Carl Banks says N-word needs to go, but will be hard to enforce

Tuesday's health and safety news from the world of football:

• Gary Myers of the New York Daily News wrote that it will be difficult for the NFL to enforce penalties for using the N-word on the field, according to former New York Giants linebacker Carl Banks.

• The Newark Star-Ledger reported that New York Jets trainers performed CPR on an elderly passenger while they prepared to leave for the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

• A study using retired football players was published Tuesday in the Journal of Neurotrauma and said repeated concussions and mild brain trauma can result in reduced levels of growth hormone and thyroid hormones. The findings said the head injuries caused disorders such as metabolic syndrome and erectile dysfunction.

• WICS-TV in Springfield, Ill., reported on the new player safety rules set for high school football this fall.

• The Daily Review in Towanda, Pa., reported that the state's brain injury coalition is conducting a survey on the Pennsylvania Safety in Youth Sports Act.

• KUSA-TV reported that 16 percent of Colorado high school football teams use helmets that were lower rated for safety in a recent study.

• that Mississippi's new concussion law was an example of the state's House using evidence-based legislation.

• The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that the "Return to Learn" concussion-protocol bill passed the Virginia House.

-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor