It's not good news when the starting quarterback for a Super Bowl-winning team can't play, but there was an upside to Ben Roethlisberger's unavailability Sunday: The rough culture of the National Football League seems to be softening in favor of caution for the long-term health of its players.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell previously announced that, when players sustain concussions, teams will have to seek the advice of independent neurologists, a practice already used by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yesterday, Mr. Goodell expanded the restrictions on sending players who have had head injuries or concussions back onto the field. These are necessary accommodations that aren't about to harm professional football or transform it into the equivalent of an afternoon of touch football in the backyard.

You don't have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that repeated head trauma is going to cause long-term problems.

There was considerable pressure for changes in football even before Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger and Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner both had to sit out last Sunday due to concussions. As medical evidence has mounted demonstrating the debilitating effects of multiple concussions, the league has faced tough criticism in Congress over how it has handled treatment and disability claims by former players.

But even incontrovertible data won't eliminate the attitude, evidenced by the brouhaha over Hines Ward's now-revised comments about Mr. Roethlisberger, that football players should be tough enough to take anything the sport can dish out. Players may want to play even knowing they're putting their own futures at risk, and teams cannot be allowed to exploit that reality.

That's why they must use accepted medical evaluations to determine when players should and should not play. Since 1997, players in the National Hockey League, no place for the faint of heart, have undergone mandated baseline neuropsychological tests during training camp and, if they sustain concussions, they are retested after their symptoms subside.

The NFL also requires baseline testing, and the use of independent neurologists won't be anything new for the Steelers. In addition to team neurologist Dr. Joseph Maroon, an authority on concussions, players also are evaluated by Mark Lovell, a psychologist who is the director of UPMC's Sports Concussion Program. They developed what's called the ImPACT test, short for Immediate Postconcussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing system, a 20-minute computerized evaluation of the player's memory, reaction time and other parameters.

Although National Hockey League and NFL teams use the testing method, Dr. Maroon said in a radio interview that he believes the practice should be more widely utilized among colleges and high schools, too.

Even the fans should agree. Some things are much more important than winning.

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