ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the current Neuropsychology program within National Football League (NFL) and focuses on the role of the neuropsychologist within the context of professional football. Athletes may perform poorly on the more demanding tests because of pre-injury learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder or other factors such as test taking anxiety. The neuropsychologist may be faced with initial resistance when attempting to implement a concussion assessment program with a professional sports franchise. In addition to yielding important information regarding the recovery process, the NFL program may grow to include neuropsychologists in roles other than as concussion specialists. Neuropsychologist’s have gradually become accepted valued team members in many NFL franchises and this trend promises to continue as team medical staff continue to seek better methods of making return to play decisions. The study of mild traumatic brain injuries in American professional football athletes has become an intense area of focus and has influenced the development of similar projects in other sports.
