In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll admit — I love college football. It’s easily my favorite sport, and I dread to count the hours I spend watching it each week.
But as I watched Oregon play Washington State last weekend, I couldn’t help but think — what role does a sport as violent as football have in the college landscape?
There is ever-growing evidence that football does more damage to the human body than just a few bumps and bruises. It’s a sport that debilitates its participants — often physically and sometimes mentally.
Against Washington State, the Ducks sustained a staggering number of injuries.
Sure, there were the tweaks and sprains every team deals with. But on a first quarter kick return, Oregon running back Kenjon Barner took a wicked shot to the head and was knocked out. Barner lay motionless on the Martin Stadium turf for several minutes before eventually getting carted off.
Barner is now back in Eugene, and while probably still a bit groggy, not much worse for the wear. But the real impact of that collision won’t be felt until years later.
There is still more research that needs to be conducted to fully understand the impact of football collisions on the brain, but the early returns are damning.
Despite never being diagnosed with a concussion, Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster died at 50 after dealing with early onset dementia for years. At the end of his life, Webster was in so much discomfort that he literally had to Taser himself to fall asleep.
But Webster did play in the NFL for 17 years, seeing time in 245 games at one of football’s most physically grueling positions. You could argue that as a highly compensated professional athlete, Webster made an understandable choice that the risk of brain damage was worth the reward of glory and wealth. (It’s also worth noting brain injury research wasn’t nearly as advanced when Webster played.)
The same can’t be said about Owen Thomas. A 21-year-old junior at prestigious Penn University, Thomas started playing football when he was nine or 10, but was never diagnosed with a concussion.
Then one day last April, out of the blue, Thomas hung himself. According to an ESPN.com article quoting Thomas’s mother, Thomas “didn’t have a history of depression.” But a posthumous examination of Thomas’ brain revealed the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — the same brain disease that afflicted Webster. CTE is known to cause depression, among other ailments.
There are numerous examples of similar, possible brain injury related tragedies. And as Thomas’ case illustrates, most instances of CTE don’t result from one or two concussions.
Now, long term brain damage is more likely the result of hundreds of sub-concussive collisions. According to a recent ESPN.com article, “Studies have shown a first-string college football player in a given year experiences between 800 and 1,500 blows to the head of a G-force greater than 20. That’s the equivalent of about a 20-mph car crash each time.”
And not all of those collisions occur in game situations. In the macho world of college football, coaches often encourage their players to be aggressive, to hit hard, and take hard hits. If you’ve ever seen an Oklahoma drill, you know what I’m talking about — tackling and blocking drills that involve violent collisions are commonplace in practice.
How those same players are expected to keep up in calculus class the next day is beyond me. But more importantly, when will the adults responsible for keeping student-athletes safe take tangible steps to take traumatic brain injury out of play?
It’s bad enough college football players don’t get fairly compensated for putting their bodies on the line every Saturday. (Do you really think Kenjon Barner’s scholarship and monthly stipend is adequate payment for the thousands upon thousands of calendars sold at the Duck Store that bear his likeness? Or for being a part of the product that will sell a multi-million dollar TV rights deal next winter? Please.)
But to put the health of 20-year-old amateur athletes, most of whom will begin a career off the gridiron once their college career ends, in jeopardy … for a game? That’s just abusive.
Look, I’m not saying we need to totally eliminate tackle football, and I realize that there is better concussion protocol now than there was several years ago. But there are relatively easy ways to make the sport safer. There should be penalties for all hits to the head (not just helmet-to-helmet) and limitations on contact in practice (one day a week of hitting maximum, and no Oklahoma-type drills).
Perhaps more importantly, Pop Warner football’s age limits should be modified. The brain is at its most vulnerable when we’re still young, and there’s no reason for kids to be playing tackle football at the same age they’re still learning how to read. Make football players wait until high school, at the earliest, to tackle.
While there’s no way of knowing for certain whether those, or similar regulations would make a big difference in brain injury in football, it’s becoming ever apparent that the brain can only take so much pounding.
It’s time athletic administrators make brain injury in football their No. 1 priority. Yes, above sexy new TV contracts, fresh jersey combinations and even new athletic facilities. Or maybe, Joe Athletic Director would rather be there when a former college player needs help falling asleep, and asks, “Tase me, bro?”
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