New York Times Reports More Concussions in Practice than in Actual Games

In an age where concussions have changed the way games are handled, more information's come out to change the way teams now practice.

BY: Lennon Withrow

Feb. 1, 2021

In an article released today, New York Times reporter Alan Blinder published an article stating recent medical researchers findings that college football players sustained far more concussions from practice than in actual games played.

After years of debate and rewriting concussion protocol and enforcement, the NCAA is faced with a new challenge in battling against the fears of concussion not only on the field, but now off the field. The N.F.L. has adopted direct protocols and regulations behind full contact practices for teams, but no such protocol has been adopted by the N.C.A.A. Along with enforcing Covid-19 safety measures in practice, new concussion safety measures will probably have to be adopted by programs across the country.

The NY Times article had Dr. Michael A. McCrea, the study’s lead author and a professor of neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin report his findings on the study. Dr. McCrea had to say

“Most people, scientists or not, are aware that there’s more full-contact activity in the preseason than in the regular season, so I’m not sure the trend of that finding is a surprise, but maybe the magnitude of it.” - Dr. Michael A. McCrae

Mark Emmert, N.C.A.A. President, sounded very accepting of the information and assured that the safety of the athletes and continued education will be taken very seriously. Since this news is so fresh off the press, there is no known proposed changes to full contract practice protocol.

If there is one thing that can be said about the handling of concussions in today’s game is that it will be taken very seriously and programs will probably adopt their own practice protocols to protect their players. When these measures will be adopted, it is unknown, but expect changes to come in the future.

The full and original article can be found on nytimes.com