Change the game, not just the helmets to tackle NFL's concussion concerns, says expert

In less than a week, the National Football League in the US will hold its draft, where 32 teams will select new players. This year, however, will take place in the wake of a raft of early retirements which many commentators have linked to growing concerns about the toll football is taking on players' bodies.

Even more troubling, each year comes with more questions about the brain health of former players after they leave the game. Last fall, a Boston University (BU) study found 90 out of 94 deceased former NFL players had brains that showed evidence of brain disease.

It's called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative brain disease found in individuals with a history of repetitive brain trauma—including concussions. In the 2015-2016 season, NFL data showed a 58 per cent surge in reported concussions, despite cracking down on player safety and rolling out new rules to prevent injuries. Last week, a federal judge upheld the league's US$1 billion settlement with former players who sustained concussion-related injuries during their active years.

However, it's not just concussions, Dr. Ann McKee, director of the BU CTE Center that studies the impact of head trauma and concussions, explained. The center has received donations from the National Football League to conduct the research.

Rather, it's the "repetitive trauma…minor trauma found in every play of the game, routinely," McKee says. "Over time, years of exposure to…mild head trauma in some individuals leads to this progressive deterioration that usually shows up years later."

So far, CTE can only be determined after death.

Mike Webster of the Pittsburgh Steelers was the first NFL player to be diagnosed with CTE after he died in 2002. Since then evidence of the disease has been found in several other deceased players, including Junior Seau (Chargers/Patriots), Ken Stabler (Raiders), and Frank Gifford (Giants)