(KTVI)-The Super Bowl is here and once again attention is being paid to head injuries in the National Football League. The NFL has agreed to pay $765 million to former players who had threatened to sue the league over concussion injuries. Rules have been changed to prohibit helmet-to-helmet tackles, but many critics say it’s way too little and way too late.
Former NFL great Junior Seau, diagnosed with chronic traumatic brain injury, killed himself two years ago. Four time Chicago Bears pro bowler Dave Duerson also committed suicide, shooting himself in the chest so his brain would be preserved for the study of brain trauma.
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Now the worries about the effects of repeated serious blows to the head have led many people to question the overall safety of football on all levels, from the NFL down through pee wee games.
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Charles sits down with Dr. William Mitchell, an assistant professor of Family and Community Medicine at the St. Louis University Medical School and a primary care sports medicine physician with the SLUCare system. Dr. Mitchell serves as the assistant team physician for the Saint Louis University Billikens.
