On Wednesday the NFL released its Health and Safety report to the Associated Press and it revealed that concussions were down 13% in 2013, but that trend looks like it won't continue this year because there have already been 61 concussions this preseason compared to 40 last year.
The report also found that concussions suffered via helmet-to-helmet contact were down 23%. Not only is the NFL trying to more heavily document and reduce concussions at the professional level, but they're also investing money to do the same at the youth level. The league's $45 million investment in USA Football's Heads Up Football training program hopes to further improve safety and teach proper tackling technique among young football players.
They're also focused on improving training for physical trainers and team doctors. During the 2013 season, in order to objectively document the concussion rate, the NFL had independent neurologists on the sidelines and unaffiliated athletic trainers watching for such injuries from the press box. The concussion testing administered on the sidelines has become more stringent over the past few years and the league has strived to educate team doctors on the previously neglected matter.
"The diagnosis and management of concussion is complicated by the difficulty in identifying the injury as well as the complex and individual nature of managing this injury," reads the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee's Protocols Regarding Diagnosis and Management of Concussion. "Ongoing education of players, NFL team physicians and athletic trainers regarding concussion is important, recognizing the evolving advances in concussion assessment and management."
Despite the good news over the last NFL season, it doesn't mean this trend will continue for years to come. The game is still extremely physical and sustaining a concussion can happen at any time. Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker suffered his third concussion in 10 months during the team's preseason game against the Texans on August 23. At that point in the preseason, the @NFLConcussions Twitter feed had documented a total of 61 concussions at the point in the preseason, which was 21 more than last year. As of September 4, they've arrived at a total of 68 - up from 54 last year.
The NFL has done a better job of making concussions a paramount concern, but that doesn't mean the numbers will drastically decrease. Sure, moving the kickoff to the 35-yard line has helped, as has the excessive fines given out to players who deliver helmet-to-helmet hits. According to Spotrac.com, the NFL fined players $147,500 in 2011 for helmet-to-helmet hits, $378,000 in 2012, and $375,250 in 2013. But that's not going to change the fact that people are getting hit on nearly every single play of the game - it's just reducing the obvious hits that are more likely to result in a concussion, which is something they should have been doing for a much longer time.
Nonetheless, the league is taking all possible measures to minimize the amount of concussions and to better detect concussions to avoid players from suffering from the injury's long term effects. You can read more about the NFL Health and Safety report here.