Schools, communities must confront head trauma in sports

By David Satcher

Throughout the past several months, increased attention has been given to the issue of concussions sustained by athletes in all levels of sports participation. A July 26 article in The New York Times raised awareness of the risks of head injuries to NFL players and of a new poster, developed by the CDC, that is now required to be placed in NFL locker rooms. The author, Alan Schwartz, described the posters as “blatantly alerting players to the long-term effects of concussions, using words like depression and early onset dementia.”

Last week, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published highlights of new concussion rules issued by the National Federation of State High School Associations. And a new study published on Wednesday in the Journal of Neuropathlogy & Experimental Neurology examines the link between head and brain injuries and dementia and cognitive decline in NFL players who develop symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS (“Lou Gehrig’s Disease”) later in life.

Proactive actions such as these speak clearly to the importance of the immediate and long-term mental health outcomes of head injury in sports at all levels, and I applaud the NFL and NFHS for appreciating the seriousness of these issues.

The NCAA says about 1.8 percent of college football players and a mere 0.8 percent of high school football players will ever play football professionally.

Young people participate in recreational and competitive sports for many reasons including physical activity, the feeling of belonging to a team, and to secure their ability to pay for their college education. Yet with youth comes the feeling of invincibility. High school, college and young professional athletes often do not consider the possibility of injury or the long-term effects of repeated head trauma later in life.

In light of the apparent well-established connection between head injury and mental illness, the NFL has made strides in caring for former players suffering the effects of injuries that often do not emerge until decades after the player has retired from the league. One such action was the establishment of the “88 Plan” by the NFL Player Care Fund in honor of Hall of Fame Player John Mackey, whose wife, Sylvia, played an instrumental role in persuading the National Football League to acknowledge the connection between on-field head injuries and post-career health decline.

The Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine has teamed up with the NFL to provide a series of free town-hall style forums across the country entitled NFL Community Huddle: Taking a Goal Line Stand for Your Mind & Body, which “kick off” at Morehouse School of Medicine Wednesday. These forums aim to educate, motivate and mobilize communities to address issues such as dementia, depression, financial and relationship stress, and drug and alcohol abuse, among others.

Our hope is that these communities will create a “game plan” for reducing stigma while influencing supportive measures to address mental disorders and prevent traumatic brain injury across all sports.

Dr. David Satcher, director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine, was the 16th U.S. surgeon general.