Steelers' Dr. Maroon claims that CTE is rare, youth football less dangerous than playground

How do we reconcile this? I am embarrassed to have this guy represent us, while making such claims.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/1...-steelers-neurosurgeon-nfl-medical-consultant

 

I don't understand why he figures that the repeated trauma of youth football is safer than riding a bike or skateboarding.

I also don't understand "overexaggerated".

He sounds like an NFL crony protecting the sport and the league.

 

I read the article real quick and I want to start off by saying...Dr. Maroon is one of the best Dr's in the country (maybe world?).

I do not see any issue with what he said based on his tests/research. As far as the bike riding/etc stuff...it seems he just used that as a comparison to youth football saying there are more head/etc injuries occurring/being reported with that than there are in youth football. Which is really nothing big or amazing...kids are always getting hurt on bikes/etc.

Of course it seems some have interpreted the article differently than it probably should be.

 

I agree gp. I know him and the family personally. definitely one of if not the best dr.s in the world.

 

Hey, lots of great doctors are idiots and/or corrupt. Wouldn't be the first. On this particular topic, this guy is full of it. I'm also disappointed a Steelers' representative would try and make this claim.

gpguy, did you read the whole article?

There are WAY more kids playing at recess and riding bikes than getting nailed by linebackers. Maroon makes no effort to work percentages into the equation, and even says, "We have no idea the incidence." He just says more kids get hurt riding bikes and playing on playgrounds than playing football. Yeah, and more kids die from car accidents than being hurtled into the sun, but which is really safer? Here is the rebuttal, from a non-doctor and former WWE wrestler, who is actually the correct one in this debate:

Note that it's not just Nowinski, but also the CDC that disagrees with Maroon.

Also, Maroon saying that football has "never been safer" is as good as not saying a sentence at all. It may be safer than it was (no helmets at all), but safer than playing on a slide or riding a bike? Things can go wrong with your brain there if you're an idiot and ride on the freeway or don't pay attention, or get mixed up about which end is the slide and which end is the ladder, but things go wrong with your brain in football when you're doing things right. It's unavoidable and constant, like boxing. You know what else has never been safer? Playing chicken on the train tracks. With today's modern train whistles, grippy sneakers, and high-tech hospitals, there's practically no reason not to!

You guys can go ahead and tell me I'm not a neurosurgeon so I don't know what I'm talking about, but are you saying that the position of common sense and other, non-NFL doctors ("getting nailed in the head over and over is bad for kids' brains, and that's worse than playing on a playground or riding a bike") are wrong? Because that's what you're saying if you agree with Maroon. It might be ballsy to suggest this guy is some degree of crooked, but if it's a choice between doctors with no reason for bias saying things that make perfect sense and a doctor getting paid by the NFL saying things that wouldn't stand up to a 5th grader's scrutiny, I'm going with the smart, non-corrupt side.

I also like the top comment in the article, about "experts" on payrolls - the guy says he believes Maroon about as much as he believes the BYU biology professor that says evolution isn't real.

 

I think a lot of these football players are like pro wrestlers. They want to make it to the big time and make all the money and act like they are gonna play forever and all that and then when it's over they want to blame the NFL for the decisions they made just like wrestlers want to blame Vince McMahon for all the decisions they made. Everybody wants to sow but nobody wants to reap.

 

What I said, what you're saying, and what Maroon is saying are three separate things. He's making the argument, either explicitly or implied, that playing football is safer for your kid than playing on a playground or riding a bike. That's a selfish, dangerous lie. I love playing football, tackle and otherwise. Parents and kids can make their own decisions, but they shouldn't have NFL doctors mangling the truth to make themselves look more appealing. Parents and kids (and adults like Borland) should be able to examine evidence and decide, not have to sift through which doctors are risking other people's health for their own gain.

 

[video=youtube_share;C_Kh7nLplWo]http://youtu.be/C_Kh7nLplWo[/video]

 

he also said of the "studies done" snack which aren't a lot as it states. your reading way more into what he was saying then there is. more cases of accidents on the playground and riding a bike than are proven by studies of CTE. that is correct, per capita and per data of all studies. which isn't a lot.

whats not being brought into context in this study is also how many of these men claiming CTE from the NFL and football have had other head tramu's in their lives not related to football and are lumping them all in one. I'm sure a lot of NFL'ers had car accidents and wrecked their bikes and done all sorts of things not pertaining to football that have caused concussions other than just football, but it's all being blamed on the game at this point.

in my 20+ years associated with football and a lot of it was begun at a youth level, the amount of severe big hits doesn't happen often at those ages. it's a lot more of kids hanging on and dragging other kids to the ground, nearly in slow motion. not at 20 MPH as it is when they get older and play the game.

