Regarded by many to be the best linebacker in the NFL, Luke Kuechly was looking to continue his solid play in the 2015 regular season. In his return to the field against the Jags, he was trying to meet running back TJ Yeldon to make the tackle, but his pursuit did not go according to plan. Kuechly collided with Yeldon in a helmet impact and was taken off the field by trainers, who diagnosed Keulchy to have suffered a concussion. Kuechly was then put into the weeklong NFL concussion protocol. This protocol has been a topic of inquiry for years, but it remains a poorly understood procedure by many, even in the sport. Although the concussion protocol is meant to increase player safety, there are many unintended consequences of this deceptively harmless practice that have influenced players’ lives in dramatic ways.
In the 2012 NFL season, 49ers quarterback Alex Smith had just embarked on a very promising career; some would venture to say he had everything going for him. Having just completed a trip to the NFC Championship game against the high-powered New Orleans Saints with a remarkable, game-winning touchdown to Vernon Davis in the last nine seconds of the game, critics were finally beginning to see promise in Smith. He was looking like a dynamic quarterback, and not, as many described him, a game manager. Yet the promising season took a quick turn in a following game in the middle of the season. The score was at 14-7 against the St. Louis Rams, and Alex Smith was looking to score a first down. But as he made his way to the first down marker, he collided with linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar, who hit Smith’s helmet low and visibly shook him up. It was no surprise Smith was later diagnosed with a concussion, and as he was taken to the sideline as per protocol, his replacement, second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick, walked into the huddle.
The rest is history. Kaepernick's exceptional performances against some of the league’s best teams pushed him into the limelight and Smith to the benches. With Kaepernick’s quick rise to glory, and his highly viewed and discussed performances, it seemed as if the world — and the NFL — had forgotten about Alex Smith. In fact, despite Smith’s later medical clearance to play, Kaepernick remained quarterback and continued to lead the 49ers to a remarkable season, ultimately taking the team to the Super Bowl. In a press conference after Colin Kaepernick was named the team’s starter, Alex Smith remarked, “I feel like the only thing I did to lose my job was get a concussion.” Alex Smith was eventually traded to the improving but struggling Kansas City Chiefs, while Kaepernick kept the reigns on the Super Bowl caliber 49ers. Was this fair? How could a player lose his/her job for having taken part in a league-mandated protocol?
Aside from its efficacy and variability, the protocol seems to encourage players to rush back onto the field following concussions and withhold information about possible side effects they may be experiencing, solely to not risk losing their job. As players like Kuechly get ready to make a return following their time spent on the bench as per concussion protocol, more questions are beginning to be raised about concussions in the sport, especially in the wake of a new study.
A PBS report highlighted what the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University found from a recently conducted concussion study. Symptoms of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated head trauma, were seen in the brains of 87 of the 91 studied players, which is just below an alarming 96 percent. The concussed players’ brains presented signs of traumatic brain injuries due to repeated blows to the head, likely caused by helmet contact. Further research on this issue is being done, and the NFL is helping lead the cause. In 2012, the NFL gave over $30 million to the NIH towards research regarding injuries in sports with a heavy emphasis on being able to further understand concussions and traumatic brain injury.
As more and more players are leaving the sport prematurely because of the dangers resulting from it, the NFL cannot remain in silence. The NFL must do more to protect its players and lead initiatives to make the sport safer so that the sport can sustain its due respect and longevity.
