NFL HEALTH AND SAFETY UPDATE—NOVEMBER 27, 2013
NFL, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS TO HOST FOOTBALL SAFETY CLINIC FOR LOCAL MOMS
More than 200 Kansas City-area moms will spend time with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt at a moms' football safety clinic on December 3. The event is the third in a series of football safety forums for moms. Similar gatherings were held with the Chicago Bears and at Ohio State University earlier this year.
The event will take place at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex. Attendees will hear from "football moms" Chris Golic and Diane Long and take part in a Q&A on concussion awareness with local medical professionals. They also will learn Heads Up Tackling from former NFL players and representatives from USA Football.
SEAHAWKS OWNER PAUL ALLEN FUNDS RESEARCH INTO BRAIN INJURIES
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation recently awarded a $2.37 million grant to Seattle-area researchers investigating the long-term effects of traumatic brain injuries. During the two-year study, scientists at the University of Washington and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle will examine human brains at the structural, cellular and molecular levels, looking for changes related to traumatic brain injury.
The primary investigators leading the study are Dr. Richard G. Ellenbogen, chairman of the Department of Neurological Surgery at The University of Washington and co-chairman of the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee; Dr. Ed Lein, investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science; and Dr. C. Dirk Keene, assistant professor in the Division of Neuropathology at the University of Washington.
"The 'perfect storm' of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with TBI and PTSD, and the increased recognition of concussion in youth and professional sports has inspired neuroscientists to better understand the short and long-term consequences of TBI," Dr. Ellenbogen said.
In September 2012, the NFL provided $30 million in funding to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) for brain injury research. Earlier this year, the NFL, General Electric and Under Armour announced a four-year, $60 million collaboration to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injury.
HEADS UP FOOTBALL AMBASSADORS VISIT YOUTH LEAGUES
Former NFL players now serving as Heads Up Football ambassadors have been spending time with youth football leagues across the country, reinforcing proper tackling and the positive values of football participation. As youth football league seasons are wrapping up, Heads Up Football ambassadors are attending league championship games and final banquets.
Mike Meade, who played running back for the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, attended the championship games for the Middletown Odessa Townsend Youth Football and Cheerleading League in Middletown, Delaware. Meade was able to reach all 24 teams in the league during his visits this season.
-- NFL Communications
