Te Young Researcher 2017 Volume 1 | Issue 1 National Football League Concussions from 2009 – 2015: A Secondary Data Analysis Ethan Kelly Recommended Citation Kelly, E. (2017). National Football League concussions from 2009 – 2015: A secondary data analysis. Te Young Researcher, 1(1), 27-36. Retrieved from http://www.theyoungresearcher.com/papers/kelly.pdf ISSN: 2560-9815 (Print) 2560-9823 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.theyoungresearcher.com THE YOUNG RESEARCHER, VOL. 1, NO. 1, 2017 National Football League Concussions from 2009 – 2015: A Secondary Data Analysis Ethan Kelly In recent years, the National Football League (NFL) has made an efort to lower the prevalence of concussions, partially by enacting rule changes designed to limit contact to the head. Tis study aims to determine whether NFL rule changes from 2009 – 2015 have resulted in a decrease in the number of reported concussions through analyzing publicly available injury reports, which were compared with rule changes for each season. A second component of the study aims to determine whether teams are underreporting the number of concussions sufered by gathering concussion data for each team. Tis study found that there was a general increase in the number of concussions from 2009 – 2015 and it is not possible to determine whether rule changes are efective in decreas- ing head impact exposure. Tis study also found that certain teams reported a signifcantly low number of concussions throughout the years analyzed, and underreporting is likely occurring. Keywords: concussion, underreporting, National Football League, rule changes in NFL players, there is a lack of research determin- Introduction ing whether or not the NFL’s concussion prevention strategies are indeed protecting the players. From ap- Troughout the twentieth century, various studies proximately 2009 onwards, the NFL has implemented were published regarding the detrimental efects of several new penalties varying in punishment from fve concussions. It was not until 2005, when Dr. Bennet to ffeen yards, as well as possible fnes and suspen- Omalu published his research on Chronic Traumatic sions. When a penalty is enforced, the penalized team Encephalopathy in deceased National Football League will have the football moved back by the correspond- (NFL) players, that concussions became one of the ing number of yards to that particular penalty. With greatest concerns facing sports players, parents, and these punishments, a negative incentive is placed to multi-billion dollar leagues. discourage players from acts that could cause concus- While ofen criticized for disregarding these fnd- sions, and this study attempts to determine whether ings, the NFL has increased its efort in the research these negative incentives are working. A second por- and prevention of concussions by recently investing tion of the study seeks to address the issue of the un- $100 million in concussion research and by consis- derreporting of concussions by NFL teams. Tis issue tently implementing rule changes designed to prevent has been discussed in the media and by former players concussions since around the time of Omalu’s fndings but has yet to be analyzed in an academic study. Tus, (Belson, 2016). While there have been vast amounts the question that will be explored is: are the recent Na- of research performed on the efects of concussions tional Football League rule changes designed to limit 27 NFL CONCUSSIONS: 2009-2015 brain trauma achieving their desired efect of lower- of investigating brain injury were attempted, and in ing the prevalence of concussions and are NFL teams 2008, a study involving Omalu used a technique called accurately reporting these concussions? Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning, and Tis study analyzed National Football League in- the results were encouraging (Small et. al, 2008). In jury reports from 2009 – 2015 in order to determine this investigation, fve retired NFL players aged 45 to whether the rate of concussions has been decreas- 73 years were compared with a control group of simi- ing in unison with the rule changes. Tis study also lar age and body characteristics. Te results found that tracked the number of concussions reported by every signals were much higher in the experimental group, NFL team in order to determine whether teams have particularly in regions of the brain known to produce been underreporting concussions. Since the research tau deposits, which Omalu had discovered in his 2005 has already been gathered by an outside source, a sec- study. Tis development was noteworthy, as the PET ondary data analysis was used to present the fndings. scanning successfully flled a gap in the ability to iden- Te goal of this study is to provide a greater level of tify traumatic brain injury in living humans. Despite clarity to a growing issue of concern in the sport of this encouraging breakthrough, more research is nec- football. essary to fully comprehend CTE and its possible treat- ment and identifcation options (Tator, 2014). It is essential to outline in