Ivy League Takes Lead on Concussions as NFL Sued By Former Players
A day after the NFL was sued by 75 former players who claim the league concealed information about the danger of concussions for decades, the Ivy League took strong steps to reduce the number of concussions and subconcussive hits in football.
The NFL players’ negligence, fraud and liability suit was filed on July 19 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Some players’ wives are also part of the suit. The players claim the NFL knew as early as the 1920’s of the harmful effects of concussions but concealed them from coaches, trainers, players and the public until June 2010. The players contend their NFL-based injuries left them with a variety of head trauma-based problems, including dementia (Hall-of-Famer John Mackey suffered from dementia for a decade before his recent death), headaches, memory loss, blurred vision, sleeplessness, depression, anxiety, and wild mood swings.
Meanwhile, the Ivy League has examined the research on concussions and repetitive subconcussive hits and taken steps to prevent head trauma. The Ivy League will now allow only two full-contact practices a week, three fewer than NCAA rules allow. They will also only allow one contact session during preseason two-a-day workouts. Moreover, the Ivies will put additional emphasis on teaching players proper tackling technique, the signs and symptoms of concussion, and the potential short-and-long-term ramifications of repetitive brain trauma.
A recent study that looked at nearly 2000 cases listed in the National Registry of Sudden Death in Young Athletes said the cases highlighted the importance of better equipment, better protocols for when injured athletes should return to action, and possible changes in blocking and tackling rules.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
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Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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