‘We can and will do better’: NFL commissioner pledges $100 million more to address head injuries
Commissioner Roger Goodell announces the ‘Play Smart. Play Safe’ initiative
The NFL says it will spend an additional $100 million to develop new technology and support more medical research into the growing problem of head injuries.
Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the “Play Smart. Play Safe” initiative in an open letter Wednesday.
Under the initiative, $60 million will be devoted toward developing technology such as improved helmets and $40 million will be allotted for medical research. There will be four pillars to the program: protecting players, advanced technology, medical research, and sharing progress with the public.
The NFL and its partners already are spending $100 million on research and new technology.
Goodell writes that the NFL has “made important progress in health and safety. We’ve made safety-related rules changes, encouraged advancements in equipment, improved medical protocols and care and changed the way we teach the game.
Rightfully, much of the public discussion is about concussions – how they happen, how they can be prevented and treated and what is known about their long-term impact.”
Previously, the NFL announced it was hiring a chief medical officer who will work with each team’s medical staff, the medical committees of the NFL and the players’ union, and outside scientific and medical communities.
Goodell believes this will “help ensure that our clubs have access to the most up-to-date information, that our research funds are effectively advancing science and sports medicine, and that our players and team staffs receive timely and comprehensive information on injury prevention, diagnosis and treatment.”
Goodell emphasises in his letter the need for transparency.
Noting the rise in reported concussions in 2015 – caused in part by new rules, enhanced protocols and technology – Goodell reasons that “more screening, self-reporting and collection of concussion data will inform increasingly reliable preventive measures. This is an important culture change for all of us.”