this paper a defnition for Literature Review what constitutes a concussion. According to the Brit- ish Journal of Sports Medicine, they state: Tere has been extensive research on the efects Sport related concussion is a traumatic brain injury and dangers of concussions in the National Football induced by biomechanical forces. Several common League (NFL), as well as in other football leagues. In features that may be utilised in clinically defning the the famed 2005 study conducted by Dr. Bennet Om- nature of a concussive head injury include: SRC may alu which inspired a Hollywood flm, Chronic Trau- be caused either by a direct blow to the head, face, matic Encephalopathy (CTE) was frst discovered in neck or elsewhere on the body with an impulsive force a former NFL player. Omalu investigated the case of transmitted to the head. SRC typically results in the former NFL player Mike Webster, by performing an rapid onset of short-lived impairment of neurologi- autopsy on his brain. Omalu’s discoveries were shock- cal function that resolves spontaneously. However, in ing, as he found grey matter on the brain of the player, some cases, signs and symptoms evolve over a number which showed extensive damage to the brain. What of minutes to hours. SRC may result in neuropatho- further made this discovery noteworthy was that logical changes, but the acute clinical signs and symp- Webster had no recorded concussions throughout toms largely refect a functional disturbance rather his career (Omalu, 2005). Omalu then proposed that than a structural injury and, as such, no abnormality the grey matter found on the brain was a result of re- is seen on standard structural neuroimaging studies. petitive, non-concussive, hits to the head. Over time, SRC results in a range of clinical signs and symptoms while there may have not been great force on the hits, that may or may not involve loss of consciousness. the sheer number of hits resulted in extensive dam- Resolution of the clinical and cognitive features typi- age to the brain. Omalu then named this condition cally follows a sequential course. However, in some Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (Omalu, 2005). cases symptoms may be prolonged. Te clinical signs Tis study is particularly noteworthy as an autopsy and symptoms cannot be explained by drug, alcohol, had never been performed on the brain of a former or medication use, other injuries (such as cervical in- NFL player (Omalu, 2005). One major limitation of juries, peripheral vestibular dysfunction, etc) or other this study was that due to the nature of the procedure, comorbidities (eg, psychological factors or coexisting it could only be performed on deceased players (Om- medical conditions) (McCrory et al., 2017). alu, 2005). So while Omalu’s fndings caused great As can be interpreted from this defnition, concus- concern and outrage among the medical and football sions have a wide array of symptoms, which could communities, there was still no way of diagnosing lead to the possibility of some teams having diferent CTE in living players (Omalu, 2005). New methods interpretations of what classifes a concussion. 28 NFL CONCUSSIONS: 2009-2015 Recent breakthroughs in concussion research have on the exposure to head impact. Trough performing placed a greater focus on the issue of concussion pre- a cross – sectional study, the researchers determined vention through advances in helmet technology along that limiting full-contact practices resulted in an aver- with rule changes in various sports. When addressing age of a 42% decrease in head impact exposure (Bro- concerns over concussion prevention measures, NFL glio, Williams, O’Connor, & Goldstick, 2016). Along Commissioner Roger Goodell stated, “Within the with the study discussed in the paragraph above, there NFL, safety-related rules will always be clearly defned appears to be a trend that lowering the number of and strictly enforced, and we will continue to work contact plays tends to result in a decrease in the num- with our players, coaches, and others to identify new ber of injuries. While this study does not take into ac- and safer ways to play the game” (Bachynski & Gold- count how much contact NFL players are exposed to berg, 2014, p. 324). Despite these promises to increase in practices, it is important to note that practice con- player safety, researchers such as Kathleen Bachynski ditions may afect concussion rates. and Daniel Goldberg (2014) argue that they fnd “little In a report released by the National Football evidence that these strategies prevent concussive and League, the number of total concussions rose con- subconcussive head impacts or signifcantly reduce siderably from 2014 to 2015 (Breslow, 2016). Ac- the associated long-term risks” (p. 324). cording to NFL Senior Vice President of Health and While large sums of money have been invested in Safety Policy Jef Miller, the NFL has been attempt- concussion research, there has not been a substantial ing to identify what has led to this increase (Breslow, amount of research performed on the efects of the 2016).