Tim Tebow celebrates with his team. AP Photo:J. Raoux
The NFL released a summary of results from a commissioned study. Former players have significantly higher rates of memory disorders and dementia.
You think? Data collected reveals the rate of dementia-related diagnoses in men over the age of 50 is five times the national average.
Worse yet is the news for younger men. Of those in the age group 30-45, a rate 19 times the national average was discovered.
With all the current news about Florida quarterback Tim Tebow's head trauma it might be prudent to realize that there is no longer a place for the current attitude towards concussions.
All reports out of Florida indicate that the team is targeting Tebow's return a mere two weeks after he was hospitalized over night for his concussion. Compare that to the time off the field for knee sprains.
For years the NFL has refused to give credence to data collected by others that showed brain deterioration in former players was so high it was impossible to believe it wasn't directly related to repetitive concussions.
A team dentist for the New England Patriots, Dr. Gerald Maher has tried for years to get the league to sanction a simple mouth guard for use in concussion prevention. While players and teams are free to use such a device, and many do, the NFL continues to refuse an endorsement.
The league said it would conduct its own studies and it commissioned the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research to create and conduct the first one.
While no direct causation was found, as the data mounts it will be more difficult to deny that factors related to head injuries incurred on the football field aren't the most important factor in these numbers.
But the NFL is only the last stop on the concussion train. You know, the one that starts at the Pop Warner level and runs through big time college programs.
If the NFL begins to treat head injuries in a manner at least similar to knee injuries, the trickle-down effect will assist high schools and college do the same thing.
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