Long answer, obviously, but at least part of it is that there isn’t a fear of concussions in football like there is in hockey.

Of course this is just opinion, but I think a more likely reason that NFL concussions are not as widely reported is that they don’t show up on an x-ray and NFLers don’t have guaranteed contracts. There is tremendous pressure on these men to play. When it comes down to $, there is no motivation for a team to care about the long term health of their players. I don’t agree with you at all that we’re past the “tape it up and you’ll be fine” stage, especially in the NFL.

The situation with Sidney Crosby has changed so much about how the NHL deals with concussions, but it’s only because this happened to Crosby. Do you think ANY other player in the league would get the kind of leeway he’s received? Do you think the Sabres would treat Jochen Hecht the way the Penguins have treated Crosby? I don’t. (Hell, Hecht played in the playoffs last year, conveniently “healthy” after Pominville and Connolly went down. Then, he missed the first month and a half of the new season with a concussion.) Crosby has changed everything. To me, rather than assuming that fear is contributing to the uptick in concussion symptoms, it makes more sense to assume that more guys are speaking up about symptoms they would’ve ignored even last season.

Your point that fear is a factor is interesting, and there is probably some validity there. I just think it’s a dangerous approach, especially when you factor in that these teams have no monetary motivation to take concussions seriously.

I have to believe that we’re past the “tape it up and you’ll be fine” method to concussion treatment otherwise we’re nowhere. I’m not sure what they did for concussions back in, say, Barnaby’s day. Maybe they did a lot of homeopathic techniques but that’s of no consequence for how someone like Nate Gerbe views that technique (which is literally all that matters).

Also, I think in order for something to qualify as an effect of a placebo, something must be administered to a patient. There must be some treatment — a drug, a nutrient, an exercise. Concussions and potential concussions are treated with rest. It’s sort of the absence of treatment. If you’ve come across any examples of an athlete doing something, anything, other than rest to treat a concussion please pass it along.

On what causes a concussion. Okay, the brain knocks against the skull and gets bruised. Yes, but follow me on this. An unprecedented, remarkable number of athletes in hockey are being diagnosed with concussions. Why? Why are more athletes being diagnosed if all that causes them are brains knocking against skulls? Has the requirement for a concussion diagnosis become less strict, thereby changing the definition of a concussion? I haven’t read that anywhere. Are athletes revealing symptoms they’ve experienced in the past but only now are starting to admit? Definitely, but does this explain why they’re being diagnosed so much more often now than in the past? I think there’s more to it than that.

Why is it that concussions are so seldom diagnosed in football? Long answer, obviously, but at least part of it is that there isn’t a fear of concussions in football like there is in hockey. Tom Brady and other stars haven’t been out of the line-up for 10 months dealing with post-concussion symptoms. That fear is a potential cause, right? I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. I’m being technical because you called me on it and because it’s important to my point.

I should also note (and regret I didn’t specify) that in my entry when I say concussions have “never been diagnosed more often” I mean like the Jeff Skinners and the Claude Girouxs and the players that have us all shaking our heads in the last few weeks. Super, super short term and it could just be weird misfortune but I don’t think so. I think we’re all freaked out, including the players, and it’s contributing to more concussions.

Pretty much every medical condition has someone out there treating it in a non-traditional way. NHL players and medical staffs would be foolish not to be trying every single thing out there. I’d be shocked if Sidney Crosby hasn’t seen a half dozen acupuncturists/herbalists/homeopaths in the last year. But for this particular injury, it seems to me that the NHL/NFL has certainly exhausted the value of “mind over matter” over the course of their collective histories.

And we DO know exactly what cause concussions. The brain knocks against the skull and gets bruised. We don’t know why some hits cause concussions and some hits don’t, but this isn’t like blue eyed people being inexplicably bad at driving. We know exactly why this is happening.

I absolutely agree that every single possible avenue for recovery should be exhausted. If bananas fix the concussions, then by all means, NHLers should be eating bananas by the bushel.

Personally, I think we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of the concussion situation. I’d bet the farm that concussions are STILL being wildly under-reported. So, I guess I think this period of fear is ultimately healthy. It might require a little bit of terror for the sports industries and athletes to face this problem.

I worry about Leino. The chips are set right for Wednesday, against his former team and on the first line. If he stinks, I think fans are going to kill him and so far, he’s shown that he doesn’t respond well to critics or will wear his emotions on his sleeves. That’s not a good combination. Especially, when he’s making a ton of money and more $=more scrutiny.

This ain’t Philly, when he was just a role player and playing on the same line with #48. No one cared about him there. Now, he’s a target. A guy who came out of no where when you look at his career, will have to deal with adversity for the first time.

Peace.

I was prepared for Timmy to be back this year. There were not many other options out there, and there were a lot of teams that needed (and still need) centers for their top 6. He could frustrate and dazzle you at any time, but injuries and inconsistency (see that playoff stat) means I could take him or leave him. I wish him good luck, and I secretly hope the next person he gets in a fistfight with is Damien Cox.