Fantasy Football Head Trauma.

Turf-toe is so last year. Concussions are all the rage. Everyone is getting one: Roethlisberger, Warner, Westbrook, Portis, DeShaun Jackson...hell, even Tiger got himself one last weekend. In fact, concussions are becoming so fashionable that soon the NFL will, (1) likely sideline concussed players for at least one week, (2) mandate each team to employ an independent neurologist to rule on all concussions before a player is allowed to return to the field, and (3) force players to wear safer helmets.

Might this sudden increase in precautions have anything to do with Congressional threats to the NFL's antitrust exemption? The time-line of the last couple of months is fairly interesting:

• October 19^th – Malcolm Gladwell's gripping article in The New Yorker draws parallels between America's lover affair with the NFL and Michael Vick's dogfighting. I know, initially it sounds like a stretch but take a read. Like everything Gladwell writes, it's a well-researched, provoking piece. This wasn't the first article to highlight the concussion issue this year, but I can't help but think that the notoriety of the author in combination with its timing with Michael Vick's return to the NFL, might have helped to generate some additional “concussion awareness” buzz.
• October 28^th – Nine days later Commissioner Goodell is in front of Congress getting grilled regarding the league's policies with player concussions. As I mentioned above, doesn't sound like it went too well.
• November 18^th – The Associated Press releases an article detailing their own informal concussion survey of 160 NFL players. The reason for David Carr's suckiness is finally understood. Jake Delhomme's remains unknown.
• November 23^rd – It is reported that the NFL will start mandating teams to use independent neurologists to rule on all concussions.
• And mark my words, there is much more yet to come....

Injury protocol will change. Rules will change. Equipment will change. The NFL is on the verge of its largest PR battle since Michael Vick, so you can be damn sure Goodell will do everything short of making the game two-hand-touch and encasing Kurt Warner's entire body in a 36-YYY silicone implant, to protect the NFL product. And with a mandatory one-week sidelining for concussions, that means fantasy football will change too.

The NFL currently reports about 120-130 reported concussions per season. One might argue that with the introduction of the new benching rules mentioned above that those numbers will decrease as players lie about their injury status in order to stay on the field. Maybe. But if the NFL decides that the role of the team neurologists is to be on the sideline monitoring players during games, we might see that number shoot through the roof. Seattle Seahawks DB Roy Lewis: “Everyone can clearly see that you have a concussion: You are walking around like you are drunk.” Some types of injuries can be hidden, others can't. And if team neurologists end up on NFL sidelines next year, fantasy leagues might be in need of mid-season supplemental drafts.


Loose thoughts from Week 12:

• With the exception of Brees torching New England,Week 12 was boring.
• I didn’t receive a single emailed photo in response to last week's, “I Bet You Look Like Rex Ryan” photo challenge. Either I'm correct and all my readers do look like Rex Ryan, or I don’t have any readers. Let's just forget I brought this up.
• In related news, maybe the NFL should stop worrying about fat kids and start worrying about Andy Reid. Play 60 Andy, play 60. (Nevermind. He’d probably screw it up in the final two minutes.)
• That UPS guy with the creepy hair is a really good drawer.

Seriously, that's all I've got. Maybe next week.