TJB Interview: Head Games Author Chris Nowinski
A few weeks ago, HBO aired an episode of Real Sports where they interviewed athletes (mostly NFL players) who have dealt with health risks due to concussions. Jets fans have known that this has been an issue for years … Al Toon, Wayne Chrebet are just a few names of players we love who have had careers ended from consussions. Right now though the movement to protect players has gained a lot of momentum in recent months. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has installed a new “whistle blower initiative” around injuries and is hosting an event in Chicago to address the matter seriously.
One of the major reasons for the sudden push to protect players largely thanks to Chris Nowinski, also known to WWE fans as Chris Harvard. Nowinski played collegiate football at Harvard, and the young wrestler made a name for himself on RAW in 2002. Unfortunately after a quick rise, his career was cut short in 2003 by multiple concussions. Since then, Nowinski has taken on a number of projects like becoming a political correspondent for WWE’s Smackdown Your Vote! campaign.
During his recovery, Nowinski was also working on another project, a book called Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis from the NFL to Youth Leagues
TheJetsBlog: Benjamin Disraeli once said, “the best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it.” … how would you describe your path to writing Head Games, did you write it to learn more about the subject, or was it more based on all the information you had found in your search and a desire increase public awareness?
Chris Nowinski: I undertook the very earliest stages of my research simply to try to understand why I wasn’t recovering from my concussion, and what that meant for me. I knew my way around the medical literature, and was very disappointed in the answers I was hearing from all my doctors except for Dr. Cantu (I saw many doctors before him) – and even there I wasn’t getting all the answers. Very quickly I realized that there was an enormous gap between what the top doctors knew about concussions and what everyone else knew. That gap has hurt a lot of people. The goal of the book was to narrow that gap.
TJB: How hard was writing this book initially?
CN: This book was incredibly hard, not only because I hadn’t written since college, but also because I was in the acute stages of recovery from the injury. I had a real hard time putting sentences together at the beginning, and early drafts of the work reflect that. I’m certain all the reading and writing I did was like cognitive rehabilitation.
TJB: Out of writing the book, this topic has started to pick up steam, have you noticed a change in the league’s approach on the matter since last fall?
CN: On or around May 22 Commissioner Goodell announced that at the owners’ meetings they put forward new proposals for better concussion education and management. As many insiders have said to me, it’s an amazing success story to already to see the NFL react so dramatically on this issue only 7 months after the book came out and the issue began building steam. However, their proposals are mostly PR moves, and at this moment in time I firmly believe players are less safe than they were in 2006. Unfortunately, at this point the NFL either doesn’t understand the cultural aspects of this injury (and therefore they haven’t read my book) or they aren’t that concerned with protecting their players’ short term and long term health.
TJB: Goodell recently announced his “whistle blower” initiative, has the league been in contact with you on this matter or sought your advice? Have they asked you or Dr. Cantu to join them next month in Chicago?
CN: The Ted Johnson rule? They have not been in contact with me. I believe they have invited Dr. Cantu, Dr. Bailes, Dr. Guskiewicz, and Dr. Barr, and perhaps one or two other of their top critics to Chicago. I will be in town visiting my family for Father’s Day, and may stick around.
TJB: Jets fans are acutely aware of Dr. Elliot Pellman’s shortcomings when it comes to this issue. What do you think of the stewardship of the NFL MTBI Committee, and his work with the Jets?
CN: A tragedy. Read chapter eight of my book. I dedicated a whole chapter to his work.
TJB: When I heard you on WEEI, I think you had mentioned that to truly follow proper medical procedures regarding head injuries, team rosters would have to get substantially bigger. If a team carries a 53 man roster in the fall, how many more spots would the team need to carry?
CN: The quick math is that around 50% of football players suffer concussions each season according to anonymous retrospective surveys. In one of those studies the mean was three. There is an ancient rule (established in 1945 by the Harvard football team doc) that if you get three concussions in one season you should end your season. One would have to do some impressive calculations considering most concussions in that study weren’t diagnosed (which enable guys to get more than three concussions) but the long and short of it is that if you diagnosed them all and forced players to sit out until they recovered (days and weeks at a time) you would have guys sitting out all the time, the replacements also suffering concussions and then sitting out, and those who reach three turning in their helmets. You could run out of players quickly.
TJB: In terms of the NFL, who’s most at fault here? Is it the players who don’t disclose injuries for fear of losing their job, or is it coaches for pushing players back the field, or is it the NFLPA for not building this properly into their CBA or does it lie with the league office?
CN: Concussions are a cultural problem and everyone has a role to play in terms of getting up to speed, but only a couple of groups are actively trying to impede progress with misinformation campaigns and strongarm tactics.
