Lloyd Carr, former Michigan head football coach, believes that the publicity surrounding traumatic brain injuries in professional sports affords the perfect opportunity to educate administrators, coaches and parents at all levels about athletic injury prevention.
To that end, Carr will join two other panelists to discuss sports and traumatic brain injuries and prevention during an April 5 symposium titled, “Play Smart: Injury Prevention on and off the Field.” The symposium is sponsored by the School of Public Health and the Injury Prevention Center.
The symposium is part of National Public Health Week, April 4-10, and the theme is “Safety is No Accident: Live Injury Free.” Other panelists include Dr. Jeff Kutcher, director of Michigan Neurosport, who will discuss the clinical impacts of brain injuries; and David Sleet, associate director of the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who will address brain and recreational injuries at the population level, and how the CDC is addressing the issue.
Brain injuries, especially concussions in youth and professional sports, have gotten increasing media coverage in the past years. Carr says safety has significantly improved, but more can and must be done. Equipment improvements, proper training of coaches, and limiting playing time and the number of games are a few of the things that can be addressed, he says.
“The real issue is to protect the people who play the game,” Carr says. “That’s our number one responsibility. I think we know there is a major challenge in front of us in football and in some other sports.”
In February former Michigan quarterback Steven Threet, who played under Carr for a season, decided to quit football after getting his fourth concussion over the course of several years. According to ESPN.com, a fifth concussion could have left Threet permanently debilitated. None of those concussions occurred at U-M.
The event begins at 3:30 p.m. in the main auditorium in SPH II at the School of Public Health. The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested at www.sph.umich.edu/scr/playsmart.
