Will Concussions Cause The End of Football?

Here is a doomsday vision by the authors of an article on this topic:

“Insurance Companies might cease to insure colleges and high schools against football-related lawsuits.  Coaches, team physicians, and referees would become increasingly nervous about their financial exposure in our litigious society.  If you are coaching a high school football team, or refereeing a game as a volunteer, it is sobering to think that you could be hit with a $2 million lawsuit at any point in time.  A lot of people will see it as easier to just stay away.  More and more modern parents will keep kids out of playing football, and there tend to be a “contagion effect” with such decisions; once some parents have second thoughts, many others follow suit.  We have seen such domino effects with the risks of smoking or driving without seatbelts, two unsafe practices that were common in the 1960s but are much rarer today.  The end result is that the NFL’s feeder system would dry up and advertisers and networks would shy away from associating with the league, owing to adverse publicity and some chance of being named as co-defendants in future lawsuits.”

 “This slow death march could easily take 10 to 15 years.  Imagine the timeline.  A couple more college players – or worse, high schoolers – commit suicide with autopsies showing CTE.  A jury makes a huge award of $20 million to a family.  A class-action suit shapes up with real legs, the NFL keeps changing its rules, but it turns out that less than concussion levels of constant head contact still produce CTE.  Technological solutions (new helmets, pads) are tried and they fail to solve the problem.  Soon high schools decide it isn’t worth it.  The Ivy League quits football, then California shuts down its participation, busting up the Pac-12.  Then the Big Ten calls I quits, followed by the East Coast schools.  Now it’s mainly a regional sport in the southeast and Texas/Oklahoma.  The socioeconomic picture of a football player becomes more homogeneous; poor, week home life, poorly educated.  Ford and Chevy pull their advertising, as does IBM and eventually the beer companies.”

Hopefully, this doomsday vision will never materialize as youth football, high school, college, and pros will recognize the threat and will be quick to implement:

• Massive education program for players, parents, and coaches on the symptoms of concussions, procedures for evaluating possible concussions, removal policies, return to play policies, etc.
• Baseline neuropsychological testing to compare against post concussion testing
• More studies on the effects of cumulative impacts or hits to the head that are not concussions
• New helmet technology
• Rule modifications to limit helmet to helmet contact

General Liability  insurance carriers that insure Football organizations will be following these developments closely as they are very concerned over the liability potential. 

John Sadler                          

Source: What Would The End Of Football Look Like?, Tyler Cohen and Kevin Arier, February I, 2012,

Is Workers Compensation Exclusive Remedy For NFL Concussions?

“The NFL is named as a defendant in 21 suits that allege the league negligently misled at least several hundred players about the dangers of concussions and other head injuries.  Riddell Inc., the league’s official helmet maker, also is named as a defendant in some of the suits.”

“The National Football League is expected to use the exclusive remedy defense in liability litigation filed by hundreds of former pro football players who suffer from concussion-related injuries and cognitive disorders.”

“Sports risk management consultant Herb Appenzeller of Appenzeller & Associates, Inc. in Summerfield, N.C., said it will be interesting to see whether courts interpret the NFL lawsuits as being a matter of negligence or workers comp law.”

Source: Business Insurance, January 30, 2012

Super Bowl Insurance And Risk Management: More Than The Main Event

“Fans likely also will be unaware that the exposures that have been addressed include not just the event inside Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, but those extending far beyond the venue’s gates.”

“The planning of an event the size and scope of the Super Bowl has been going on for years in advance of this event.”

The types of insurance policies typically needed for a Super Bowl type of event are spread among multiple insurance carriers and include the following:

  * General Liability And Excess (limits may exceed $100 Million)

  * Property

  * Media Liability

  * Event Cancellation

  * Weather Insurance

Here are some Super Bowl Exposures that require risk management controls:

*  The event itself including field, stands, and surrounding parking lots for the normal exposures of slip/trip/fall, crowd management, security.

*  Preparation for terrorist attack including prevention and response.

*  Halftime show with all the people on stage and fireworks.

*  Pre game airplane flyover.

*  Adverse weather that prevents ingress and egress including postponement and cancellation contingency plans.

*  Surrounding activities such as pep rallies, parties, entertainment events, etc.

*  Collapse and other liability resulting from temporary event structures such as stages, bleachers, platforms, tents etc.

Source: Planners Tackle Super Bowl Risks, Rodd Zolkos, Business Insurance, January 30, 2012

What Youth Sports Administrators Have in Common with Paterno, Spanier, Curley & McQuery

Do you realize how much YOU have in common with Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley and Mike McQuery?  No, these men did not commit the physical crimes against children, as did Jerry Sandusky.  However, they are responsible and liable for their own actions when there is even a hint that someone is abusing a child.  This blog isn’t specifically about the Penn State case and who was (or wasn’t) fired, that will all pan out in court, but it is a REALITY check for all involved with youth that no one is invincible.

While the Penn State case is making national headlines because of its legendary coach and it’s football program, understand that this happens FREQUENTLY in youth sports.  Most of our readers are involved in teams/leagues/youth programs in one-way or the other. Are you a coach, athletic director, team mom or a parent on the side-lines?  Whatever your position, today is the day to step back and realize where exactly you fit into the lives of the kids participating in your youth sports organization.   You are there to protect them at all cost.

Some time ago, we did a blog on Protect Your Kids From Predators In Youth Sports.  This blog is a must read for anyone that has or is involved with children. It includes an article from Sports Illustrated from actual predators in youth programs saying “This is how we got away with it …this is how you protect your kids.” (Example from the article, Did you know, Studies have found that the average preferential molester victimizes about 120 children before he is caught? DISTURBING). It also contains useful Risk Management guidelines that can be implemented TODAY!

For more articles on preventing sexual abuse and molestation, visit our blog.

Shart this with others so that we all can make a difference.

Football: Concussion Risk Dangers Of Too Early Return

“The research team, headed by Dr. Barry Maron of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, analyzed information from the U.S. National Registry of Sudden Death in Young Athletes.”

“Football accounted for 57 percent of trauma-related sports deaths among young athletes, many of which could have been avoided if athletes with head injuries had been kept on the sidelines, according to researchers who sifted through 30 years of data.”

“Twelve percent of the 138 football deaths caused by head or neck injuries involved athletes who returned to the game after a concussion.  In some of these ‘second-impact syndrome’ deaths athletes were cleared for play despite symptoms from a previous head injury.”

“The study found that running back was the single most deadly position in football with 33 deaths in 30 years while 69 deaths occurred among defensive players.”

Source: Football Is Deadliest Sport For Young Athletes, Study Finds, Sporting Kid, Fall 2011, National Alliance For Youth Sports

Chartis Starts Educational Program On Sports Concussions

Chartis insurance has launched a new website to enhance public awareness on how to identify the warning signs of sports concussions and the proper response. Their website includes a number of good educational materials for coaches / athletic directors, parents / teachers, and athletes. The materials include fact sheet, clipboard sheet, tip sheet on baseline testing, tip sheet on signs and symptoms, concussion Q&A, etc.

According to Sadler Sports Insurance’s injury statistics, concussions account for about 5% of all reported injuries under youth tackle football Accident insurance. Due to the potentially catastrophic nature of concussions, this topic deserves long overdue attention.

Chartis is one of many Accident insurance carriers that Sadler Sports Insurance represents and makes available to it’s clients.

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