The NFL's concussion protocol, implemented in 2009, was created with the goal being to eliminate some of the major and lasting effects of head trauma in the National Football League. The protocol is defined by five rules:

1. If a potential concussion is identified, the player is to be removed from play in order to further examine that player. A referee, team doctor, coach, or player all are within their ability to remove a player from the field of play.

2. The team physician and an unaffiliated neurological consultant are then tasked with reviewing video of the play in which the injury might have occurred and then they are required to perform a neurological examination.

3. If step two does not conclusively indicate that a concussion has NOT occurred, the player is to be escorted to the locker room for further evaluation.

4. If the player is eventually diagnosed with a concussion, under no circumstances can that player return to the field that day (this is the important bit).

5. If the player passes all of these steps, they are then allowed to return to the field, but are to be under "strict" observation.

All of this is in an effort to eliminate some of the danger of head trauma in football. I'd like to acknowledge that based on what is known today about the long-term effects of head trauma in football, this protocol is putting a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. Minor but repeated jarring of the head and brain seems to be the true cause of lasting brain damage and I think the NFL knows that. However, this protocol shows that they are acknowledging the issues and are making an effort to fix them. They are doing this even though it doesn't seem like they are capable of ever fixing anything. At the very least, some effort is being made.

Now comes the question of how exactly the protocol is executed by individual teams. Upon reading through the exact terminology used in the protocol, it is clear that quite a bit is left up to interpretation. In reality, a dozen or so people could make the call to pull a player from a game, but it is concerning that all of those people have other matters to attend to at the same time. Essentially, no one is fully dedicated to watching the players. Additionally, there is simply no way to watch every player all at once. Nor is there any way that cameras will be able to capture every player.

More importantly, there have been more than a few instances in which there was a real question as to whether the protocol was followed properly. The first notable instance of this was with Cam Newton last season against the Denver Broncos. It was observed by many that Newton was taking multiple vicious hits to the head and was never once removed from play. This lead to many asking whether the Panthers were responsible for Newton being kept in the game, meaning had they interfered in some way. This prompted the NFL to respond and add the fear of disciplinary action by the league if teams did not follow protocol.

Since then, a handful of similar cases have popped up. The most recent case is Tom Savage of the Houston Texans. The replay of Savage's injury against the 49ers is incredibly scary to see. What's more alarming is not only that Savage returned to the field, but also how quickly he did so. Head Coach, Bill O'Brien later indicated that the head trainer had not seen the video of the hit in which Savage exhibited a "fencing response," a clear indicator of a concussion.