Interesting Article on Pats and Concussions..

[DarrylS]

came across this on BSMW, an article about how a dentist from South Weymouth, invented a mouthpiece has all but eliminated concussions for the Pats.. not sure how this fits in with Ted Johnson's claims.. but a very interesting article and the NFL's reluctance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2314899


Even as the NFL changes rules and helmet makers improve their designs, the league says concussion rates have stayed level at about 0.4 incidents per game in recent seasons -- about 100 per year. But teams report only half of these. In the four seasons between 2000 and 2003, clubs listed a total of 203 concussions on weekly injury reports, according to data compiled by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Not all teams suffer equally. Some clubs reported multiple head injuries in each of the years. The Colts listed 20 concussions.

The Patriots listed zero.

And a small-town New England dentist, who literally has been inside Patriots players' heads for 25 years, says he knows why.

....The NFL, however, doesn't require mouthguards, and 40 percent of players don't wear them. Elliot Pellman, the league's medical liaison and head of its committee on mild traumatic brain injury, has yet to be impressed by the claims that link mouthpieces to the prevention of brain trauma. "I can give you 100 dentists who say they've got the best method for reducing concussions," he says. "Many times I've had them in my office. One brought me a box of cookies. My response to that person and to 20 others is that I'm intrigued, but it's your job to prove to me your idea does what you say it does."

 

[Willie55]

We all now how truthful the Pats are with the injury report. I wouldn't put too much credence in wether or not the Pats had any concussions.

 

[upstater1]

"It's your job to prove to me...."

Is it really a dentist's job to prove to the NFL that mouthguards prevent concussions? That's a wacky idea from the NFL front office.

Some of you are parents like me. If there's something suspect out there that can harm them, you don't say it's someone else's job to prove to you that your kids are being harmed. You try to be a little proactive, no?

 

[bosfan]

Excellent read, and as usual there is a bureaucratic snag to taking a look at anything that might possibly help.

 

[pats1]

Over a year old story...

 

[smg93]

Over a year old story...

Yes, true. But with the whole TJ article, In my opinion, I think bringing it up again now is appropriate.

 

[kolbitr]

I agree, that despite the article's age, it is directly relevant to bring up again, and I thank the original poster for doing so. I had read the article when it came out, but had forgotten about Dr. Maher and his claims.

Especially vital to the Ted Johnson story are these remarks made by Elliott Pellman, the NFL's "medical liaison and head of its committee on mild traumatic brain injury":

Pellman has spearheaded the NFL's first serious study of concussions, which has led to significant changes in helmet design. But he also has reached -- and aggressively promoted -- controversial conclusions about how concussions are managed. One of his papers reported that NFL players who had three or more concussions performed no differently from other players on neuropsychological tests, and that the same was true of players who were out for more than a week after a head injury. Another paper concluded that players who suffered concussions, then returned to play later in the same game, were not at "significant risk of a second injury, either in the same game or during the season."

Pellman uses these studies to defend league policy and team decisions. Clubs use neuropsychological tests to evaluate injured players, and some keep a neurosurgeon on the field, but the NFL doesn't mandate either. In practice, 15 percent of players who suffer concussions return to play immediately; another 34 percent later go back into the game. "If there's normal testing and a player feels good, what's the contraindication to letting him play?" Pellman says. "There really is none."

Given these claims, and this attitude, prevalent just one year ago, and still present now, how are we to evaluate the Ted Johnson situation? According to this, were an NFL coach to grab a concussed player and put him back into the same game in which he received the concussion, said coach will have done nothing wrong or misguided.

Again, I refer you to this article, prior to Ted's story but after Andre Waters' suicide: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2736505&type=story. It makes clear that Pellman and the NFL have not altered their basic stance.

I ask you, then, whose is the fault? Whose the crime? We should shout it if we must: any problem here belongs to the NFL, not to Coach Belichick and the Patriots. This is obvious, despite the libelous efforts of the Globe's braying buffoons, despite Peter King's disjointed and mealy-mouthed on-air banter (he shows no awareness of these articles and this larger story, and he ought to know better). Monkey pox on both their houses.

 

[pats1]

The Pats still go to this dentist, too.

My "insider" sources tell me Seymour was there a week or two ago in his little sedan.

 

[notex]

this is a big controversy but its been kept very under the radar...
all the pats wear them. When Maroney went out with his 'chest' injury he was fitted for one that week. Samuel wears one. Brady is fit for one but wont wear it (perhaps for signal calling?) actually i think the whole defense has now been fit for them...and these are facts i have a pretty close tie to this company