This article reads like a guerilla propaganda piece for the NFL. NFL lawyer and supporters of the settlement get prominent coverage. The objectors get two paragraph. Of course the NFL is eager to confirm this settlement, because it knows it is getting off light.
3
I live in a well educated community and was taken aback when I drove past a sign this weekend advertising youth football. You would think that with all of the publicity of late, the message that football is dangerous would have been loud and clear. Apparently the allure of football defies all logic even among those who should know better.
9
That's why articles like this are so important -- to keep reminding us of the dangers involved and the growing list of injuries that incapacitate so many players years after they have hung their cleats up.
If you're reading this you already know too much about football to blindly continue down the garden path. But it's all those parents who are too busy to pay attention to articles like this who need to be informed.
Maybe you can go to one of the open practices armed with copies of this article that you could distribute to the parents there.
That ought to stir things up a bit.
If you're reading this you already know too much about football to blindly continue down the garden path. But it's all those parents who are too busy to pay attention to articles like this who need to be informed.
Maybe you can go to one of the open practices armed with copies of this article that you could distribute to the parents there.
That ought to stir things up a bit.
2
The NFL should be forced to fully cover the workplace injuries.
9
For anyone not fully familiar with the term "League of Denial," this PBS documentary, along with its supplemental features, is enlightening, if not downright bone-chilling:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/
Nobody does bread and circuses better than the megahyped N.F.L., but until dragged kicking and screaming to do otherwise, the way it has treated its gladiators has been shameful.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/
Nobody does bread and circuses better than the megahyped N.F.L., but until dragged kicking and screaming to do otherwise, the way it has treated its gladiators has been shameful.
13
The book was very detailed about players' illness. Because of the hearbreaking stories & the deliberate obtuseness of NFL doctors, book was extremely difficult to read. Used to be an NFL before, now when I hear "NFL" all I can think is "DENIAL"
It seems like some of the "objections" are quite reasonable and should be included in the settlement. But otherwise, good for Mr. Wooden and his lawyers.
2
Just say no. Don't play. Players want to hit hard, and are encouraged for all the reasons we all know but don't want to articulate.
I hate saying this but makes Trump political correctness look viable. Driving a car has more head injuries per driver than football.
I hate saying this but makes Trump political correctness look viable. Driving a car has more head injuries per driver than football.
When quoting someone like Seeger, the NFL's attorney, the NYT might mention that the league has a history or dishonesty concerning CTE being caused by the car-wreck-intensity of every play. When players reach this level it's likely they've already experienced the kind of head trauma from a series of coaches that - if administered by a teacher or parent - would land them in jail. The NFL earns upwards of $12 billion a year. Not covering every single future case of CTE is a travesty. Having their shill suggest that it's somehow in the best interest of players is a concept that would gag a roach.
18
Until we can take 'volunteers' at high school age and give them concussions and then wait until they either die naturally at age 40 or so or decide to do brain biposies against their will, there will be no proven causation with playing football.
So we are left with statistics, something that modern medical studies have used for some time to tease out associations, using far less structure than the information that has come to light with the last decade of awareness.
One also can surmise, but not prove, that Mohammad Ali's condition was in part due to pugilism as his career choice.
CTE is a very rare conditon amognst those who haven't had a lot of injuries to the head, and sports, especially when played to the pro level, gives the greatest experiemental pool to do an observational study on. A greater than expected percentage of players being affected, or affected at an earlier than anticipated age all lead to a very high index of suspicion.
So we are left with statistics, something that modern medical studies have used for some time to tease out associations, using far less structure than the information that has come to light with the last decade of awareness.
One also can surmise, but not prove, that Mohammad Ali's condition was in part due to pugilism as his career choice.
CTE is a very rare conditon amognst those who haven't had a lot of injuries to the head, and sports, especially when played to the pro level, gives the greatest experiemental pool to do an observational study on. A greater than expected percentage of players being affected, or affected at an earlier than anticipated age all lead to a very high index of suspicion.
5
Let's assume that football indeed leads to softer brains. So what? These people are rational economic agents. They calculated the costs and benefits and choose to risk their health. Even a soft-brain football player is richer than, say, 75% of the population. That's a fair gamble.
Does Ms Wooden have any opinion of her son's playing football?
4
I find it very disconcerting that the Times states a lawyer's scientific opinions as if they were facts. Listening to Mr. Seeger speak about science is like watching a dog walk upright on its hind legs.
The reason the NFL doesn't wish to deal with CTE is that is very common among its Hall of Famers (HOFers) and therefore probably very common among the greater player population. According to an article published in Vice authored by Patrick Hruby, nearly 1/2 of HOFers who died between 2007-2015 died with dementia, of those, 40% had CTE. In fact, the NFL only views cognitive and muscular symptoms as serious. The rates of mood and behavioral symptoms among the retirees is staggering. Those players suffering from dementia with Lewy bodies, Frontal Temporal Lobe dementia and CTE will suffer years, if not decades, before qualifying for anything.
The NFL simply does not want to pay its bills. It expects taxpayers to do so.
Mr. Seeger is simply folding like a cheap suit to collect his $112MM so he can be done with it.
The reason the NFL doesn't wish to deal with CTE is that is very common among its Hall of Famers (HOFers) and therefore probably very common among the greater player population. According to an article published in Vice authored by Patrick Hruby, nearly 1/2 of HOFers who died between 2007-2015 died with dementia, of those, 40% had CTE. In fact, the NFL only views cognitive and muscular symptoms as serious. The rates of mood and behavioral symptoms among the retirees is staggering. Those players suffering from dementia with Lewy bodies, Frontal Temporal Lobe dementia and CTE will suffer years, if not decades, before qualifying for anything.
The NFL simply does not want to pay its bills. It expects taxpayers to do so.
Mr. Seeger is simply folding like a cheap suit to collect his $112MM so he can be done with it.
23
Excellent article, Mr. Belson, very informative on an emotional and highly sensitive issue that is not going away anytime soon.
"No payments will be made to players until all appeals are exhausted, though, something that Wooden has had to explain to retirees who hope to receive payments of up to $5 million from the N.F.L. sooner rather than later."
That has to be very difficult indeed. Much credit to Mr. Wooden for taking on such a rough assignment. He was a good player, especially considering how few sixth-round picks never make it in the NFL or never even see the field, but this job is more important than any NFL game he ever played.
"No payments will be made to players until all appeals are exhausted, though, something that Wooden has had to explain to retirees who hope to receive payments of up to $5 million from the N.F.L. sooner rather than later."
That has to be very difficult indeed. Much credit to Mr. Wooden for taking on such a rough assignment. He was a good player, especially considering how few sixth-round picks never make it in the NFL or never even see the field, but this job is more important than any NFL game he ever played.
7
"Despite these concerns, Wooden lets his 16-year-old son, Blake, play tackle football in part because....the lawsuit against the N.F.L. has raised awareness of the dangers of concussions and improved the prevention of and care for them."
Maybe they should add extreme cognitive dissonance to the list of disorders and brain injuries caused by football.
Maybe they should add extreme cognitive dissonance to the list of disorders and brain injuries caused by football.
23
HE is letting his son play football because there have been improvements in the safety. If he really thinks this way, then he had too many hits himself. He does not get it, as most lovers of football do not get, better stop playing while you still know who you are when you look in a mirror..
19
Knowing the dangers, why is he letting his son play tackle football?
17
Clearly he doesn't and therefore should not be representing players in this settlement.
4
A standard concept is not to confuse correlation with causation. Does playing football lead to softer brains? Or does having a soft brain lead to playing football?
8
If you look and listen to the bulk of the football players (not all), I think both.
2