Saturday, October 11, 2014, featured a cider-crisp snap in the air\u2014perfect football weather. Trinity, riding a 52-game home-win streak, was hosting the Tufts University Jumbos. The Bantams had begun the season with victories over Colby, Williams, and Hamilton by an impressive cumulative score of 89\u201314.<\/p>\n
![\"Mike](\"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2018\/files\/2018\/09\/concussion2.jpg\")
<\/a>Mike Weatherby \u201914 Photo: Ed Cunicelli<\/p><\/div>\n
Mike Weatherby \u201914, an American studies major from Atlantic City, New Jersey, was on his game that afternoon. The speedy, hard-hitting outside linebacker was a Trinity graduate student at the time; since he had missed his first year while recovering from shoulder surgery, he was playing out his final year of eligibility. With back-to-back sacks in the third quarter, he buried the Jumbos deep in their territory, forcing them to punt. Then, late in the game, he capped his big afternoon with an interception. But it turned out to be something of a Pyrrhic victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cTypically, I was an emotional player,\u201d says Weatherby, a team captain, \u201cbut after the interception, I just felt foggy. I knew something was off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weatherby was well aware of the risk for head injuries that all football players accept as part of the game. What felt strange, though, was that he couldn\u2019t remember hitting his head during the game. And no one had tackled him particularly hard. <\/p>\n
Trinity went on to win 35\u201314. But Weatherby was diagnosed with a concussion and had to sit out for two games. In the second of those contests, he could only watch from the sidelines as Middlebury soundly defeated his team, winning by 20 points and snapping the 53-game home-win streak.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A Trinity football helmet connected to HelmetFit, a new inflation system that helps maintain a consistent fit for each player.
Photo: Ed Cunicelli<\/p><\/div>\n
As things turned out, though, Weatherby\u2019s concussion inspired him to think about how the air bladders inside players\u2019 helmets are inflated. At the time of his injury, helmets were inflated mostly according to how well players thought the helmets fit. On any given game day, a player might be wearing a helmet inflated differently from the last time he\u2019d worn it. It was all subjective.<\/p>\n
Weatherby knew that while a tight fit maximizes a helmet\u2019s protection, some players preferred wearing their helmets loose. So, in the years since his graduation\u2014while he worked in real estate and then joined the Tampa Bay Rays baseball organization in a promotional role from 2015 to 2017\u2014he has devoted his spare time to designing HelmitFit, a new inflation system that would enable trainers to precisely fit each player\u2019s helmet, day after day.<\/p>\n
Weatherby says he now has commitments from prominent Division I universities, including Syracuse and Ohio State, to use the system. \u201cOur goal,\u201d Weatherby asserts, \u201cis to consistently find the perfect balance, for every player, between comfort and a nice, snug fit.\u201d<\/p>\n
MINING THE DATA<\/strong><\/p>\n In recent years, news media have focused a glaring spotlight on the grim, and growing, roster of former NFL players suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a debilitating and incurable disorder afflicting many \u200bwho have endured multiple brain injuries. In the ensuing dialogue, football and concussions have become almost synonymous.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s important to note that not every concussion leads to CTE. Nor are concussions in sports limited to the gridiron. During the 2016\u201317 academic year, for instance, Trinity reported eight concussions. Though football accounted for four, two occurred in men\u2019s soccer, and one each in men\u2019s basketball and men\u2019s ice hockey. No matter where or how concussions occur, Trinity is seeking better ways to diagnose, monitor, manage, and prevent them.<\/p>\n \u201cAthletic training has evolved in response to the risk of head injuries,\u201d says Scot Ward, Trinity\u2019s director of sports medicine. \u201cRegardless of the sport, we\u2019re at all practices and events, and we treat any head injury as serious. We ask all of our student-athletes to participate in a baseline cognitive evaluation at the beginning of the year. Then we test the recovery of any athlete who has been concussed against his or her baseline. We\u2019re very circumspect about how long a player will be sidelined. With concussions, we take no chances.\u201d<\/p>\n Imran Hafeez, M.D., who has been involved with Trinity athletics since 2011 and has served as a team physician since 2015, says, \u201cThanks to our athletic trainers, student-athletes have a pretty good understanding of concussions. They understand the importance of complete recovery.<\/p>\n