It was a strong proposal. It was spurred by the unfortunate event: Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman was told to remain in a Super Bowl game even after he took a nasty hit in the fourth quarter.
What follows is a severely redacted excerpt of Lacanfora's article, entitled "Here are four things the NFL needs to do to fix its concussion problem." Visit the complete article by clicking here to read beyond what's shared here.
Before joining CBS Sports, Jason La Canfora was the Washington Redskins beat writer for The Washington Post for six years and served as NFL Network's insider. The Baltimore native can be seen every Sunday during the season onThe NFL Today.
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| Julian Edelman staggers to his feet after a vicious hit by Kam Chancellor. (USATSI) |
Here Are Four Things the NFL Needs to Do to Fix Its Concussion Problem
By Jason Lacanfora
CBS Sports NFL Insider: The NFL Competition Committee has a bevy of potential changes to the game to consider this week as it continues to meet in Naples, Florida, before ultimately making suggestions for owners to vote on later this month.
I can only hope that when these measures go before ownership at the spring meeting there is a concerted effort made to close lingering loopholes in the system in place to detect and determine head and neck injuries.
If the Super Bowl, and the sight of a staggering and apparently dazed Julian Edelman staying in the game, taught us anything, it's that even with the world's eyes on the game there are still instances where players are not potentially being saved from themselves. Edelman took a nasty hit from Kam Chancellor in the fourth quarter that left him dazed but he never left the field. He went on to catch three more balls for 33 yards, including a game-tying touchdown.
There remains significant work to be done at the highest levels of the NFL to ensure safer conditions; Troy Vincent, the league's VP of football operations, has written and talked about the import of such initiatives and now is the time to put them into practice.
Vincent, in providing a preview on the Competition Committee meetings on the NFL's Football Operations website over the weekend, outlined the various proposals being discussed. They include tweaking the extra point, modifying what is reviewable on instant replay and possibly eliminating the chop block.
1) Medical timeouts
To me, the most significant of them all was the potential introduction of a medical timeout where an independent third party would be empowered to stop the game and require a player to undergo a concussion test.
2) Better spotters, better communication
I don't think it would take all that elaborate of a plan to make this work. Give the spotters a device that signals the head official to immediately stop the game….
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| New England Patriots' Julian Edelman. (USATSI) |
3) Expanding game-day rosters
Vincent states the league is considering expanding the game-day roster for Thursday night games. I still can't understand why such a novel concept isn't already in place.
Forget game-day inactives and make all 53 players active for every game. Eliminate the roster pinch and the concern in the back of any coach's mind about not having enough players to fill in while someone is being evaluated on the sidelines.
4) Establishing an IR (or Designated to Return) like baseball
And, while we're at it, let's add a new injury designation to provide more flexibility for concussed players. Establishing an IR — Designated To Return — was a nice step to provide a cushion for teams to use a player later without losing him for the season (why only one designation per year, though?), but like baseball the NFL should add a concussion-specific designation that allows a player to not count against the active roster for any amount of time – one week, two weeks, a month, whatever – while he remains in the concussion protocol.
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