As players across the CFL absorbed the ins and outs of their proposed agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement on Sunday, Mike Reilly was thinking about last season.
Reilly remembers the helmet-to-helmet hit that he took in a game against the Toronto Argonauts on Sept. 28. It took him out of the game in the first quarter, gave him his first diagnosed concussion as a CFL player and kicked off a controversial week when he was later medically cleared to play just six days later against Montreal.
Those things were on his mind on Sunday because the idea of having an independent neurologist on the sidelines for games was one of the things that slipped off of the table in the new CBA that players and CFL governors will ratify this week.
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t do that,” Reilly said. “In a game where brain injuries happen so often, why not have a specialist on the sideline? It doesn’t make any sense not to. I think we saw here last year with my situation how much scrutiny was placed on our medical staff. They did everything to the tee, how they were supposed to do it and they were still being put under the microscope.”
It’s something the NFL will be doing this season, in an effort to better diagnose and treat concussions.
“I think if you have a specialist on the sideline it takes pressure off the rest of the staff and it says, ‘OK, no one is going to question that person because they’re specifically there for that reason,’” Reilly said.
“I think it’s an awesome idea for the players’ safety and for the league. Why would you not want that? It’s going to protect you from lawsuits down the road. I think it’s a good idea for everyone.”
