Concussion law suit could endanger future of high school football

A photograph did the rounds last weekend of Muhammad Ali and the rapper Snoop Dogg hanging together at a high school gridiron game in Reno, Nevada. Ali was there to watch his grandchild, the wonderfully-named Biaggo Walsh, play running back, Snoop was monitoring his talented wide receiver son Cordell Broadus. The pair are team-mates on the all-conquering Bishop Gorman Gaels team that just won its sixth consecutive state title and is ranked number one in the nation.

Like many Americans, Ali and Snoop were participating in one of the great annual rituals, taking in the championship matches that mark the official end of the season and the moment when autumn segues into winter. For how long that remains a landmark on the American sporting calendar, however, is a question that is now being asked.

In Illinois last week, lawyers filed suit on behalf of Daniel Bukal, a once-promising young quarterback who suffered several concussions on the field. Today, fully 12 years after he last threw a pass in a competitive game, he still struggles with memory loss, bouts of lightheadedness and migraines. What makes his particular case so much more compelling than all the other gridiron related legal actions currently wending their way through the courts is that Bukal's career ended when he graduated high school in Chicago.

Protect student athletes

He’s suing the

Illinois High School Association

, alleging the governing body didn’t do enough to protect student athletes who incurred head injuries while playing under its aegis. It’s not overstating the matter to say that nothing less than the future of the sport in schools may be at stake.

"I think if anything the issue at the high school level is more of a crisis than it is at the college level," said Joseph Siprut, Bukal's lawyer. "I think the high school landscape is the next place this fight needs to be brought. This is not a threat or attack on football. Football is in danger in Illinois and other states – especially at the high school level – because of how dangerous it is. If football does not change internally, it will die. The talent well will dry up as parents keep kids out of the sport – and that's how a sport dies."

Having already spearheaded a class action lawsuit against the NCAA (who run the game at college level) that has led to a preliminary settlement of $70 million, Spirut isn’t just flying a kite here. He’s talking about finding more players afflicted like Bukal and filing individual briefs in every state in the union. The authorities have reacted to the threat by admitting this case could result in many schools opting to drop the sport altogether. At the very least, insurance premiums may become so prohibitive that only the richest institutions could afford to underwrite the risk involved in fielding teams.

The Bukal suit doesn’t specify what monetary damages are sought and Spirut is adamant his primary intention is to change the culture of the sport (he wants more medical monitoring for former players) rather than just to wring some compensation for concussion victims. In the last few years, most states have introduced improved concussion protocols. The problem is not all have made baseline pre-season testing mandatory, not every coach adheres to the new rules anyway, and perhaps most significantly, old habits die very hard.

In an uber-macho environment where admitting injury is too often perceived as showing weakness, many teenage boys are still being urged to “shake it off” and get back on the field. Five kids have died playing gridiron since August. Last year the number of fatalities was eight.

Stunning death

Those stunning death tallies explain why the lawsuit is demanding, among other things, for doctors to be on call for both training and matches. If that sounds like an outlandish expense, consider that some of the more storied high schools play in purpose-built 20,000 seat stadia.

As the spotlight on gridiron’s concussion epidemic has intensified, other sports are getting exposed in the glare. Lacrosse, another full-contact box office game at high school level, ranks just behind football in terms of concussion risk. This past week, it was reeling from the news that two of its most popular helmets (which retail for $250 each) failed independent safety tests and are not fit for purpose.

One manufacturer was sued for fraudulently claiming its designs helped to reduce concussions. While football’s biggest equipment problem is often kids wearing helmets past their sell-by dates, lacrosse has a more serious issue. Warrior and Cascade were selling products that failed to offer the minimum level of skull protection required.

What should concern Irish parents about all this brouhaha is the obvious parallels with sports closer to home. For high school gridiron and lacrosse, read rugby and hurling. Much like in America, the more concussion is talked about in the adult games, the more the focus will eventually have to shift to how it’s handled in the younger age groups. Are the helmets protecting adolescent hurlers all up to scratch? Is the coach willing to take off the outhalf, and risk losing a game, so correct concussion protocols will be observed? You’d hope the answer to both those questions would be yes. You’d hope.