Concussions are having a huge impact on the game today and it could put the future of the game in jeopardy. Maybe not this generation or even the next, but the ones after that. I believe that is starting to sink in with the power holders around the NFL. One of those being Saint’s coach Sean Payton. He spoke on ESPN Radio’s Russillo and Kanell show on how he would combat the issue:
“I think the health ramifications and where we need to go, pushing the envelope quickly to catch up to speed with what we’re dealing with — I would say, simply, start with the helmet. I would say we’re way behind where should be right now with what we’re putting on the players.”
That technology may be well on it’s way. Payton referenced a prototype he was able to see at the Senior Bowl.
“It’s amazing to see,” he said. “If you took the analogy of an automobile in the ’60s and ’70s and how much of the impact passengers received in a collision and fast-forward to where we are now … I think the same thing is happening and needs to happen with the helmet that we’re wearing. So what we’re used to right now as a helmet, I think, is going to change at warp speed right in front of our eyes in the next two or three years. It really is behind. And it’s not until the noise gets real loud that you really see change in any one area. And I think every one of us in this industry hears it, and it’s deafening.”
In the ever-changing world we live in where we have to have new phones every 6 months or every year, it seems like the development is going too fast. Until you stop and think about the issues we face as a society- like climate change.
Same with concussions. There have been changes made, but nothing drastic enough to really change anything.