Wednesday, November 2, 2011

NFL to refs: Be aware of head injuries

In a story on ESPN, referees in the NFL are now being instructed to look for player's concussions on the field.  Recently, San Diego Chargers guard Kris Dielman suffered a concussion in a game versus the Jets, and he had a seizure upon landing back in San Diego.  Dielman clearly looked shaken up on the play, but he stayed in on his own account, so there was no way the officials could have stepped in to remove him from the game.  The NFL has been moving to protect its players, specifically against concussions, and this movement will hopefully help prevent concussions.  However, many people argue that it should be up to the players own judgment to take themselves out of the game.  They should be smart enough to protect their own health.  Nothing bad should come from this movement, because the referees are now only another pair of eyes looking out for the players.  The only way it could be a problem is if a referee uses his own judgement to take a player out of the game, even though the player makes it clear that he does not have a concussion.  There has not been commentary from the players on this issue yet, but I do not know if they are in favor of it or not.  I would think that they would like to have control over taking themselves in or out of a game, concussed or not.  Hopefully this prevents future concussions.

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