Ring any bells? (pun intended)

Is it just me or does there seem to be a lot more concussions in the NFL this year than in the past? Looking at ESPN's injury report at this moment (just one week!), the following players are all suffering from the affects of a concussion:

David Carr (CAR)
Kenny Watson (CIN)
Matt Schaub (HOU)
Tarvaris Jackson (MIN)
Laveranues Coles (NYJ)
Dan Kreider (PIT)
Travis LaBoy (TEN)
John DiGiorgio (BUF)

NFL.com adds the following:

Alfred Fincher (ATL)
Lawrence Vickers (CLE)

Trent Green is probably the poster child for concussions this year, after being forced to sit out the remainder of the season after suffering a concussion during a week 5 game against the Houston Texans. Other prominent players to suffer concussions this season include Zach Thomas (MIA), Mike Bell (DEN), Ben Utecht (IND), and Brandon Jackson (GB).

The reason I decided to look into this concussion phenomenon was because in one of my fantasy football leagues, I recently traded for Willis McGahee. In Monday night's game against the Steelers, he left the game early due to an injury. What was his injury? You guessed it...a concussion. I thought maybe it's was just the fact that I've never really paid much notice to it, or that it never happened to players on my fantasy squads, but there is a little more to it apparently.

With the recent increase in the medical fund for retired players, and a memo sent out to all NFL teams regarding steps to address concussions, it appears that commissioner Roger Goodell is focused on improving the health and safety of the league's current and former players. A new policy requires that a team's medical staff (not coach or player himself) officially clear a player to return to action before they get back on the field. The league is encouraging players to report if teammates are showing symptoms of a concussion as well as send confidential messages to the league's office if they are being pressured to play too soon after suffering from a concussion.

Over ten years ago, a study was conducted by the NFL Players Association and determined that 61% of former players suffered concussions while playing in the league, and most of them continued to play even with the injury! That's seems like a ridiculously high percentage, and obviously this issue should have been looked at and dealt with a while ago. However, it's obviously better now then never.

Given this information though, it seems that while concussions are probably not happening more frequently this season than in previous seasons, they ARE getting reported more frequently...so they end up on the injury reports more often. Keep in mind though that there are varying degrees of concussions, so if one of the players on your team suffers a mild one, he has a good chance to play the next week. Those who suffer the higher levels (i.e. Trent Green) though can be forced to end their season, or even end their career to prevent further risk of brain damage. Apparently Willis McGahee suffered a mild concussion, as the Ravens expect him to play next week...which I am happy about.