Concussions in college football: NCAA facing legal challenges and uncertain future

There’s a new series of class-action lawsuits against the NCAA, its conferences and two of its schools over their handling of concussions in college football, according to a report from Jon Solomon of CBS Sports.

Former players for Penn State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn, Oregon and Utah are suing a blend of the NCAA itself, the leagues they played in and, for two players, their former programs themselves.

The NCAA has reached a settlement with former players suing for concussion reform, the organization announced in a release. The NCAA will provide $70 million to allow former and current athletes to receive tests for brain injuries, as well as funding educational initiatives and further research into concussions.

The proposed settlement, which has not yet been approved by Judge John Lee, would allow athletes who competed in any sport at an NCAA school in the past 50 years the chance to qualify for “physical examination, neurological measurements and neurocognitive assessments.”

The NCAA has released new guidelines for schools to help them do more to protect athletes in all sports. The move is the latest in the NCAA’s effort to appease critics who feel the organization, which was formed to help student-athletes, is actually doing athletes a disservice.

The changes focus on health care and safety, particularly on concussions. Some highlights:

In an effort to curb brain injuries in football, the NCAA is teaming up with the United States Department of Defense to put together a $30 million concussion database. The effort is part of a widespread initiative throughout all levels of the sport to better understand concussions and find out how to prevent them.

There has never been such a large, centralized database, which has been one of the biggest problems for scientists trying to study concussions. NCAA chief medical officer Brian Hainline has long wanted an all-encompassing concussion database, and this will bring him much closer to that goal. According to CBS Sports’ Jon Solomon, the database will start with 10 schools and the full student bodies of the service academies.

Football’s brain injury problem has become one of several threats to the future of the college sport, and all other levels as well. The NCAA and several conferences face ongoing lawsuits over concussion issues. While the governing bodies claim to prioritize player safety, apparel companies (and players themselves) are among those trying to find tangible solutions.

Several college football programs will be using the new Riddell SpeedFlex helmet and InSite Impact Response System in 2014. The helmet is designed to disperse energy, reducing the risk of trauma, while the InSite is intended to alert coaches when a player suffers a significant hit to the head, or multiple hits that combine to pose a risk.

There are no fewer than five major pending legal challenges against the NCAA and college conferences, covering the gamut of issues. Player pay, scholarship amounts, player health, and the entire basis of amateurism are at stake in lawsuits across the country.

But which cases have the legs to run the full course and actually change how college sports operate? We’ve assigned each a rating on a scale from 1 to 10, from least to most likely to entirely change the NCAA. A threat level, if you will.

The movement for increased player rights in the NCAA level is taking a larger presence on the national stage, as a banner from the All Players United movement will fly over the Rose Bowl before Monday’s BCS National Championship Game, via USA Today.

In September, players from Georgia Tech, Georgia, and Northwestern wore markers on their uniforms reading “APU,” standing for “All Players United,” a movement which focuses on player rights, especially when it pertains to player safety. In particular, this banner will focus on concussion protection -- the NCPA, which is the organization in charge of APU, lists providing help for former athletes suffering from lingering injuries as one of their main causes.

In response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of former Frostburg State football player Derek Sheely, the NCAA explained it was formed as an organization in order to protect players, but passed responsibility for player safety on to its member schools. The Washington Times acquired a copy of the 30-page filing.

Sheely’s family is suing the NCAA, helmet manufacturer Schutt and three Frostburg State staffers over the player’s death in August 2011. Sheely died after suffering a head injury during a preseason practice. The full quote: