The certified athletic trainer in the press box called down to the sideline to point out that it appeared Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman suffered a concussion after a big fourth quarter hit by Seattle’s Kam Chancellor during a crucial 21-yard catch and run in the Super Bowl.
Edelman remained in the game and caught another 21-yard pass from Tom Brady to set up a touchdown. He was examined after the series by the Patriots medical staff, passed the concussion protocol and was allowed to remain in the game. He later caught the winning touchdown pass on the next series.
Now the NFL is instituting another rule change for 2015 to protect the players from themselves.
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If the independent certified trainer spots an injury that has gone unnoticed by the officials on the field and the team’s medical personnel on the sideline, he can call down to the referee with a medical timeout and the player will have to be immediately removed from the game to be checked out.
If the rule had been in effect in last season’s Super Bowl, Edelman would have been taken off the field right after the trainer called down and he might not have been back on the field in time for his second 21-yard catch, which came four plays after the first one.
“Now you can stop the game,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL’s senior vice president of health and safety policy said. “The athletic trainer can say, “Stop the game.”
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The NFL held a player health and safety news conference Wednesday in the same basement meeting room at its Park Avenue headquarters as the Tom Brady appeals hearing on June 23. This was a much more serious and important topic: It mainly focused on concussions, which clearly is a much bigger risk to the NFL than deflated footballs.
The culture change in the NFL over the last few years – rule changes, enforcement, injury protocol – have resulted in a decrease in concussions. According to the NFL, there were 173 concussions in 2012, 148 in 2013 and 112 last season, a 35% drop in three years. The 112 last year in 256 regular season games works out to a concussion in less than half the games. Over the last three seasons, there been a 68% drop in hits on defenseless players and concussions caused by helmet-to-helmet hits are down 43%.
There is an average of 27 doctors and trainers at every game and there’s been 40 rule changes in the last 10 years to make the game safer. If let up to the players, they often won’t come out of the game, even if they are woozy or injured. The new power given to the trainer in the press box should help put a stop to that.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/new-nfl-rule-changed-outcome-super-bowl-xlix-article-1.2316062
