Danger Zone!

The danger of head to head hit's is everywhere

Steven Threet, Arizona State's starting quarterback for most of the 2010 season, says he will not play football anymore. Threet, who will be a senior in 2011, has suffered four concussions, two of which occurred last season. Threet told The Arizona Republic on Wednesday that he's still experiencing symptoms from the last concussion and still has headaches and has trouble sleeping.



Arizona State's, Steven Threet

 With the technology in the athletic training world advancing over the years, the increased threat of head  injuries has skyrocketed. Players are getting bigger, stronger and faster every year. Back when I was in high school and college,  an offensive lineman was 260 lbs. Now guys playing that position are on average 300 plus lbs with great agility. You're finding defensive lineman playing at 260 to 285 lbs that have the speed of most running backs now.

A few years ago, I was at the NFL combine and Ronnie Brown from Auburn,who was eventually drafted by the Dolphins, was there. This guy was 6' 3'' 230 lbs and was clocked at 4.3 in the forty yard dash. A guy moving that fast and that big should have been arrested for moving that much weight so quickly. He may as well have been driving a car. Can you imagine the impact that occurs when he collides with a safety that now days is 6'1'' 210 lbs running just as fast? Dangerous combination!

 The game of football is becoming increasingly more dangerous every year. We've just started to see the profound effects of the head injuries from older players. Just recently, former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson took is own life. Before shooting himself in the chest, he asked family members to have his brain examined for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which has been tied to depression, dementia and occasionally suicide in former NFL players.

 I had a friend of mine that played 6 years in the National Football League, that continuously suffered from headaches. He died at only 38 years old from a brain aneurysm shortly after visiting his doctors office for a headache. Looking back at it, I often wonder if his death was related to head trauma from football.



"Turn it down, Please!"

  I'm so glad that medical technology has improved along with the strength training technology. Twenty or thirty years ago they weren't diagnosing concussions at the same rate. They would just say you got your bell rung really good. You would sit out a few plays and go right back into the game. Now they are very cautious about letting a player back onto the field that exhibits any symptom's of head trauma.  The NFL has cracked down on head to head hits and handing out heafty fines. It will curb some of the dangerous hits but not all of them.

Unfortunately, because guys are so powerful and fast that there is still a significant threat to players. The rules can't always account for freak accidents because a player may move slightly to the right or left just before impact that would cause a dangerous head to head encounter anyway. Let's hope that the new rules along with the diligent work of the medical community makes it a safer game to play.  What's your opinion?

Jay Graves
jaygraves@thejaygraves@report.com
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport