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(EMAILWIRE.COM, December 28, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA -- In a speech on player safety on December 6 at the Harvard School of Public Health, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell said that professional football can become a safer game without sacrificing the physical that has helped the league become so popular.
Citing changes to certain formations, such as the flying wedge that had been first used by Harvard going back to the mid-1800s, kickoffs, and the way the league address player concussions, Goodell said that a number of safety measures had been added since he became the league head back in 2006.
"Football has always evolved, and it always will," Goodell said. "Make no mistake: change does not inhibit the game; it improves it."
Goodell's speech came just four days after three NFL quarterbacks – Chicago Bears' Jay Cutler, Philadelphia Eagles' Michael Vick, and San Francisco 49ers' Alex Smith – were knocked out of their respective games with concussions.
Goodell said all three players were removed from their respective games "as soon as they showed symptoms," something a member of the audience claimed was incorrect during the question and answer period, noting that both Cutler and Smith remained in their games for a short time after being injured.
"It was identified, and they were taken out of the game," Goodell said. "Even a few years ago, I'm not sure you would have seen that."
Citing the change in kickoffs initiated in the 2011 season, Goodell said that there had been a 40 percent reduction in concussions on returns.
Additional safety measures that the NFL is looking, the commissioner added, includes better helmets and sponsoring scientific research to make the game even safer for players.
"Not long ago, the game allowed the head slap, tackling by the face mask, horse-collar tackles, dangerous blocks, and hits to the head of defenseless receivers and quarterbacks. All of that has changed," Goodell said.
"My commitment has been and will continue to be to change the culture of football to better protect players without changing the essence of what makes the game so popular. It has been done. And it will be done."
Although the game remain as popular as ever, Goodell said, citing data that showed the 16 most-watched TV shows this fall, not related to the presidential debates, were NFL games, the sport has been jeopardized by numerous reports linking the violence associated with the game to brain damage that has been associated with depression, memory loss, and suicide among retired NFL players.
"We are well aware of social commentators who now question our future. And I am here to tell you: If we are at another crossroads, we have already taken the right path," Goodell said. "We took it a long time ago, and our commitment to stay on it will not waver."
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