A very interesting supposition. It makes it interesting to think of other old time athletes’ lives like Jim Thorpe and how tragic his life ended. Ice hockey without helmets certainly could have been a factor in Baker’s case.
During my years at Princeton as an athletic trainer, legendary head athletic trainer Dick Malacrea always stressed helmet safety and concussion recovery. Way ahead of his time, he hid helmets of players who had suspected head injuries so they wouldn’t return to the game. Dick had a strict return to play of days of rest, light activity, and increased stress until full recovery. It is a policy that the NFL has finally come around to that Dick and Princeton were practicing in the 1970s.
A very interesting supposition. It makes it interesting to think of other old time athletes’ lives like Jim Thorpe and how tragic his life ended. Ice hockey without helmets certainly could have been a factor in Baker’s case.
During my years at Princeton as an athletic trainer, legendary head athletic trainer Dick Malacrea always stressed helmet safety and concussion recovery. Way ahead of his time, he hid helmets of players who had suspected head injuries so they wouldn’t return to the game. Dick had a strict return to play of days of rest, light activity, and increased stress until full recovery. It is a policy that the NFL has finally come around to that Dick and Princeton were practicing in the 1970s.