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Avoiding or limiting head injuries now critical concern in football
By Steve Ruman
On Sept. 4, Franklin Parish, La., High School football player Tyrell Cameron was fatally injured as he tried to cover a punt in the fourth quarter of a game against Sterlington. The 16-year-old collapsed on the field, and died shortly after arriving at a nearby hospital.
One week later, Ben Hamm, a Bartlesville, Okla., Wesleyan Christian High School football player suffered a head injury on a play which was described as “a routine tackle.” Hamm underwent surgery after the blow, but the junior linebacker and team captain died last Saturday.
While such football-related deaths due to head injuries are rare, they aren’t unheard of. The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research cites 77 such cases dating back to 1995, with five occurring in 2014.
Hubbard junior Devin Howe was injured in a Sept. 11 game at Ashtabula Edgewood and was transported to a Cleveland hospital. Howe underwent surgery, spent several days in the hospital recovering and has since returned home.
On a lesser but still serious scale, high school athletes sustain an estimated 300,000 concussions per year. A majority of those concussions occur on the football field, either in games or at practice. A study published this past May in the Journal of the American Medical Association found one in 14 high school players will suffer at least one concussion each season. Even those numbers are thought to be conservative, because concussions often go undetected.
While it will always be impossible to eliminate head injuries in football, area coaches, game officials and team doctors believe the measures being taken to decrease the risk of injury are paying off.
“The difference in how we deal with safety issues today compared to when I played high school ball is like night and day,” said Ursuline coach Larry Kempe. “Back in the day, a shot to the head meant you got your bell rung. You would shake it off and get back out there.”
Today, strict guidelines implemented by the Ohio High School Athletic Association are designed to detect signs of concussions.
“I really don’t know if there are more concussions today, it’s just that now we’re more aware of them,” Kempe said.
Kempe and his staff have taken the added precaution of implementing baseline testing to all of their players.
Baseline testing is a preseason exam used to assess an athlete’s balance and brain function. Results from pre-injury tests can be used and compared to a similar exam conducted during the season if an athlete has a suspected concussion.
“Even if all the tests clear a player, if I don’t feel comfortable for some reason, he doesn’t play,” Kempe said. “We simply don’t take chances. Under any circumstance, it’s not worth it.”
Kempe’s own son, Paul, was a quarterback at Ursuline and went on to play at Walsh College. He suffered a concussion during his junior year with the Cavaliers.
“One good shot cost him three games,” Kempe said. “He wanted out there after that first week, but as his father I told him no way.”
Tony Montana has served as a high school referee for more than four decades. Like coaches, game officials are required to complete an online course which is designed to help recognize concussion symptoms.
“Years ago, concussions were never really discussed,” Montana said. “Today, injuries and especially head injuries are our biggest concern.”
Game officials also aim to prevent head injuries by enforcing rules aimed at targeting and the act of hitting defenseless players.
“In reality, the rules have always been in place, but today they are emphasized much more, and they are met with stiffer penalties,” Montana said. “If I think a targeting infraction needs to be called, but I’m not quite certain, I’m going to call the penalty. I am always going to side with player safety.”
Western Reserve coach Andy Hake says he is “very concerned about the future of the sport I love,” and believes that teaching proper tackling techniques can help save the game. Echoing the comments made by Hake, Kempe said that coaching the art of tackling “has changed drastically over the years.” Kempe uses a Seattle Seahawks-based video which teaches rugby-style tackling as a learning tool.
“Look, there is no other sport like football in terms of brutal combat and violence, it’s the nature of the game,” Hake said. “There are always going to be wicked hits. There will always be injuries. We have to do everything we can to minimize the risk.”
Western Reserve players have the outside of their helmets equipped with Shockstrip pads, a medical-grade material that helps reduce the probability of traumatic brain injuries, concussions and hearing loss to athletes.
Shockstrips were developed by Dr. Steven Novicky, a Boardman native who also serves as the Western Reserve team doctor.
Novicky played college and semipro football before leaving the game because of constant headaches.
“Every year around late July, I noticed players coming into my office with ringing ears, headaches, and dizziness,” Dr. Novicky said. “Yes, those involved in the game have taken precautions and today you have more safety measures than ever before. Yet at the same time, the safety equipment never kept up with the athletes.
“Today’s football players are bigger, stronger and faster than ever before. They need better protection.”
Dr. Novicky noted that in the three years prior to Western Reserve players using Shockstrips, the team suffered 19 concussions during a span of 36 games. Since Shockstrips were added to the helmets, the team has reported four concussions over a three-year period covering 39 games.
“I love this game, but I worry about its future,” Dr. Novicky said. “The OHSAA has done a phenomenal job at educating the importance of awareness, but no one has really addressed the issue of making safer equipment. That must be addressed at all levels.”
Chris Parry is a 2014 Niles McKinley High graduate who is now a wide receiver at West Virginia University. While in high school, Parry suffered a a pair of concussions — one in football and one while playing basketball. In both instances, the concussions were not immediately diagnosed.
“It’s not always a hard, noticeable hit that causes an injury, so if a player doesn’t show signs, it can easily go undetected in the moment,” Parry said.
In the basketball injury, Parry recalls forgetting plays “that I was running the entire year.” In football, he experienced “an inability to control my emotions for no reason at all.”
“I remember sitting in math class the Monday after I was concussed, and not being able to figure out how to add numbers,” Parry said.
Parry said that even at the Division I college level, player safety is a serious issue.
“There are very strict rules regarding how much tackling we can do at practice, how often we can wear pads,” Parry said. “Our coaches are very serious about following the guidelines. And if there is even a question as to whether a player might have a concussion, he’s out. It doesn’t matter who he is.”
Parry says that despite the risks, his love for football would never allow him to walk away from the sport Still, he admits that “with all the studies I’ve read, I would probably have a tough time letting my own child play.”
Parry is not alone in his thinking. According to numbers released by the National Federation of State High School Associations, between 2008 and 2013 the number of players in Ohio dropped from 55,392 to 45,573.
Hake hopes that a continued focus on player safety will help alter the declining participation.
“Football teaches so many great lessons that can’t be learned in English and math class,” Hake said. “Are you going to tell me that Caesar and Bonaparte wouldn’t have wanted football players on their side? Show me a successful football player, and I’ll show you a strong leader.”
Meanwhile, Montana believes that an ever-increasing awareness and education toward head injuries will indeed help make football a safer sport.
“Every week before the game when the referees meet with the team captains, I tell the players, ‘Use your head to think, not to hit,’” Montana said. “We all need to do our part in keeping the game safe so it can continue to the greatest of sports.”