Class is in Session

by | Sep 22, 2016 | Uncategorized |

Every corner of my sports world is firing on full cylinders this week.

OUTSIDE THE LINES



I joined Bob Ley on Outside the Lines to discuss the Oakland Raiders’ possible move to Las Vegas and Commissioner Roger Goodell’s efforts to try to diminish the hype over the weekend. Remember, the deal to bring the Rams to L.A. took two years, so we’re far off from any team, whether that be the Raiders or not, relocating to Sin City.

“THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS” PODCAST

Last week’s conversation about the National Football League’s reaction to Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s health lingered through Week 2, so I welcomed Jeff Miller, the league’s vice president of health and safety, to talk all things concussions, culture change and Cam.

When asked simply, “How do we make football safe?” Miller indicated that continuing to amend league rules has had the biggest impact on improving player safety. After 40 rule changes in the last 15 years, there is direct evidence that amending rules in the NFL has had a trickle-down effect to all levels of football.

“There is nothing that is a higher priority of the league than making the game safer for those who play it at all levels,” Miller said.

In its quest to continue to make the league safer, the NFL, along with corporate collaborators like GE and Under Armour, has donated $100 million to increase funded neuroscience research and create an incentive for the marketplace to construct better tools to measure concussions and better equipment. The league is hoping that with these funds, biomechanical engineers will have the ability to create position-specific helmets in coming years.

The number of concussions reported last year jumped about 58 percent, which may seem staggering, but Miller assured the spike isn’t necessarily a bad thing. While it may simply be due to a higher number of concussions occurring during the game, more likely there are external factors that have come into play, including increased number of screenings and the recently instated medical timeout.

Most importantly, Miller said the culture surrounding concussions and player safety in the NFL continues to change and improve with each passing year, and that there is significant anecdotal evidence that “play through the pain” is starting to become a trend of the past.

“If you ask coaches and players and team doctors, they’ll tell you that more and more frequently they’ve had players either self-report to the team doctor or identify a teammate that needs to be evaluated. The suggestion is that that may not have happened in previous years.”

THE MMQB COLUMN

This week’s column for The MMQB analyzes six key topics impacting the owner-player power balance midway through the CBA’s term: Reduced offseason contact, upgraded player benefits, the rookie compensation system, (post)season expansion, franchise tag politics, and the scope of the commissioner’s power. As we continue to debate these evolving issues, I conclude my CBA analysis next week with a closer look at the NFL owners’ top priority in the next negotiation: Money.

MOORAD CENTER SPEAKER SERIES

Villanova University School of Law and I welcomed my ESPN colleague and investigative reporter TJ Quinn to kick off this year’s Moorad Center Speaker Series. It’s a pleasure to have industry peers on campus to discuss pressing issues and larger themes impacting the business of sports as well as shed light on breaking into the industry. Philadelphia Eagles Executive Vice President of Football Operations Howie Roseman is on deck for our November event.