Concussions May--Or May Not--Be Bad For You

The mighty "may" strikes again. This time Dr. David C. Viano, of the National Football League's research committee on concussions, used a form of the word to hedge a dubious argument that concussions suffered by high school football players may not be as serious a health concern as is generally thought.

Here's the relevant section from a New York Times article by Alan Schwarz (March 1, 2007):

. . . [In a 2005 article in Neurosurgery] the committee wrote in its conclusion: “It might be safe for college/high school football players to be cleared to return to play on the same day as their injury. The authors suggest that, rather than blindly adhering to arbitrary, rigid guidelines, physicians keep an open mind to the possibility that the present analysis of professional football players may have relevance to college and high school players.”

Asked about the apparent contradiction, Viano said, “I think under that particular scenario the word ‘may’ is appropriate.” . . .

Considering that the bulk of research to date suggests that concussions in high school-aged football players may be even more dangerous than those in slightly older professional ball players--and the problems that professionals are seeing as a result of playing soon after concussions--"may" or "might" are highly inappropriate words for Viano to be using. The Times reporter was right to call him on it.