By Bill Bradley, contributing editor
Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday the NFL is planning to hire a chief medical officer to oversee "medical-related polices."
Speaking during his state-of-the league press conference in Phoenix prior to Sunday's Super Bowl XLIX, Goodell said the new position would help to shape the league's medical future.
"This individual, who we expect to have in place very soon, will oversee our medical-related policies, ensure that we update them regularly and work closely with our medical committees, our advisors and the Players Association," he said.
The league currently has five committees that have advise the league on medical issues, ranging from the Head, Neck and Spine Committee to the Injury and Safety Panel.
The NCAA made a similar move last year, hiring Dr. Brian Hainline as its chief medical officer. Hainline sets medical policies for all of its conferences. One of the focuses of his job has been to improve physical health as well as mental health policies in college sports.
In other player health and safety topics, Goodell said:
- The league will look at innovation in player safety during the off-season.
"We are doing more to protect our players from unnecessary risk," he said. "Hits to defenseless players were down 68 percent. And there were similar decreases in other areas, pertaining to the safety of the game."
- The drop in the number of concussions in 2014 by 25 percent, as reported at the league's Player Health and Safety Press Conference on Thursday, continues a three-year trend.
"Since 2012, concussions in regular-season games have dropped from 173 to 111 -- a decrease in more than one-third," he said. "The real credit goes to the players and coaches. They have adjusted to the rules and the challenge of creating a culture of safety for our game."
- The NFL has more to do on player health and safety.
"Carefully reviewing and improving our concussion protocols will be a focus of our medical committees this off-season," Goodell said.
