Summary: As the millions of Americans who watch NFL games every Sunday know, one the biggest issues facing the league right now is the rise of concussions and head trauma. Last season, the NFL brought in third-party neurological consultants to make sure that coaches don’t let concussed players re-enter the game too soon. Players are tested before the season to establish a baseline, and need to meet certain standards to take the field again after an injury. Starting next season, an app on the iPad will be used to help during that test. The idea is that the iPad app will have the data from the baseline test readily available so that it can be more quickly determined if the player’s answers meet the requirements for him to re-enter the game, based on how well he does on tests like word recall ability. With such sophisticated medical tools available, having the NFL embrace our connected world is great news for the sport and its players’ mental health.
