Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young doesn’t think the NFL is doing enough work on concussions.
There have been some controversies about the league’s protocol over the years, none more glaring than the Tua Tagavailoa situation. Tagavailoa wobbled after standing up following a hit against the Buffalo Bills, but the unaffiliated neurotrama consultant deemed it not a head injury. It was ruled a back injury and he returned to the game.
He played again, just four days later, against Cincinnati. It was then he suffered a terrifying concussion that sent him into fencing posture. He’s been out since but will return this week.
The NFLPA exercised its right to fire the neurologist and reviewed and adjusted the protocols with the league, closing a loophole regarding “gross motor instability” which was, in Tagavailoa’s case, attributed to a physical injury.
The 49ers had Talanoa Hufanga evaluated for a concussion on the first defensive drive against the Falcons last week. He returned to the game, passing an in-game and postgame assessment. But on Monday, he showed symptoms and was put in the concussion protocol.
Young feels that the league could avoid these issues with virtual reality-assisted technology that’s used in the PAC-12 and other conferences in college.
The technology, called Eye-Sync, came out as a prototype 2015 and is currently sold by a Palo Alto-based company called NeuroSync. Per a 2018 Mercury News report, here’s how the goggles work:
“The goggles present a red dot that moves in a circular pattern; while the eyes track the dot, infrared cameras within the goggles track the accuracy of the eye movement.
The athlete’s tracking score in a post-collision state is downloaded to the Samsung tablet, then immediately entered into a secure portal that contains a database.
Within that database is the athlete’s previously-established baseline (i.e., trauma-free) score. The numbers are compared to help determine the presence, and degree of, concussion.
‘We’ve found that concussion recovery has a signature eye movement,’ said [Matthew] McQueen, [associate professor at Colorado and the director of the Pac-12’s Concussion Coordinating Unit].”
McQueen, quoted in the story, said it’s difficult for athletes to fake having or not having symptoms with the test.
Here’s former University of Miami and current New York Jets receiver showing how they work:
Young pointed to this technology as an objective alternative to what he views as innately subjective protocols the league has in place now.
“There’s technology today, where you can put goggles on — it’s used in the Pac-12 right now, it’s used the Big 12, it’s used in a lot of places — in 30 seconds you put the goggles on, you do eye tracking,” Young said. “Your eyes are the window to the brain. And if you do the micro-movements of your eyes when they track the ball that moves around in the screen, you can know whether somebody has a brain injury. You know it. It’s not a question.”
One question is about the efficacy of the goggles. Most research indicates there is merit, but it’s a technology and area of research largely in its infancy.
A 2020 study published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Research showed that there is promise in the technology but said, “one of the biggest challenges with adopting VR technologies is that more high-quality research establishing validity, sensitivity, and specificity is required to inform evidence-based practice.”
Young believes the league is worried about giving up control and too many players departing games with concussions.
“Why are we screwing around with this subjective testing when we have an objective test? The reason is objective testing is objective,” Young said. “Then you have no control. And I make the argument to the league don’t worry about control because the fact is, there’s guys that are showing concussion symptoms that are neck injuries and they can play.
“So it’s not opting everybody out, but you will, once you get tested and you’re out, you’re out. And someone’s gonna say, ‘Oh, but I feel fine. Yeah, but bro, your eyes don’t lie. That’s why objective testing is so vital.’”
Young suggested that he’s going to head down to Santa Clara himself and give the technology to the 49ers players.
No, really. Forget what the NFL’s protocols are, Young said he’s gong to go straight to the players.
“I’m bringing this technology down to the 49ers,” Young said. “I’m gonna bring it to the players. [Hufanga] should have it. He should have that in his hands. It’s not that expensive. He should know whether he’s feeling better or not. It’s not complicated. It’s not hard to read. The specialist can just look at it and tell you exactly how you’re feeling. And it doesn’t lie.”
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