Ivy League limits full-contact football practices

The new Ivy League policy goes well beyond NCAA guidelines.

The Ivy League has decided to limit the number of full-contact football practices that teams can have in an effort to reduce the chance of head injuries to players, according to a New York Times report. A study published last year indicates that players receive more hits to the head in practices than in games. (Practices, of course, consume far more of players' active time on the field than games do.)  The new Ivy policy goes well beyond the NCAA's guidelines on the subject, and is quite possibly the most stringent of any conference.  

For additional background, read the 2010 article "Hits, Heads, Helmets" from the Harvard Magazine archives; it explores some of the issues in football-related concussions and describes a new helmet designed to mitigate them. 

Related topics

You might also like

How a Harvard Hockey Legend Became a Needlepoint Artist

Joe Bertagna’s retirement project recreates figures from Boston sports history.

Harvard Students, Alumni to Compete at the 2026 Olympics

Six Crimson athletes are headed to the XXV Winter Games in Milano Cortina. 

Introductions: Dan Cnossen

A conversation with the former Navy SEAL and gold-medal-winning Paralympic skier

Most popular

Harvard Alumni and Faculty Win Six Pulitzer Prizes

Winners include Jill Lepore, Bess Wohl, Pablo Torre, and Hannah Natanson.

Martin Nowak Placed on Leave a Second Time

Further links to Jeffrey Epstein surface in newly released files.

Faculty Set to Vote on Grade Inflation Proposal

Results of the email ballot will be announced on May 20.

Explore More From Current Issue

Woman with long hair, smiling, wearing a black sweater, in a textured beige background.

For This Poet, AI is a Writing Partner

Sasha Stiles trained a chatbot on her manuscripts. Now, her poems rewrite themselves.

A man holding a revolver and lantern, wearing a hat and coat, appears to be walking cautiously.

Scoundrels, Then and Now

On con men, Mark Twain, and the powers of the Harvard name

Colorful illustrated map of Colonial Cambridge and the Harvard College campus featuring buildings of the campus, houses, Cambridge Common, and the Charles River

250 Years Ago, Harvard Was Home to a Revolution

A look at the sights, sounds, and characters that put the University on the frontlines of history