NFL chief talks player safety at HSPH
In 1905, 18 college football players died of injuries — mainly skull fractures — sustained playing the game. Another 150 were injured. The high level of casualties came at a time when far fewer colleges played a more dangerous brand of football, and led to a public outcry — Columbia University banned the game — and to the intervention of a prominent Harvard alum: President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt called representatives from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to the White House and urged them to discuss rule changes that would make the game safer. They approved the forward pass and the 10-yard distance to a first down, and established the precursor to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to oversee the sport. On Thursday, National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell recalled those turn-of-the-century changes — and Harvard’s role in them — to highlight current reforms meant to enhance player safety. Those changes, he said,...