The NFL is continuously working to improve player safety, focusing on reducing concussions. While new helmet technology and rule changes are showing promise, experts emphasize that the inherent risks of the sport remain.
This year's Super Bowl sees Philadelphia star offensive tackle Jordan Mailata hoping a new generation of helmets will help him stay in the game - preventing a fate similar to Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford who was sidelined after suffering a concussion in the AFC Championship weeks ago. 'Headbutts are common, they're going to happen,' Mailata said. 'It's what happens in the trenches.' Neurosurgeon Dr.
Allen Sills, the NFL's chief medical officer, is at the forefront of efforts to reduce concussions. 'Some of the most common symptoms we see are headache or disorientation, perhaps problem with memory,' he said. 'Sometimes people are a little bit unsteady. In rare instances, people can lose consciousness.'Ten years ago, the league began collaborating with helmet manufacturers to develop safer equipment. 'If you look at a helmet from say 20 years ago and compare it to today's helmet, there's several major changes,' Sills told CBS News. 'We have materials that do a better job at absorbing force and not transmitting that force to the brain,' he explained. 'We've got better padding inside there. It's placed strategically within the helmet in different places based again on where we expect force to occur and how we want to minimize that force.'Beyond improving equipment, the NFL has implemented strategies to reduce concussions, including raising player awareness and modifying certain rules. These changes include starting teams closer together and farther downfield on kickoffs to decrease the likelihood of high-speed collisions. 'The headline coming out of the 2024 season is that 2024 saw the fewest number of concussions on record in the NFL,' Jeff Miller, who leads health and safety for the league, said at a press conference last month. In 2024, there were 182 concussions during practices and regular season games - a 17% drop compared to the previous season, which saw 219 in 2023. Neurologist Dr. Ann McKee, a pioneer in research demonstrating that blows to the head - even those without causing concussions - can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), resulting in dementia, hailed the NFL's reported lower concussion rate as 'terrific news.' She emphasized that CTE risk is directly linked to the number of playing years, the frequency of hits, and the severity of those impacts. While acknowledging the positive impact of better helmet technology, Dr. McKee stressed that the nature of the sport inherently carries risks. This is particularly true in youth sports, she noted, pointing out that researchers have observed CTE in teenagers and young adults. Dr. Sills echoed this sentiment, stating, 'With what we understand today, we would say there is no concussion-proof helmet. And that's why we can never say you're putting on a better helmet, now you're safer, go use your head any way you want to,' he said. 'That's the wrong message. Think of the helmets the way we do the airbags in our car or the antilock brakes. The best way to not get injured is to stay out of a crash in the first place.
NFL Concussions Helmets Safety Rule Changes Player Health
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