We’re fired up in Texas. It’s finally game-week for the start of college and high school football. At my house, we’re making lists of things we need for our beginning of the season barbecue, finalizing our tailgate plans, and starting to hydrate (with a 100 degree temps at kickoff and with our seats being in the sun, we have to plan ahead for these things).
But earlier this week, I also saw a story this week that reminded me about the legal nature of football. It seems the parents of a Frostburg State University football player who died as a result of head injuries has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the head coach, the player’s helmet manufacturer and the NCAA. The lawsuit alleges that the school’s practices required players to repeatedly engage in a drill that involved nearly non-stop, head to head collisions. The suit alleges that this several players suffered concussions in this drill.
While football is a naturally violent game, we’re likely to see more of these lawsuits as we learn more about the nature of football-related head injuries. Hopefully the increased publicity surrounding head injuries in football will lead to manufacturers making better helmets and coaches and medical staff being more cautious with athletes who have experienced concussions. While you can’t ever get rid of head injuries, these type of things will help reduce their incidence and severity.
