The NFL has come a long way when it comes to treating concussed players. Practically speaking, the path started 15 years ago tomorrow.

On October 28, 2009, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, summoned to Congress to testify on professional football’s approach to brain injuries.

Testimony at times focused on whether the NFL would acknowledge a link between concussions and future health problems. Although Dr., who was then chairman of the NFL’s concussion committee, said: Ira Casson did not testify at the hearing (there was a fight On whether Congress wants him there), a member of Congress played an earlier clip of Casson denying the connection between multiple head injuries and brain disorders such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Smith was much more candid on behalf of the NFLPA, saying the union “isn’t doing our best in this area” and “We’ll do better.”

It was not enough to neutralize the rhetoric of at least one member of Congress. “It reminds me of how tobacco companies, before the ’90s, were always saying, ‘Oh, there’s no connection between smoking and harming your health,'” Rep. Linda Sánchez said during the hearing.

The hearing forced the NFL to make changes. He began with a new set of rules for returning to action after suffering a concussion; this process became the current concussion protocol. Over time, the protocol has been modified and improved both to ensure that players do not return until they are ready and to do a better job of removing players from the field after suffering a head injury.

Less than two years after Congress joined, the trials began. A massive class-action lawsuit eventually resulted, creating a fund that provided benefits to players suffering from certain cognitive issues without requiring them to prove that the condition was caused by playing NFL football.

There were initially concerns that players would retire early due to concussion. While some have cited brain injury concerns when retiring later in their careers, only 49ers linebacker Chris Borland left a promising NFL job early due to concussion concerns.

Now everyone knows the risks. They all know what they’re signing up for, as evidenced most recently by Tua Tagovailoa’s game-defying return. And they kept signing up for it.

People are taking much bigger risks with much less money. And they have the right to do so. Unless they can find anyone willing to let them play, any player with multiple concussions can keep coming back for more.

This does not alleviate the NFL’s obligation to remove players from tackles and properly evaluate them during games before returning them. The tension between ticking the boxes to speed up the process and providing real healthcare to players remains. There’s always a chance it could happen.