What's All the Concussin' About?

Headline on Yahoo! Sports Monday: Jackson's status remains uncertain with concussion

There are 20 active Jacksons in the NFL. Which one are they referring to? Rams running back Steven? Our own Tarvaris? Turns out they were referring to Eagles wideout DeSean. So why wouldn't the headline specify this?

The reason is the concussion is the story here. Concussions have been the hot topic of the NFL since studies have shown their long term ill-effects. If media coverage were an accurate gauge of reality we'd be having a record breaking year for concussions. A better guess is they've probably just gone mostly ignored until now.

Instead of beating the kudos to the NFL drum (and really, who is in favor of concussions?), let's focus on what might happen next. In Peter King's mailbag Tuesday he mentioned the possibility of making maximum padding helmets mandatory. He goes on to say Roger Goodell "is frustrated that players often ignore helmets with more padding and better technology in favor of helmets they've been wearing for years that they're used to." This seems like the most practical choice, especially since there isn't a cosmetic change to football helmets as there is with baseball.

Teams are already taking extra precautions with players returning from concussions. We saw Ben Roethlisberger sit out last week when he experienced symptoms towards the end of the week. Later Hines Ward revealed he's lied his way back onto the field with team physicians in the past. You wonder if he could get away with that now. And what happens if Roethlisberger has those same symptoms, but a few days before the Super Bowl instead? He plays, of course. A Super Bowl or mashed potato brains? It's a tough call (unless it's garlic mashed potato brains).

A side effect of all of this has been a PR boost for the NFL. It wasn't too long ago the majority of the off-field news had to do with players hanging dogs and shooting themselves in the leg. Now it's news about the league itself and how they're trying to take better care of their own.

Concussions might play a part in the Cardinals/Vikings matchup this weekend. Recent reports have Kurt Warner "seeing light" (no, not the light, we all know he's already done that) from concussion symptoms he suffered in week 11. It was leftover concussion from some other time. Be a man, Kurt! And don't come back until your head gets better.