Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Arkansas Sports Arkansas athletes sue NCAA over concusssions
Posted by Max Brantley on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 9:24 AM
- UCA
- DEREK OWENS: In the open field.
Plaintiffs include two Arkansas athletes, but the article focuses almost exclusively on Derek Owens of Russellville, injured fielding a punt for the University of Central Arkansas in a tackle so fierce it was heralded in a Tulsa newspaper, which called the tackler "headhunter." It wasn't his first concussion, but his life hasn't been the same since, his mother said, though he played the rest of that season. Owens troubles are the focus of a story relating to growing concern about long-term effect of athletic head injuries and details his experience both at UCA and in joining the lawsuit.
Another plaintiff is Angela Palacios, 19, who played soccer at Ouachita Baptist University.
The lawsuit provides details of her complaint. She suffered concussions in high school. Though OBU was aware of this and though she wore protective headgear, she says the school trainer failed to send her to an emergency room after a practice head injury and the coach insisted for a time on her participation in running drills though she complained of injury symptoms. She finally sought medical attention herself and was told she had a concussion and should sit out of sports for two weeks. She said the NCAA was negligent in not having "return to play" rules to cover situations such as hers.
The NCAA says the suit, which doesn't name universities as defendants, is without merit. UCA would not comment for the Times article about Owens' extensive remarks.
The 2011-12 N.C.A.A. Sports Medicine Handbook devotes four pages (pp. 53-56) to brain concussions, including symptoms, and it lists a revised 2010 “management plan” for all athletes showing signs of concussion. But the Owens suit insists the N.C.A.A. guidelines of the time did not prepare him for how he would feel after repeated concussions.“I consider myself lucky,” Owens said. “I’m not drooling. I can perform daily tasks.” As he gears up to return to classes next semester, he said he could feel a “night-and-day difference.” He said his headaches, depression and anxiety had gone down in recent weeks, but his mother and his girlfriend, Shelby Twedt, said he still had his down moments.
Owens loves his sport and his college. But he said he would be happier if people could pursue football and other contact sports — even field punts — and be better prepared, and treated for whatever comes crashing down on them.
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Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
Harder the tackles, the more awe and more viewers thus more ads and voila! MoMoney.
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Might as well really start a fight this morning.
Moms and Dads, it's stupid to allow a child as young as six or seven to play football. No, let me amend that; it's stupid to push your young'un into peewee football. It's stupid to continue to push for the next 12 to 16 years through multiple knee surgeries, ankle injuries, a broken wrist, at least one (fortunately minor) head injury and the attendant bruises, scratches, cuts and infections, just so you can bask in hoped for reflected glory. Aside from the injuries, the kid -- a junior in high school -- weighs 330 pounds. And you're proud of it.
That, football fans, is a down and dirty sketch of one set of parents' hoped for college -- and, of course, beyond -- football star.
It wasn't his first concussion, but his life hasn't been the same since, his mother said, though he played the rest of that season.
Though he played the rest of the season? Humph
I think a taser type device inside player's helmets would help to alleviate this problem. Whenever a player, for example, an Alabama defensive player, attempts to put the opposing quatrterback, let's say for the sake of the example, Tyler Wilson, out of the game the device would activate upon sufficient helmet to helmet contact. The defensive player would collapse and writhe about on the field at the end of the play...much to the excitement of the crowd...providing evidence of a personal foul that is so obvious that even an SEC official could not ignore it.
I read an article about this only a couple of weeks ago.
Researchers are now finding out just how much brain damage is being done by heavy knocks and concussions, some effects only showing up many years later.
Football is a dangerous sport. Really too dangerous for small children to be playing.
ATHLETIC trainer!!!!! Plus after every concussion you can not send an athlete to the emergency room. It's costly. That is why there are tests and programs out there to detect these kinds of things!
A new study finds that frequent “heading” of a soccer ball may have long-term effects similar to someone suffering from a traumatic brain injury after a car accident. Doctors at the Gruss Magnetic Resonance Research Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City used MRI scanners to view the brains of 32 amateur soccer players who frequently head-butt the ball. They found that players with the highest frequency of heading had abnormalities in five distinct areas of the brain. http://bit.ly/vFzZ7Y
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