 

Did anybody ever see that show, I think it was called "Sports Science"? It had an episode once where it showed what the impact from a pro linebacker is equivalent to. Joey Porter was on it and basically they came to the conclusion that getting hit by a full speed LB is the equivalent of getting hit by a tour bus. The amount of force that his speed generated was phenomenal. It was showing what happens on a skeletal level and it was brutal. Maybe someone could find that online and post it here. It was really cool. It made me glad Joey Porter was a Steeler. It also made me glad that I just got to sit in the stands and watch him play. LOL.

 

Stop the sugar coating. It's a physical, brutal sport period. I have the upmost respect for Dr. Maroon. But the NFL is playing Defense(did I just say that?) in regards to head trauma. You can't prevent it totally, unless flags are in the future. The NFL's settlement for all those players suing was a bit light and will be overturned. I believe the next collective bargaining agreement will have a clause that makes you sign a waiver. It's coming.

 

Are you for real??? You must be joking. I can't even come up with an analogy for how much of an NFL apologist you're being

 

so you are saying no other concussions have happened in these guys lives before the NFL? really? really? not even you believe that terp. seriously. and snack, yes I as a kid fell off the top of a sliding board and had a severe concussion. my brother ran 3 blocks bare footed got my fat old Italian grandmother which ran back 3 blocks also bare footed called the e-car and they had unloaded and had the gurney there ready to load me when I woke up about 25 minutes later. so yes it happens. I've had 4 concussions in my life that were not related to football.

 

Guys can get concussions in the NCAA as well. I got a concussion once playing volleyball on a tile floor in a gym when I was about 12 or 13. I think that's the only one I've ever had. I've been hit really hard by falling boxes at UPS that have sorta knocked me silly for a little bit but not concussed me. I don't feel like there's any lasting effects from the concussion I had. Do you?

 

Damn mac, I don't even know what to say. Playing up the dangers of the playground and playing down repeated blows to the head, all because a doctor representing the NFL said so... Do you feel like you're stretching to defend the indefensible? Or do you feel normal?

 

I have always wondered why he wears sunglasses all the time...

 

I'm not defending or not defending either. I'm saying he's right in what he said. both can be dangerous and more playground accidents happen to kids then football because of shear numbers. people know what they are signing up to do when they play any sport or play at any playground. when he says it's not worse doing one or the other at the ages of 5-9 I think he's right. yes I had my worst concussion on a playground. yes I played football through college. yes he's one of the top doctors in the country. where am I stretching the truth? what irks me is guys that knew what they were getting into and did it anyway for a buck and then turn around and act like they were forced to do it and now is owed more money because he didn't act responsible with the money he earned from the golden goose. risk vs. reward.

 

Very nice post Mac!

 

But that isn't what's happening Mac, most of those Seeking compensation are not saying we got our millions but are owed millions more because you didn't want us about health problems. Most if not all are players who are being denied health benefits on their NFL pensions because the league says CTE isn't a problem or they didn't up until recently. It isn't a money grab it about the cost of long term care and not getting what was promised by the league and union.

 

I think the problem with comparing football to playing on a playground or riding a bike is that as much as they are alike being physical activities, they are very different by nature. The game of football is predicated on physical contact so there is a much greater chance of head trauma when just simply playing the game the way it is supposed to be played. Shame on Dr Maroon for making that comparisson. He should know better. The same can also be said for comparing FB to most other sports as well. Basketball, Baseball, and Soccer do not have a physical element woven into the game the way that football does. Sure collisions and bean balls happen, but those are very largely unintentional, rare, and minimal. Even hockey which is most comparable to FB in terms of physical contact has a much lower requirement of contact than football and contact is mostly secondary to the game itself. You can regulate to reduce or even eliminate the number of hits in hockey and still have a game that is very entertaining and watchable. You cannot do that with football. Football would simply become something completely different.

As far head trauma to kids and CTE, well there just isn't enough knowledge....yet. But I always defer to common sense. It is a fact that repeated trauma to the head in both concussive and subconcussive forms is not good for the brain. Any brain. Common sense tells you that it has to be worse in a young developing brain. And the latest research suggests that the brain is not fully developed until the age of 25. So while it may be true that younger kids, in the 9-14 range, do not suffer the hard jarring hits like older kids do playing football, a brain is still in the critical developmental stage in high school, college, and even at the professional football level. And while the hits aren't as severe for the really young, as size, speed, strength, and coordination improve they do become an increasing issue, probably starting in the teen years.

Which leads me to my next common sense moment....
We have only seen the beginning in concussion/brain injury research. This is still an issue in its infancy. As we study and learn more, we are going to discover exactly how bad head injuries in a developing brain are. And mark my words.....it is only a MATTER OF TIME before someone brings up the issue of governmental funding (ie....public schools/universities) of an activity that has such severe and long lasting negative impact of children's health. In the not too distant future you are going to see a growing call for school districts to eliminate football programs (its actually already happened HERE). If those calls are successful (which I think, over time will be) you we see a slow dying of the game of football as we know it.

 

All he is doing is towing the company (NFL) line. That is all. They know the legal mess from CTE will be ongoing for years. He is just spouting the company line.