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Violence, Danger Part Of Football

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By JOE HENDERSON

jhenderson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 31, 2009

Updated: 01/31/2009 12:14 am

TAMPA - Willis McGahee of the Baltimore Ravens circled out of the backfield late in the AFC Championship Game this month and sprinted downfield as a pass receiver. As the ball came toward him, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark read the play and rushed at full speed toward McGahee.

What followed was a moment that defined the intensity, excitement and danger that goes with almost every one of the approximately 40,000 plays in a National Football League season. Trying to knock the ball loose, Clark crashed helmet-to-helmet into McGahee, who then lay motionless while Clark rolled on the ground nearby in pain.

It was a legal hit. After a delay of several minutes to tend to McGahee and cart him off the field, the game continued. The pass was incomplete.

Neither athlete suffered a serious injury, and Clark will be on the field Sunday for the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII at Raymond James Stadium. But the same speed and ferocity that makes professional football the nation's top spectator sport has raised concerns about player safety.

"This game is getting bigger, it's getting faster, it's getting stronger and it's getting more dangerous," former Dallas Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin said. "So that means what? More pain and more injuries."

"We're coming to a point where our bodies just physically can't take it anymore," said Davin Joseph, a 6-foot-3, 313-pound all-pro offensive lineman for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "The equipment is better, the conditioning is better, but the explosion on contact is just so strong."

The NFL says the total number of injuries has been basically stable over the past decade, including this season, but although the numbers haven't necessarily increased, the severity of injuries is a concern.

"When I saw that hit, after coming back from a knee injury and a hit like that, that may be it" for McGahee, Irvin said. "He may not have any more earning power. He may not be able to step back on the field mentally to do what he has to do. We will not know for years how that hit truly affected him."

There have been several high-profile examples of serious injuries in recent seasons. Buffalo tight end Kevin Everett suffered a life-threatening cervical spine injury during a game with Denver in September 2007. Former Bucs quarterback Chris Simms had his spleen removed after a game in 2006.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin needed seven plates and 40 titanium screws after surgery to repair a sinus injury after a helmet-to-helmet hit in a game against the New York Jets.

Former Bucs general manager Rich McKay heads the NFL Competition Committee. At the end of the season, the committee reviews a tape of every play that resulted in an injury, looking for trends. McKay, now with the Atlanta Falcons, said the review has led to rules changes designed to protect players.

"We tell our officials that when in doubt about unnecessary roughness penalties, throw the penalty flag," McKay said. "Do that often enough early in the season and it affects teams the whole year."

According to the NFL, 134 penalties were called in the first half of this season for unnecessary roughness. That number dropped to 89 in the second half.

The rules on horse-collar tackles and helmet-to-helmet hits, fingered as the cause of many player concussions, have been modified to protect defenseless players such as quarterbacks and outstretched receivers. In McGahee's case, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said, the helmet contact was legal.

"He had caught the ball and had taken steps," Aiello said. "You can see Ryan Clark turn his head as they came together. It was just unfortunate."

Better-Conditioned Players

In the 1960s and '70s, the average size for a lineman might be 250 pounds, and football was essentially a part-time job with no emphasis on off-season conditioning. Today, it's not unusual for that position to be filled by someone weighing more than 300 pounds. Today's player is likely to be stronger, faster and more athletic as well, and training is a year-round norm.

The use of supplements also likely has been a factor in the increasing size and strength of players. The NFL has rigid procedures to test for banned substances, but players have been known to push the limits.

The NFL has tried to stay a step ahead with significant improvements in equipment, especially helmets, but even that move may have unintended negative consequences.

"My guess is that there were fewer head injuries when players wore leather helmets than there are today because the players would take greater precautions," said former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, now an analyst with Fox television. "When you see a hit like the one on McGahee, it's just a reminder of how violent this game really is."

Doctors are empowered to keep a player out of the game if they suspect he has a concussion. The NFL also mandates a number of medical precautions be in place for games, including standby emergency room physicians on the field. It is also standard procedure to keep a player immobilized when trainers suspect a spinal or head injury.

'It's Not A Safe Game To Play'

Tim Gay, an instructor at the University of Nebraska and author of the book "Football and Physics," said a hit like the one on McGahee can carry up to 1,500 pounds of force.

"When you take the increasing speed of players and contrast it with the increasing mass of players, that's what you'll see," he said. "Linemen don't tend to get those kind of spinal injuries because they don't build up as much speed like what you saw" in the McGahee collision, Gay said.

So can players get too big and fast for the game to be safe?

"We're past that point," Gay said. "Football is a dangerous game. It's not a safe game to play at all."

As dangerous as the short-term injury issues can be, there are long-term concerns as well.

Boston University researchers said this week that they have identified a link between repeated head trauma and dementia. The researchers said there were abnormalities in the brain tissue of former Buc Tom McHale, who died last year from an accidental drug overdose at age 45.

McHale was the sixth former player 50 or younger to die while suffering from a condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The condition has one known cause: repeated head trauma, the kind of contact that is a normal part of line play in the NFL.

It can trigger memory loss, anger and depression and affect other cognitive behavior.

"We don't have a handle on what these hits to the head do in the long run. We can't keep finding this out by autopsy," said Chris Nowinski, president of the Sports Legacy Institute, created to study the long-term effects of the condition.

Although McKay said the league will continue to study ways to make the game safer, injuries will always be part of football. Also, McKay said, "You've got to be sure that when you modify the rules that you don't have some unintended consequence that changes the game."

So players will continue to balance personal safety and long-term well-being against the fame and money of the NFL.

"You don't want to see it get any worse, but it's inevitable," the Bucs' Joseph said. "We're in a world where guys are getting bigger, faster and stronger. The hits are harder. ... What has to change now is that everybody has to get smarter about hitting: proper form, not going for head-to-head contact anymore.

"It was different 10 years ago, when guys weren't getting carted off the field the way they are now," Joseph continued. "We've gotten so much stronger and faster now, that those prize hits can be fatal hits. As players, we know we have to get bigger and stronger. But at the end of the day, everybody wants to be able to walk home."

Reporter Mary Shedden contributed to this report. Sports columnist Joe Henderson can be reached at (813) 259-7861.

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