Union seeks ouster of concussion doctor
UPDATED (1:31 p.m.)...
The NFL Players Association is seeking to remove neurologist Ira Casson from the league's concussions committee.
Casson has been a controversial figure because of his public comments playing down the significance of outside research into the rate and severity of brain injuries suffered by NFL players.
Several members of Congress questioned Casson's views during a hearing last month of the House Judiciary Committee on the topic, and told NFL officials they would have liked for Casson to have attended the hearing.
"Based on his track record of challenging independent research that has been done related to health and safety issues, we have concerns about his ability to continue in this role," George Atallah, the union's assistant executive director of external affairs, said in a telephone interview Friday. "Dr. Casson has blatantly ignored and combated a lot of the research that's been done on these issues and we're concerned going into the new era of player health and safety that he continues to have such a critical role."
The union's effort to remove Casson, the co-chairman of the league's concussion committee, was first reported by the New York Times.
DeMaurice Smith, the union's executive director, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have been in discussions about possible changes to the league's efforts to deal with concussions suffered by players.
Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of public relations, said in a written statement: "Neither DeMaurice Smith nor anyone else at the NFLPA initiated a discussion about Dr. Casson with the commissioner. However, we have informed Mr. Smith of a number of steps we are considering relating to player health and safety, including the work and structure of our committee on brain injuries."
The league-owned NFL Network reported this week that Goodell has told Smith the measures being considered by the league include possible equipment improvements; prospective changes to the guidelines about when a player could resume playing after suffering a concussion; potential limitations on the amount of contact allowed in practices and offseason workouts, pehaps to the point that players wouldn't wear helmets during some practices; a prospective system for allowing players to report a teammate's concussion symptoms; and a possibly expanded role for non-team-affiliated doctors in making decisions about the playing status of players.
Some of those possible measures reportedly are being discussed by members of a committee headed by former NFL coach and broadcaster John Madden. The committee is to make recommendations to the league's competition committee.
By
Mark Maske
|
November 20, 2009; 9:37 AM ET
| Category:
League
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Union
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