It was a less than stellar Super Bowl 50. The Panthers offense just couldn’t hold up against the Broncos defense, which came as no surprise to many football pundits.

There were a few fabulous plays on the part of the Panthers. One noticeable one was wide receiver Corey Brown’s 42-yard catch in the third quarter — that was an incredible catch.

Slow it down on the replay, though, and what you have is something else altogether. Did anyone notice the way Brown stumbled when he got up from that catch? How during the replay, he first eluded the Denver defense, gained an amazing amount height to get his hands on the ball, came down and landed first on his tailbone. His head bounced as it hit the turf.

It happened so fast it could only be seen in slow motion.

Such a landing is more than cause for concern. It’s cause to reevaluate the game. It’s no secret that the NFL has been hit hard by studies about CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease prevalent in athletes who participate in contact sports. The symptoms include dementia, memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression, many of which manifest years after athletes have stopped playing, but also at very young ages. The movie “Concussion” starring Will Smith chronicles neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu’s research on CTE and the NFL’s attempt to discredit him.

CTE has been identified in 87of 91 deceased NFL players, including several who have committed suicide. Even as the Greenville community is still reeling over X Games champion and BMX legend Dave Mirra’s suicide last week, many are posing the question of whether CTE played a part in his suicide.

The prevalence of CTE in football players is epidemic and it’s led to some interesting events. In Pittsburgh last week, a 6-5, 225-pound tight end who had full scholarships to multiple Division I schools made the decision to walk away from the game solely to protect his future. He’s decided to play basketball instead. Several NFL players have also chosen to retire early because of the number of concussions they’ve suffered.

At the University of New Hampshire, they’ve come to some interesting conclusions about head injuries incurred while playing football. Their players wear monitors that record the impacts and it’s some startling information. By mid-season, 20 players recorded more than 8,000 head impacts according to the monitors, which averages out to 400 impacts per player. That’s half a season. Imagine what that number would look like multiplied by two, then by the number of seasons played.

So, at the University of New Hampshire, they’re doing something unprecedented. Under the leadership of head coach Sean McDonnell, and led by a former rugby player (also a contact sport) and current UNH kinesiology professor Erik Swartz, the team is practicing without helmets.

That’s right — without helmets. It’s called HUTT, or helmetless tackling training, and it reteaches football players how to tackle with their bodies, instead of with their heads. Because the players’ heads are unprotected, instinct kicks in and they automatically protect their heads and use other parts of their bodies to make the tackle. It’s just as effective, they’ve seen, and creates muscle memory that carries over into the game where they are wearing helmets.

“If you avoid head impact, not only are you decreasing the risk of injury every time there might be an impact, but over the course of a football player’s life, if he starts at 8 or 9 years old and plays through college or the pros, think of how many impacts are sustained over that time,” Swartz said in article published by “Muscle and Medicine.

Instead of being reactive and trying to ignore the very real dangers of concussive impacts, all coaches from Pee Wee leagues on up to the NFL should be considering re-teaching the art of the tackle. Being proactive can save lives.