How Massachusetts high school is trying to reduce football head injuries
A new study released Tuesday by Boston University and Mass General Brigham shows that 25% of all former NFL players who died during a recent six-year period had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE. In Massachusetts, one high school explained steps it has taken to try and reduce head injuries.
"It triggers alarm. What we need to do, now that we know so many of these individuals are experiencing this disease process, we need to move full steam ahead on how we can identify the disease in life, how we can treat it, and how we can ultimately cure the disease," said Daniel Daneshvar, the study's lead author.
"It is the repeated hits to the head and G-force associated with those hits that accumulate over time that result in this risk process," added Daneshvar, who is the chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Mass General Brigham and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
Football practice took place Tuesday for Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood after the study was released.
Many of the players wear Guardian caps, specially designed headgear to help prevent head injuries.
At Xaverian, more than 75% of its players wear the Guardian caps. The equipment is expensive, however, and not all schools can afford the caps.
The school says it has seen a decrease in concussions over the past year.
Athletics director and Xaverian assistant coach Ted Currle said the school has also lowered the amount of full contact during practice to reduce the risk of head injuries.
"I believe that we're going to find out it definitely is a problem for guys who play football for many, many years," Currle said.
Daneshvar said there needs to be a lot more discussion surrounding the topic of head injuries.
"At the NFL level they have less than one contact practice per week. If we had our coaches at the collegiate, high school and youth level practicing the same way, that would eliminate over half of the head impacts that our athletes experience," he said.
The NFL responded to the new study with a statement following the release of the new CTE study, saying the league is continuing to look for ways to reduce concussions and head injuries.
"The NFL remains committed to ensuring that the NFL community has access to a robust — and expanding — set of resources to enhance their physical and mental well-being. We encourage former players to utilize these resources to identify and seek treatment when they are concerned about their health," an NFL spokesperson said.
