Senate proposal would extend concussion protocol to 10 days

A bill that would extend the mandatory rest period for concussed New Mexico high school athletes from seven to 10 days is one step closer to becoming law.

Senate Bill 137 unanimously passed the Senate’s Education Committee on Friday in Santa Fe, and state Sen. Michael S. Sanchez, D-Belen, who is sponsoring the bill, hopes and believes it will be signed into law before this legislative session ends in two weeks.

He wanted to increase the length of the protocol to 10 days in light of the well-publicized case of Cleveland running back Shawn Nieto — a case that rubbed Sanchez, like so many people, the wrong way. Even with Cleveland insisting Nieto could not play due to the state’s existing concussion law, which mandates a minimum one-week waiting period, Nieto was cleared to participate by a state District Court judge the day before the Storm’s Class 6A state championship game against Eldorado in December.

“There are some new studies that say seven days may not be long enough,” Sanchez said Friday. “Some say 14. I said, ‘Let’s see how 10 goes.’ ”

The bill next moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sanchez said, and still must pass House and Senate floor votes before it can be signed into law by Gov. Susana Martinez.

The law, if passed, would go into effect later this year.

By extending the concussion protocol period to 10 days, this would effectively make any football player ineligible to play the week after a concussion.

The law, however, would apply to athletes in every sport.

For football, the 10-day period is important, since during the regular season some schools often have eight or even nine days between games.

“It used to be, ‘Are you OK? Sit down, catch your breath and we’ll put you back in,’ ” said Sanchez, a former athlete himself. “There was no protocol to find out whether you had a head injury or brain injury.”

The rest period would cover 240

hours, starting with the hour of the actual brain injury, Sanchez said.

This particular bit of language adds some clarity to the existing concussion law, which is somewhat vague in terms of defining when a one-week period begins. It can be — and has been — interpreted different ways, the Nieto case being an example.

As for House Bill 180, Rep. Bill McCamley, D-Mesilla Park, told the Journal on Friday that it does not appear as though it will be heard during this session.

That bill would give initial decision-making authority over cases like the one involving Nieto to the New Mexico Activities Association.

And only after the NMAA rules on an athlete’s appeal, could he or she pursue legal remedies.

McCamley said so long as he is re-elected, he will make another pass at getting this law on the books in 2017.