15 years ago, Congress forced the NFL and NFLPA to take concussions more seriously

The NFL has come a long way when it comes to handling players who have suffered concussions. The journey in practice began 15 years ago tomorrow.

On October 28, 2009, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith were summoned to Congress to declare on professional football’s approach to brain injuries.

Testimony at times focused on whether the NFL would admit a connection between concussions and future health problems. Although Dr. Ira Casson, then chairman of the NFL’s concussion committee, did not testify at the hearing (there was a fight about whether Congress had asked him to be there), a member of Congress showed an earlier clip of Casson denying a link between multiple head injuries and brain disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Smith was much more candid on behalf of the NFLPA, saying the union “has not done the best it can in this area” and: “We will do better.”

It was not enough to calm the rhetoric of at least one member of Congress. Rep. Linda Sanchez said during the hearing, “It kind of reminds me of the tobacco companies before the ’90s, when they kept saying, ‘Oh, there’s no link between smoking and health harm.'”

The hearing forced the NFL to make changes. It began with a new set of rules for returning to action after suffering a concussion, a process that has become today’s concussion protocol. Over time, the protocol has been modified and improved to ensure that players do not return until they are ready and to do a better job of removing players from the field after they have suffered a head injury.

Less than two years after Congress participated, the lawsuits began. A massive class-action lawsuit was finally settled, creating a fund that provides benefits to players who suffer from certain cognitive problems, without requiring them to prove that the condition dates back to playing NFL football.

Initially, there was concern that players would retire prematurely due to concussions. While several cited brain injury concerns when they retired later in their careers, only 49ers linebacker Chris Borland left early in a promising NFL season due to concussion concerns.

By now, everyone knows the risks. As demonstrated most recently by Tua Tagovailoa’s defiant return to the game, everyone knows what they’ve signed up for. And they continued signing up.

People take much greater risks for much less money. And they have the right to do so. Unless they can’t find anyone to clear them to play, any and all players who have suffered multiple concussions can keep coming back for more.

That does not alleviate the NFL’s obligation to remove players from contention and properly evaluate them during games before returning. The tension between checking boxes to speed up the process and providing actual medical care to players persists. There is a chance that it will always be like this.