Concussions in the NFL (Ben Utecht vs The Cincinnati Bengals)

Ten years ago in the NFL concussions were not considered a big deal. In fact if you got a concussion, you sat out a few plays until you weren’t dizzy, and then you went right back in the game. Furthermore, if you didn’t go back in, teammates, players, and coaches looked down on you for it.

Flash-forward to the present, concussions are no longer just a booboo you shake off. They are now in the forefront of sports health discussions everywhere. It started with science showing that numerous hits to the head can bring an onset of early dementia. It went further with science showing that concussions (which are termed as bruises to the brain) that are caused by blunt force trauma to the head can lead to dementia as well.

I don’t want to discuss the overall process the NFL and the NFLPA have gone through to help with safety, rather I want to discuss a recent case where a player who had concussion issues, won a case against the team he played for.

Ben Utecht a former tight end of the Cincinnati Bengals was one of their big free agent acquisitions in 2008 season. He was riddled with injuries and had a concussion his first year. In 2009 on the third play of the season Utecht was nailed as he caught a pass and was carted off the field. I happened to be at that game and was sitting a few rows up from where it happened. It was scary moment, he wasn’t moving at all. Utecht did not play the rest of the season and ended up being let go by the team after the season and retired after that.

Utecht filed a grievance with the league for the rest of his “playing time” salary from the Cincinnati Bengals. He claimed he had been medically cleared to play, but the Bengals refused to play him, thus he could not earn parts of his contract. A few weeks ago, the courts ruled in his favor rewarding him all the money he would have received from his playing time. Utecht was able to show clear proof that the Bengals were negligent in the healing process. This means they didn't take the proper steps to help him heal, because of this he was unable to play and earn his money.

Utecht suffers from memory loss due to the concussions he's had. The Bengals may not have known how to work through the healing process, but at least they did not play him and risk further damage to Utecht.  Perhaps they feared the reprisals should he end up with concussion from a hit that caused debilitating life circumstance?

It was around this time the NFL was getting bad press about concussions and how teams did not care and threw their players into the fire. The league did not have a clear concussion recovery timeline, diagnoses system, or overall plan to deal with them.

Since then, the NFL has created a procedure for diagnoses, healing, and not allowing a player on the field until they can pass a concussion test.  The new system allows a teams to be cleared of any legal liability should a player suffer after clearing the test. (Assuming the team’s doctors did everything right.)

Despite all this, I still believe that in years to come, the NFL will have a waiver that needs to be signed by players when they first enter the league. It would waive the player’s rights to sue a team or the league later for any head related trauma unless they can prove negligence.  There are a lot of players who support the idea, stating that players know what they are doing when they join this league. These players include star running back Maurice Jones Drew, future hall of fame linebacker Brian Urlacher, and four time pro-bowl defensive end Justin Smith.