But players say they are concerned about the possibility of in-game suspensions. Players say that they would like to see a review process put in place for suspensions, which they worry could result in harsh, unjustified penalties in response to a bad call.
“I think it’s a well-received rule, barring the suspensions,” Hanson said. “If they allow transparency with [discussions] and actually have a review process of it and allow us to actually challenge those suspensions, that would be nice…It would suck to have a hit that you think is fine, but the Ivy League somehow sees it a different way, and you get suspended a game for it.
Ivy League officials hope that the regulations might act as a trendsetter for the rest of Division I football in terms of concussion safety and trauma awareness.
"The presidents formed the committee because they were deeply concerned that concussions are a significant injury in football and wanted the Ivy League to take an active leadership role in developing steps and measures to limit concussions, first in football and then in other sports as appropriate," Harris said.
The players all agreed that setting an example for the rest of the NCAA played a role in the aggressive and swift changes to league rules.
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“I think that’s definitely on their mind,” Gedeon said. “I think they view themselves as a model league and thought this was a good chance.”
It would not be the first time that Ivy League schools set new regulations to better ensure the safety of its players. After almost 20 students died in the 1905 collegiate football season, Theodore Roosevelt met with the presidents of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, among a number of other university leaders to institute stricter safety measures.
In addition to forming the NCAA, the group decided that they would widen the field of play to make the game safer. Because the field at Harvard Stadium could not be made any larger, the body instead legalized the forward pass for the first time.
—Staff writer E. Benjamin Samuels can be reached at samuels@college.harvard.edu.