Concussions decreased to a record-low in the NFL in the 2024 season, the league announced Thursday. That data dates back to 2015 when the NFL moved to using a league-wide Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system for its injury surveillance.
The injury data was shared Thursday by the league and compiled by health research company IQVIA.
Advertisement
On-record concussions decreased 17 percent when compared to the 2023 season — there were 182 total concussions combined in the preseason and regular season (games and practices) in 2024, compared to 219 total concussions combined in the preseason and regular season in 2023. This decrease comes on the heels of a preseason that saw only 44 concussions in games and practices — the only year lower was in 2020 when 30 concussions occurred during practices and there were no preseason games that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This year had a notable decrease over last year as the result of improved equipment, continued rules changes and enforcement, culture change around head injuries and so in many ways this was a milestone year with the fewest number of concussions on record. That is not to say that there is not a lot more work for us to do,” Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president overseeing player health and safety, said on a media call.
“We believe that the game while safer is no less exciting than it has ever been,” Miller said.
Dr. Allen Sills, who is the NFL’s chief medical officer, outlined one way that the league is hoping the concussion numbers will continue to go down.
“We’ve spoken very publicly about our desire to see head contact continue to get out of the game — avoidable head contact,” Dr. Sills said. “That is something that we’ll continue to spend a great deal of time focusing on and something that we’ll be talking a lot about with our competition committee.”
Concussions have been a longstanding issue in the NFL. The impact of concussions and traumatic brain injuries have cut short players’ careers and have also led to long-term health issues long after their playing days are over with CTE and dementia among several of the medical conditions faced by retired players.
Advertisement
In 2012, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court against the NFL regarding its handling of concussions and the long-term effects that retired players experienced. The NFL reached a settlement in that lawsuit in 2013, which was amended in 2015 and saw the league agree to contribute $765 million to provide medical help to more than 18,000 former players. The settlement protects retired players for 65 years and compensated former players who were injured and in need of medical help. Baseline assessments and medical benefits for those that are symptom free or starting to show signs of neurological problems were also include in the settlement. Retired players who had neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and ALS were eligible to apply for medical help through the settlement. Funds were also put aside for brain injury research as well as safety and education programs as part of the settlement.
Via the Official NFL Concussion Settlement Website (as of Jan. 27), $1.43 billion has been awarded with over 20,581 individuals registered as settlement class members.
Regarding concussion-prevention measures, Dr. Sills noted the significant improvement in helmets worn this season was a big contributor in improving on-field safety in 2024. This was also the first season that players could wear soft shell helmet covers called Guardian Caps. Twenty players wore them, and no negative effects were seen from their use.
In addition, the NFL shared data from the new dynamic kickoff rule that was instituted for the 2024 season. The new rule led to a lower concussion rate (down 43 percent vs. the 2021-2023 average) with more kicks being returned — a 57 percent increase that saw 332 kicks returned. Seven kickoffs were returned for touchdowns, the most since 2021. Despite more kicks being brought back, the league saw the same number of concussions on kickoffs (eight) from year to year. The injury rate with the dynamic kickoff is on par with a run or pass play. Previously, kickoffs had an injury rate that 2-to-4 times higher than a run or pass play.
The dynamic kickoff also led to the fewest lower extremity strains on kickoffs since at least 2018 due to slower average player speeds. The shorter distances and fewer high-speed efforts covered on kickoffs reduced the amount of lower extremity strains by 48 percent on kickoffs. That data is being shared with the league’s competition committee as the dynamic kickoff was initially established as a one-year rule and is being reviewed this offseason.
Advertisement
The league also documented that lower extremity injuries remain the cause of the greatest amount of time lost by players. The league has looked to reduce those injuries through the use of a training camp acclimation period, and the use of different digital monitoring tools have helped to continue the decrease in this type of injury. Lower extremity strains that resulted in lost time were down 14 percent compared to 2021, which was the last season before the acclimation ramp-up time was introduced.
As the league’s medical staff looks ahead, hip-drop tackles are something that will be examined closely, as well as looking at the rise of shoulder injuries, high-speed helmet impacts and expanding replay assist on health and safety fouls. Sills also noted that similar to the kickoff last year, the punt play is one that will be examined as well.
Required reading
(Photo: Richard Heathcoate / Getty Images)
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
