SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Earlier this week, we learned that former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, who died of colon cancer in July, also suffered from the brain disease called CTE.
That revelation has raised the level of concern over football’s link to concussions. On Thursday, the NFL addressed what it is doing to protect players from concussions and traumatic brain injuries.
Dr. Mitch Berger serves as chairman of UCSF’s neurological surgery department and is also on the NFL’s head, neck, and spine committee. At a news briefing Thursday, doctors admitted the NFL has some catching up to do.
“It’s been a real gap in our knowledge, so now the science is moving forward, we have a lot of these partnerships that are going to help us make the diagnosis better,” Berger said. “And so going forward, I think we are going to do a lot of good for players.”
The briefing showcased NFL-funded research to better diagnose and prevent concussions, everything from better helmets to technology that will diagnose concussions and traumatic brain injuries within minutes.
“This is going to be applicable to the military environment…the civilian environment, and so we are going to learn a lot from these initiatives,” Berger said.
This month, the NFL said reported concussions rose dramatically from the 2014 season to the 2015 season, though doctors said it is unclear if there are more concussions or just more reporting.
“We all know the NFL has much more work to do, that over the past several years we have uncovered a lot of new data, and that’s raised new questions, and there’s a lot of work that we need to do to make the game safer,” NFL Chief Medical Advisor Besty Nabel said.