The US appeals court has been found to have paid out over a billion dollars in compensation to NFL players as a result of concussion and the brain damage it caused. From 2016 when these figures were produced, a preventative programme has been put it place to help avoid injury during games, and in fact there has been a 29% decrease since last year.
With research ongoing into what would be the best course of action around sporting health and safety, there have been some major changes into sporting rules as a way to make the sporting industry safer for its players. Within NFL there have been alterations to the kick off rule, changes to the blindside blocks and lowering of the head rules, all of these changes have been made as a result of quality research into health and safety. There has also been work put into testing and the design of the helmets, and more emphasis has been placed on the training for both coaches and players.
By changing how NFL players and coaches are trained preventative measures can be put in place so that both parties know how to avoid injury but also know how to react should such a situation occur. Should the worst happen and a serious injury happens it is standard NFL procedure for the inflicted players to pass a designated exam to assess the extent of the injury. The tests are conducted in a pitch side tent and a small team will ask the player questions about the game. Factors the team will look out for include eye movement, speech and behavior. Should a player lose consciousness or display symptoms of confusion or loss of memory then they would be deemed unsuitable to play.
