Players cheating on concussion tests

[The Falcon Jedi]

How players are cheating on concussion tests
Posted on: April 22, 2011 5:59 pm
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Posted by Andy Benoit

Player safety (which is the NFL’s affirmative way of saying “decreased concussions”) is at the forefront in today’s game. The league has done a commendable job of swiftly enacting new safety-oriented rules that prevent concussed players from being on the field.

But to a large degree, those rules only work if players cooperate. Dr. Daniel Amen, who has treated current and former players for post-concussion symptoms, tells Alex Marvez of Fox Sports that not all players are doing that.

When a player suffers a head injury, he must perform a baseline test that measures elements such as cognitive thinking, memory, concentration and balance. The results of the 6-8 minute test are measured against how the player performed on that same test in the preseason. Top make for an easier-to-pass baseline test, some players are purposely performing poorly on their preseason test.
"Players are smart. They know that if they have a concussion and score badly that, 'I'm going to be taken out. It's going to affect my livelihood,' " Amen said. "I've had a number of players tell me they purposely do bad on the testing to start so if they get a concussion it doesn't affect them.

"We need to educate them that this is a really dumb idea, that it's the rest of their life that they're playing with."

What’s more, some players who didn’t think ahead like this but still want to get back on the field before they’re 100 percent are turning to stimulants that can temporarily boost alertness and mask concussion symptoms.

"Ritalin will work," Amen said. "It helps boost activity to the front part of the brain. In my mind, it's not the first thing I would do to rehabilitate a concussion but it would be on the list of things to do.

"Clearly, it's not approved by the NFL or a smart thing to do and try to cheat the test."

Though he’s speaking on the matter, a bulk of Amen’s work regarding athletes’ head injuries doesn’t even pertain to concussions. He says we’re just scratching the surface on what impact repeated minor hits to the head have on the brain.

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[The Falcon Jedi]

So some players who are cheating on these concussion tests going to be the same players bitching about their brains after they retire and demand the NFL compensate them?

[The Falcon Jedi]

"Ritalin will work," Amen said. "It helps boost activity to the front part of the brain. In my mind, it's not the first thing I would do to rehabilitate a concussion but it would be on the list of things to do.

Ritalin is an amphetamine, similar in chemical structure to crystal meth. The NFL allows Ritalin use?