsburgh Steelers Mike Webster or Justin Strzelzcyk. Not a retired safety like Philadelphia Eagle Andre Waters. Henry was an active player who had less than 60 NFL games played. Also, Chris Henry, for all of his issues, never missed a game with a diagnosed concussion.

That makes this an issue that should cut across all levels of the sport. Do I think that football should be outlawed? Not at this time. Obviously, a lot more research needs to be done, but some changes do need to be made in the short term with regards to equipment and the (sometimes) false sense of security it can provide. Also, changes probably need to be made to how the game is administered on game day and also during practices and the teaching of the game at the high school and lower levels.

Change is going to need to come and be driven by individuals within the game. It is one thing to play a high risk sport. But with lives potentially on the line, I know in good consciousness I couldn’t allow my boy to play the game as it is right now.