The Perkins Perspective

Last week Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers did the unthinkable, he opted to sit out against the Baltimore Ravens, a division rival they are battling for a playoff spot. Big Ben is regarded by many as one of the best quarterbacks in football despite being just 27 years old. He has led his team to two Super Bowls this decade, placing him in an elite group of quarterbacks, who have won multiple championships. If the Steelers season ended today they would be heading to the golf course, not to a playoff game. Now every game is a must win, so they must seize every advantage to keep their hopes alive. Losing a star quarterback is always a disadvantage, unless of course your star quarterback is named Drew Bledsoe.

Roethlisberger was unable to play because he suffered a concussion the week before. He then split time with the backup Dennis Dixon, but was held out of the Ravens game because of the concussion related headaches plaguing him that week. Doctors feared the implications of the quarterback absorbing another blow to the head.

Concussions have been a hot topic in the league this year as more and more bystanders have noticed the effects of the NFL's deficient concussion protocol.

Retired NFL players are experiencing dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and other memory problems at a much higher rate than the rest of the population. This comes from receiving concussions. According to a study at the University of North Caroline, players who have sustained three or more concussions had an increased risk of mild cognitive impairment after age.

Now league commissioner Roger Goodell is instituting changes in the return to play policy, making it so players must sit out at least a week if they receive a concussion. Now each team has a specialist on their sidelines to determine whether a player has a concussion also.

Many players are expressing their relief because now the pressure of deciding whether to play is out of their hands. With their livelihoods in danger players have felt rules must be instituted because a player cannot possibly make this decision. Playing through pain and risking your neck for the team is the gospel in the NFL. If you do not do it, then you are selfish and you lack toughness. If labels like this stick during free agency that can mean substantial money loss.

This is the real issue with the new guidelines and where Roethlisberger's own comes into play.

One section of the new policy states, "A critical element of managing concussions is candid reporting by players of their symptoms following an injury. Accordingly, players are to be encouraged to be candid with team medical staffs and fully disclose any signs or symptoms that may be associated with a concussion."

Here it gets tricky, as Hines Ward, one of Roethlisberger's go to receivers proved. His quarterback did the right thing for himself and essentially for the rest of the players in the league, setting a very difficult example.

Ward reacted by talking to the media after the game saying, "This game is almost like a playoff game. It's almost a 'must' win. So, I can see some players or some teammates kind of questioning like, 'Well, it's just a concussion. I've played with concussions before. I would go out there and play.' So, it's almost like a 50-50 toss-up in the locker room. You know, should he play, shouldn't he play. It's really hard to say."

Big Ben's own teammate questioned his decision not to play, questioned his heart, his desire to win, the ultimate insult in the NFL.

This is the unanswerable problem that Roger Goodell is faced with. He can design a new policy, but can he find a way to reformat the mindset of football players? They are bred to be the toughest athletes, to do whatever it takes to win, even if that sometimes means sacrificing career time and making life more challenging later.

But this is different from a player just taking more hits than his body can weather and having a hard time getting out of bed for the rest of his life. This is about his ability to remember his grandchildren's names, and actually losing years on off their lives.

By no means can this issue be taken likely, but as long as players think like Hines Ward, which many of them do, they will be reluctant to take their helmet off when their team needs a win. Doctors can only do so much if players will not admit they are in pain.