By now I’m sure most of you have heard about the believed suicide of
former NFL player Junior Seau. If you haven’t, I’ve included links to
articles for Slate, BBC, and CNN.
It
is not atypical for a former football player to take his own life. In
fact, depression and dementia are common problems for former players and
the Slate article talks about how brains of former players are being
studied. One player shot himself in the chest to preserve his brain for
study. He showed signs of a condition that causes dementia and
depression due to repeated head trauma.
From
what I’ve read about his past, Seau sounds like a prime candidate for
depression or at the very least, emotional problems. He had a rough
upbringing and a less than Mayberry-style reputation off the field.
Combined with regular head injuries sustained playing the sport, Seau’s
suicide seems almost text book for a former player.
I’ve
had multiple conversations with people about how hockey is more violent
than football in a way. The sport of football is designed to be more
violent but hockey has more deliberate fights and aggressive moves. The
point of football is to knock a guy to the ground. The point of hockey
is to get the puck in the net. Head traumas on the ice are accidental
and merit punishment.
Another
advantage hockey seems to have over football is that the NHL takes
concussions far more seriously than the NFL. I’ve heard several
arguments about how football is dangerous and how teenagers and college
kids aren’t being monitored closely enough for injury. So many places
are valuing the sport over the players.
In
an effort to study the effects of concussions on the brain, concussive
players were monitored against a control for players who were supposedly
healthy. The study revealed no difference between their brains. The
healthy ‘control’ group of players were in fact receiving minor
concussions and not being diagnosed or treated. More importantly, they
were going out on the field and risking re-injury.
I
know the NHL isn’t as popular in the states are football but you don’t
hear nearly as much shock and outrage about players with brain injuries.
Why? Because the NHL started taking things like that seriously before
public outrage made them.
Yes,
I’m sure fans and families of former players were speaking out about
cases of dementia and depression but it never turned into such a massive
debate that went down to the high school level. It was the aftereffects
that had the NHL started taking serious looks at concussions and their
implications. Because they are brain injuries, they stopped ‘skating it
off’ and started pulling concussive players.
When
Nicklas Backstrom and Sidney Crosby were out with concussions this
season the NHL was very strict about the players even being allowed to
skate at practice. There were a series of physical tests they had to
pass before being allowed to train to the best of their ability. If they
displayed any symptoms during practice, they had to get off the ice.
Once the NHL clears you, the trainers work very closely to make sure you
don’t risk reinjury. Backstrom spent half the season off the ice;
Crosby spent even more. A possible winning streak was not worth
someone’s future mental health.
Even
with all this debate and outrage, I have heard very little of the NFL’s
procedure when a player is diagnosed with a concussion. If new tests or
waiting periods have been implemented for player safety, I have heard
almost nothing about it.
I’m
not making a blanket statement that the NHL is better than the NFL. I
don’t follow football as closely and the NHL is bound to have some of
the same problems with their former players. What I do know is that I
hear more about the NHL’s safety measures and valuing player health and
wellbeing than I do for the NFL.
Current Music: When Your Mind's Made Up - Glen Hansard & Market Irglova
