Brain injuries have been at the forefront of all contact sports as more as more findings link long-term brain damage to concussions and other violent head trauma. The newest data from Boston University’s ongoing NFL CTE study initiative have all but reached the ceiling for concern, as 110 out of 111 brains of pro football veterans tested positive.
While it has been known for decades that violent head trauma could cause permanent damage, the extent and spread of this damage has only recently come to light. The latest study looked at the brains of 202 former football players of all levels, and CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) was found in 177 of them.
Overall, that amounts to 87 percent. But among those who played the game at the top, and therefore most glamorized, level of the sport, it calculates to 99 percent. As if the former were not harrowing enough, the latter speaks to a combination of more years of exposure by virtue of playing careers beyond college and more intense contact at that.
These findings were every bit as sad as they were shocking. While the findings of the research are slightly skewed due to a large number of the former NFL players being some of the highest risk candidates of CTE, it still shows that this issue needs more attention from all sports, not just the NFL.
But while the NFL is at the forefront of the CTE conversation, North America’s second-most prominent professional collision sports entity has largely opted to stay quiet on the topic.
Former NHL players have tried to rally a response in years past by opening lawsuits against the league. The initiative started with one featuring 10 former players in 2013 claiming that the NHL had “active and purposeful concealment of the severe risks of brain injuries exposed players to unnecessary dangers they could have avoided had the NHL provided them with truthful and accurate information and taken appropriate action to prevent needless harm.”
Following that lawsuit, one of the biggest follow-ups occurred in 2015, when 105 former players sued the league for concussion-related findings.
With the newest findings from the NFL CTE study, however, the NHL may be forced to spend more time in the public to get in front of the issue. While the sport has slowly been evolving away from the fighting and grinding style of play most likely to cause permanent damage, concussions are still a constant issue for players in the NHL.
NHL celebrity Sidney Crosby is currently known best as the back-to-back Stanley Cup championship captain and playoff MVP. But given his health history, a more forceful concussion protocol is advisable to ensure his long-term legacy is a happy one. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
And unlike the NFL, hockey has a longer, more toll-taking playoff, plus several other professional entities (AHL, ECHL, etc.) that extend more careers and, in turn, prolong more people’s potential exposure to side effects.
A perfect example of NHL struggling to align its policies with reality comes from its face: Sidney Crosby. The two-time reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner and captain of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions has struggled with concussion issues as far back as 2011, missing substantial time during the regular season due to his injuries.
During the 2017 playoffs, he took a hard, headfirst spill into the boards, but was not checked for concussion symptoms despite the incident looking like a textbook example for a potential concussion. After the game, reporting was mixed on whether or not Crosby received proper concussion testing.
While the short-term gain for keeping Crosby on the ice is clear for the NHL, the league is heading for a PR disaster much like what the NFL is going through now. The question is, how can the league handle this situation? While it is easy to sit back and say this or that should be done, the league does have to balance what makes the sport exciting and entertaining with what makes it safe and sustainable.
The most obvious change the league needs to make is to help protect the players from themselves. The toughness of the NHL is one of the proudest parts of the sports history, but this pride and unrelenting fight is also incredibly dangerous.
A player like Crosby will never say that he is injured during a playoff game, and while the coaches should be there to tell him that something is wrong, they also have a vested interest in keeping him on the ice.
The NHL has attempted to implement concussion spotters to pull and test players who suffered injuries conducive to concussions, but has yet to the power to enforce its directive in a major setting.
While every fan base would hate to lose its superstar in a key playoff game, the timing of the injury shouldn’t matter. If a player is tested and did not suffer a concussion, he will only miss a few shifts.
Conversely, when players are not tested when they did suffer a concussion, the effects could be felt long after the championship banners are hung.
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