"Today's Debate" articles on football from USA Today

Our view on football dangers: NFL drags feet as evidence on head injuries mounts
It’s a violent game, but more can be done to safeguard players’ health.
During Saturday's game against Kentucky, star University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow got knocked cold. In the coming week, Tebow faces a decision hundreds of pro, college and high school players make each season: Whether he has recovered enough from a concussion to play in a key game.
The call comes against a backdrop of mounting evidence that football's violence — combined with the play-through-the-pain mentality that coaches foster and fans love — might be leading to long-term health damage for players.
Just this week, a new survey commissioned by the NFL found that the league's retired players have a far greater chance of suffering from memory-related diseases, such as dementia, later in life than those in the general population. Retirees ages 30 to 49 reported such illnesses at a rate 19 times the normal rate.
You'd think such eye-popping numbers — on top of years of other medical studies with worrisome results — would prompt a sense of urgency on the NFL's part. Instead, the front office has been busy downplaying the news and resisting any link between concussions and long-term damage. The survey has "significant limitations," a spokesman demurred. More research is needed.

True, the survey is not definitive. But it doesn't take a medical degree to figure out that jarring collisions involving today's bigger, stronger, faster football players just might result in some long-term damage to brains. And plenty of people with degrees have confirmed the danger.
About 24% of 2,500 retired NFL players surveyed early this decade had three or more concussions while playing. They were five times as likely to develop mild memory impairments, often precursors to Alzheimer's disease, than players with no concussions, according to a 2005 report by the University of North Carolina's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes. Other research has shown how common concussions are in high school and college football: 5% of players suffered one in 1997. Two or more concussions raised the risk of future concussions and slower recoveries.
To its credit, the NFL has been taking head injuries more seriously in recent years. The league has financed research and changed tackling rules. But it could be doing much more, says Kevin Guskiewicz, who directs the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes. Players should get more education about late-in-life consequences. Systems can measure head impact inside helmets, and several colleges, including UNC, have been using them for years. Why not use them widely on the pros?
When Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner, decides about playing on Oct. 10 against LSU, he'll have plenty of expert medical advice and will do so in a far more enlightened atmosphere than existed in years past. (As an example of how attitudes can change, consider how tragedies involving dehydration and heat exhaustion have led coaches to add water breaks and curb "two-a-day" practices in stifling August heat.)
Even so, players will always be torn between rational medical decisions and football's macho culture. The NFL's message about concussions could do a lot to push its own players, and younger ones in college and high school, in a healthier direction.
(Teammates check over Tim Tebow Saturday./By Ed Reinke, AP)



Opposing view: ‘We are leading the way’
The NFL is committed to reducing and properly treating concussions.By Harold Henderson
The NFL has played a leading role for years in advancing the prevention, treatment and awareness of concussions in sports.
We have invested millions in research, leading to improved helmets that better protect players at all levels. We led the development of neuropsychological testing, a key tool in the diagnosis and treatment of concussion. Baseline neuropsychological testing for NFL players is mandated. Return-to-play guidelines are more specific and cautious.
Rule changes and strict enforcement of player safety rules, more intensive player education and internal studies showing that team physicians and players are more conservative with concussions demonstrate our commitment to reducing and properly treating this injury.

We initiated and paid for the Michigan survey to learn more about thousands of retired NFL players. Surveys can provide useful information when statistics are properly understood. The information on memory loss was not a medical diagnosis and did not include concussion history, but it clearly warrants further research that is underway. The report's lead author, David Weir, emphasized that the results do not show football causes memory problems, only that the risk is worth studying.
We already have launched a medical study on long-term effects of concussion on retired players in collaboration with faculties from the University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Mount Sinai hospital and Wayne State University. All our funded studies, including the Michigan survey, are public and have led to healthy dialogue among medical professionals.
We will continue to be responsible as the science evolves. The health and safety of our players, current and retired, are paramount, and we are leading the way for other athletes. Our medical committee on concussions includes experts from top medical centers. We have regular dialogue and meetings with our critics to learn from them. However, the debate on long-term effects of concussion is between medical experts, not between the NFL and medical experts. We are dealing with facts and responding accordingly, as our record demonstrates.
No one has the final answer, but we continue to emphasize the need for a careful and cautious approach to this complicated injury.
NFL Executive Vice President Harold Henderson is responsible for the league's programs for retired players.