TJB: Ted Johnson has been critical to your discovery process, but what about active players? In general, what have you heard from them? Are they more hesitant to come forward?
CN: No player will talk on the record for fear of getting blacklisted by the league. Without guaranteed contracts one false [step] could cost them millions. However, I have a very good understanding of what is happening right now.
TJB: What can the average fan do about this issue for NFL Players to ensure a safe environment for them?
CN: Fans play a role. First and foremost, they need to learn about and respect this injury. We need to stop glorifying the athlete who is knocked out and returns to the game – in most cases his brain is so scrambled, and he’s so full of adrenaline that he is not making a heroic choice, he is simply following instinct. And in the long run, he may be taking years off of his life.
TJB: You state that 9/10 concussions go undiagnosed. If for instance, a reader’s son takes a hard hit in a high school football game, what are some simple tips to be better aware of a possible concussion?
CN: If a parent sees there kids acting at all out of the ordinary after taking a big hit, always investigate further. When in doubt, sit ‘em out.
TJB: As usual, the change is going to have to be made from the bottom up, for readers, what can they do to help make thr child’s town rec leagues, school leagues, etc. safer and more aware regarding concussions and head injuries?
CN: Start with Head Games or many of the articles freely available at concussioncrisis.com to get people aware that this is the biggest health issue in sports, and then look for some new programs coming soon.
Filed under: Interviews, Main Page
Great job tjb, thanks for shedding more light on this important issue.
This is a very difficult situation for the NFL. I find it hard to believe that the average number of seasonal concussions is 3, but if accurate, there is really no way for the NFL to “properly” deal with the issue. They would have to double roster size which we all know will not happen, or shorter the season (ditto).
One thing the NFL needs to do is begin to guarantee the entire term of contracts when a player is severely injured, perhaps by paying for an insurance policy on each player similar to the Curtis policy. This would allow the player to disclose his concussion without monetary risk.
As for childrens sports, as always, parents need to get involved and know what is going on in practice and on the field. Too many parents treat team organized sports as day care. You need to be there and watch out for your child’s health.
i do not agree that this is a big deal. does anyone else feel that way? more like offseason fodder than anything else. I will admit, though, i have not read this ex pro-wrestlers book, not do i intend to. the fact that he came from harvard in no way credits his ability to write cohesive arguments (i went to an “ivy league school” and some of my best buds, football players, love them to death, i wouldn’t let them take any exams for me ill just say).
I’m probably just being a jerk, but i think that this is not going to ever be a big deal/isn’t that big of a deal.
btw before someone bits my head off, im not saying football players are stupid…more so that not all ivy leaguers are briliant.
I believe it’s a huge deal. If Andre Waters suicide doesn’t serve as a wake up call … what will?
It was determined that he had the brain of a man almost twice his age.
http://www.smart-kit.com/s333/
Great story, I have to agree with most of the conclusions. I can remember the 1st time I had my “bell rung” as a Soph. in high school. I knew that something was wrong, I made myself get up and keep praticing because I heard the hooping and hollaring from my teamates after they saw the hit. No macho athlete wants to admit that they just got knocked the F**K out! Not Chris Harvard, not Ted Johnson, not even Chuch Liddel! But even with the info that we know now, I don’t think it will change athletes attitudes about concussions. Just look at the problem with ‘roids!, have the health issues stoped athletes from taking the juice? Hell No!
what about the eating habits of linemen and the pressure put of college/hs athletes to be bigger and stronger and how most of them die at young ages because of heart problems and are wheelchair ridden because their knees are blown at 35, etc., yet they all own BBQ restaurants and continue to eat disgusting amounts of food because of their habits in the NFL and end up with fatherless children because the fans want larger than life athletes, yadda yadda yadda
just saying, it’s a tragic consequence of the game of football, concussion are, and it’s probably not something that’s going to change ever. I’m not trying to be pessemistic, just realisitic. Let me know when Ray Lewis stops playing because of concussions, and i’ll pay off your mortgage.
-devils advocate/bored at work
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It is tragic, as is the other issue you identified. They’re gonna struggle to curb the problem by persuading athletes to sit out, especially when money, pride and championships are at stake. Whilst I’m sure they are constantly looking at improvements in equipment and treatment, the issue of awareness is a big one too, and you have to give Chris big credit for his work in this area.
Harvard grad or not, football scholarship or not, Chris’ book has been critically acclaimed as an important work.
What’s interesting is that WWE seem to be pushing the whole concussion awareness angle in several of its storylines since the book started to get a lot of publicity. I wonder if Chris had a hand in that. This might not continue though, now that Vince McMahon is “dead”.
