During practice during his freshman fall, offensive lineman Niko Mamula ’16 was running toward another player to block him. Mamula hit his head as they made contact. He blacked out, everything “went fuzzy” and he woke up with his teammates standing around him, unaware for a few seconds of what had happened.
He was helped off the field and went through preliminary testing. He could remember his name, his hometown. After practice, Mamula sat in the training room as his trainers briefed him on the steps he would be taking to ensure his recover.
This concussion, which kept him out for about two weeks, was Mamula’s second, following a less severe high school injury, he said.
The NCAA published new guidelines on concussion safety earlier this month that limit full-contact practices to twice per week during season and encourage transparency in the process of caring for injured players. Dartmouth football players reflected on their experiences with and opinions on concussions, and playing under safety regulations, in interviews Monday.
The new guidelines are not rules, but they could become NCAA legislation in the future, depending on what the further studies reveal on the correlation between full-contact practice and concussions.
Dartmouth complies to Ivy League football practice standards on concussion safety. The Ivy League is one of only two conferences that currently mandate live-contact practice rules, which the NCAA does not.
The new guidelines’ restriction on full-contact practices match the Ivy League policy, except for spring practices. Under the new NCAA guidelines, teams can have eight full-contact practices during the spring, whereas the Ivy League policy only allows seven.
Along with abiding by the League policy, Dartmouth’s team strives to minimize the potential concussion by educating players on concussion symptoms and implementing regular medical check-ups.
To make sure he was healthy enough to play, Mamula said he first had to pass a cognitive function test, which provided a score that could be compared to a baseline test he had taken at the start of his freshman year before the season. While he failed the test one week after his concussion, he passed several days later.
Mamula then had to pass a bike test, where he had to maintain a certain speed on an exercise bike for a certain amount of time. After doing a field work out without any symptoms, Manula eased back into contact play, first practicing without hitting, then taking light hits for a few days without symptoms.
“I definitely feel like the football training staff made sure that we were absolutely ready to come back before they cleared us to play,” he said.
He said he feels Dartmouth has a good program for handling athletic concussions in place, and that it is good to know staff are knowledgeable and operating above the level of NCAA mandates.
“It makes you feel better knowing that you’re getting the recovery time you need,” Mamula said. “It could potentially mess up your brain for life.”
Safety is a priority in Dartmouth football, offensive lineman Jacob Flores ’16 said, and he is glad to see the nation following suit by prioritizing player safety and concussion prevention.
Tight end Jvonte Brooks ’15 said the team has become used to preparing for games without having full-contact practices, since it has followed the Ivy League guidelines for a several years. Teams just now transitioning may have initial difficulties preparing for games, Brooks said.
During many practices, there is no tackling, quarterback Thomas Militello ’16 said, noting that players know how to hit from high school.
“You’re pretty much taking the chance of injury out of the equation,” he said.
While the new NCAA guidelines and Ivy League rules may lower risk, Mamula does not think the risk for concussions can be eliminated — it’s simply the nature of the game, he said.
“The NCAA and NFL and all the rules they’re putting in place can help reduce concussions, but I don’t think they’d ever be able to eliminate concussions without changing the nature of the game,” he said.
Laura Weiss contributed reporting.