I told this story before but in Rugby over here they ban you for 6 weeks if you are concussed, so a buddy of mine who knew he was concussed, continued to play until the final whistle by just grabbing the nearest guy on his team and following him, just so he wouldn’t face a ban, and even though he could see two vertical horizons instead of one horizontal one. It’s an interesting rule, but clearly easy to get round.
With the money etc at stake, would teams even discourage their players from sitting out with such issues. Something is seriously wrong if so.
We can only hope that the likes of Toon and Chrebet go on to live a long and healthy life, because as revered as they were for the Jets, family has to be the most important thing in life.
Best of luck to Chris too for a full recovery, although I doubt he’ll get to read this.
Dave – Had you bothered to read Chris’ book you’d realize how ridiculous your comments come across. It’s quite clear that you did not attend Ivy League on academics based on your ability to spell here but until you’re willing to actually read the literature you can’t criticize it (well you can but you look foolish right now). Had you bothered to do your homework on Chris or if you ever become fortunate enough to meet the man, you’ll see that his intellect is unquestionable. Saying concussions aren’t that serious and it’s not a big deal is one of the most idiotic things I’ve read lately.
Oh wait, I get it. Dave is from the NFL and is trying to counter the seriousness of the injuries these players are suffering. It all becomes crystal clear now.
Nice interview with Mr. Nowinski and may I highly recommend the book to all sports fans, coaches, parents and anyone interested in finding out more about the danger of head injuries in contact sports. WWE would do well to put this intelligent man back on TV and let him speak out on this issue, what better oppurtunity than the present storyline with Randy Orton?
The Revolution helmet was designed by the NFL and Riddell because it was found in video reproduction, 70% of concussion originated in the jaw area.
The one joint that has been minimized is the temporal mandibuar joint, it functions just millimeter from the brain. As Guskewicz states the deformation or derangement of the TMJ cartilage leaves a bone on bone condition. This condition exacerbates the constant transmission of forces to the temporal bone. Traumatizing the inner ear, mandibular and optic nerves, pituitary and temporal lobe. Symptoms of dizziness, the sensation of seeing stars, headache are all called part of the game. The error of past research has been to leave this area unexplored, rather cerebral and cuo counter cou theories dominate. Why, when cerebral concussions were revealed to be the cause of only 30% of all concussions in video replay.The Regimental Surgeon of the U.S Marines and his concussion coordinators have found a direct relation to the chin strap system. The Chicago concussion summit will be incomplete with out and in-depth presentation of this theory. Impact testing in the NFL will not prevent concussion and will require a 100 man roster and drive down player value. It has already happened to Trent Green and Dan Morgan. A blanket fitting of a medical device, specifically designed to counteract the labyrinthine concussion and proven effective in a peer reviewed study would, reduce concussion rates and protect player status through hippa laws. The Arena football league has moved to protect its players and a national medical device company is preparing to bring this procedure to the medical community. It is a common sense approach to stabilizing and correcting the jaw when playing a contact sport. That is what is missing from the national dialogue on concussion prevention, common sense.
http://www.mahercor.com
Bob: Sorry, I didn’t take the time to spell check and re-read wall posts on the jetsblog message board. i didnt realize people were going to lean on websters so hard!
My point was, in football, there’s a million other things that would cause alarm if you were to dig in deep and look at the facts (the obesity problems with lineman, for example, is the cause of an alarming number of deaths/health problem/surgeries for retired players), and to be honest, I didn’t think that anyone doubted the seriousness of a concussion, but more so that these things will have policy changes that are tanglible any time EVER. So, to be clearer, what I was saying was that in real life, the notion of a concussion regulation appears to be too much of a slippery slope to comprehend getting a handle on any real league wide regulation that wouldn’t get appealed.
EVERYONE knows that after a certain nnumber of serious concussions, your brain is cat food and you no longer have the ability to play football. While I never played past the HS level, I had my fair share of (I’m sure BOB is giddy with excitement to write a witty line about how this has obviously affected my ability to spell/put an argument together), so I’m familiar with the subject on a first hand level, and I know how easy it is to play through, play off concussions below the out-cold threshold.
So BOB, I implore you to possibly overlook my spelling errors (my boss is a sneaky man who doesn’t take too kindly to associates scribbling on message boards) and make a point OTHER than saying how good the book is and how fond you are of Chris (i’m sure he’s fantastic).
Bob, first and foremost, in the spirit of full disclosure, are you Chris’ agent? Because you write like one. To answer your q i do not work for the NFL (sorry bub. that was a cute comment though).
Cool!
Dave: Had you posted your third post and left out the first two completely, you’d have left a much better impression. Mostly thoughtful bloggers here and your first post seemed more likely on ESPN or CBS! Your point, that football is by definition violent, should still encourage technology to prevent those injuries that can be reasonably dealt with, as the helmet discussion above exemplifies.
Sorry :(