Regardless of what's occurred in the past, the NFL is setting a standard other sports organizations will need to consider regarding CTE by establishing a fund to compensation former players, modifying rules in an effort to lessen head contact during games, and openly acknowledging the link between CTE and physical contact during the sport. How can the NHL credibly maintain it's position to the contrary, and still permit fighting as part of the game. Even US Soccer has implemented rules banning head balls for those under 12. Unfortunately, the single motivation for change has been law suits filed by private litigants when sports organizations refused to act voluntarily.
The intelligent thing to do is to get rid of all contact sports.
3
Football will have to change. In five years, the game of football will be a different sport. To hidebound, old school fans, it will be almost unrecognizable.
1
Will Goodell's salary continue its trend upwards?
1
This is nothing more than the tobacco industry strategy: deny, deny, deny until it is impossible to credibly deny, then admit the cancer connection so that no future smokers can ever claim they were misled about the dangers. This is litigation strategy by the NFL to cut off any future brain damage claims.
2
Why is it just the NFL, NFL,NFL?? Do head injuries only come from playing a few years in the NFL? What about the NCAA?? High school football? Why does it always seem like the evil NFL is solely to blame for the injuries/trauma/concussions and their lasting effects???
1
It's not "just the NFL". However, football has a unique premise which is to physically stop or push through opponents with each team using as much brute force as they can. Physicality is such a huge part of football that risks of brain injury is fairly constant in every game. OK, may be not for the kicker, but everyone else.
4
You're obviously not aware there are other class actions involving NCAA athletes asserting, quite correctly, the same dangers are inherent at their level of sport.
2
I'd posit that head shots in ANY sport are inherently dangerous and, as such, should be grounds for immediate and permanent dismissal.
1
Let's NOT forget it is not just American football. Soccer is the ONLY sport in which players do not wear heard gear AND are encouraged to hit the ball with their heads. It can be argued soccer is more of a threat for chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease. When is FIFA going to finally acknowledge the link ???
3
I concur that FIFA should acknowledge the link and do something about it. However, the likelihood of traumatic impact imho is less in soccer than American football. Soccer does not have a "culture of concussions " where the objective is to hurt a player to eliminate him from the game. That is the fundamental difference.
3
This is difficult for me but the game has become too dangerous and I'm at the point where I can no longer watch the game I used to love.
I don't want the game to be banned because I don't want to take the decision from the players.
But that doesn't mean I have to continue to watch.
I don't want the game to be banned because I don't want to take the decision from the players.
But that doesn't mean I have to continue to watch.
3
Dr, Bennet Omalu deserves a Nobel for his discovery and bravery.
5
I came to the comments to see what comments the 'elitists' would make here, and am not disappointed. Typical 'corporate greed', 'bloodlust', 'billionaires driving slaves' etc. etc.
The reality, of course, is that players are not forced into this, and are WELL compensated. In fact, the players actually compete to get on teams, and the competition is fierce, all fighting for the chance to earn millions. Not only that, they have been playing the sport since they were probably 4, 5, or 6 years old, banging heads with opponents the whole time; in other words, their parents knew the dangers the whole time.
In fact, there is usually the case once or twice a year in which we read or hear about, tragically, high-school players who have actually become paralyzed during a game. This sport has never been known as a 'safe' sport by any means, and professional players are well aware of the dangers, YET CONTINUE CHOOSING TO PLAY!
The reality, of course, is that players are not forced into this, and are WELL compensated. In fact, the players actually compete to get on teams, and the competition is fierce, all fighting for the chance to earn millions. Not only that, they have been playing the sport since they were probably 4, 5, or 6 years old, banging heads with opponents the whole time; in other words, their parents knew the dangers the whole time.
In fact, there is usually the case once or twice a year in which we read or hear about, tragically, high-school players who have actually become paralyzed during a game. This sport has never been known as a 'safe' sport by any means, and professional players are well aware of the dangers, YET CONTINUE CHOOSING TO PLAY!
So, you're perfectly ok with human beings engaging in activities that are proven extremely harmful to their health, and perhaps lethal, for your enjoyment, so long as those human being are well-compensated. And, no one - least of all the players - should complain or do anything about it. Got it.
5
The NFL has made a devious, yet shrewd decision to now acknowledge the direct causal relationship between repeated hits to the head and CTE, for going forward, I'm sure the league will have every player sign a waiver of liability to that effect. And keep in mind, the average NFL career has been substantially shortened over the past half dozen years as the (very owner friendly) CBE signed a few years ago basically eliminates all but the best players from the NFL after 4 years at best.
The NFL will of course have its Bradys and Rodgers and other name stars. But the vast majority of players will be ill-educted, non college graduating minorities (the league is already 70 percent black), who will sign waivers, become special team "kamikazes" for a few years, then be cast aside once they're eligible for free agency. The couple of million or so they'll have made over 3-4 years will be long gone by then and they'll have suffered countless head injuries from years of Pop Warner, HS, then college football as well as the brutality of a short NFL career. That has become the NFL's new formula, the top 5% make some 75% of the money. The rest are used, abused then tossed aside.
The NFL will of course have its Bradys and Rodgers and other name stars. But the vast majority of players will be ill-educted, non college graduating minorities (the league is already 70 percent black), who will sign waivers, become special team "kamikazes" for a few years, then be cast aside once they're eligible for free agency. The couple of million or so they'll have made over 3-4 years will be long gone by then and they'll have suffered countless head injuries from years of Pop Warner, HS, then college football as well as the brutality of a short NFL career. That has become the NFL's new formula, the top 5% make some 75% of the money. The rest are used, abused then tossed aside.
8
Come on people! Did you think you could run into 250 lb men with your head or get bounced in the air and land on your head and there would be no impact? Helmets protect, but nothing protects all of the activities that happen every game.
Boxing also causes brain injury - even with the helmet and gloves. And you can die when box. Or play football. I would never let my son play football, but to be surprised that football can cause brain injury is disingenuous at best. That goes for the NFL, and the players, and the parents of the players. All know.
Boxing also causes brain injury - even with the helmet and gloves. And you can die when box. Or play football. I would never let my son play football, but to be surprised that football can cause brain injury is disingenuous at best. That goes for the NFL, and the players, and the parents of the players. All know.
3
Hey it would be great if we could stop making this false equivalency between head injuries in soccer and those in football. Headers in soccer are not a crucially integral part of the game and rules could and likely might be adapted to outlaw them some time in the future. Collisions are the name of the game in football. The sport would have to be fundamentally altered to not produce the head trauma and injuries we currently see. There is too much money currently invested in the NFL so it will not see a decline suddenly. But I would not be surprised to see in another generation or two, the sport dethroned as the most popular sport in America due to revelations like this one. For those that deem this impossible and think it to culturally weaved into America, it only took one single credibility issue (gambling) to fell two of America's former favorite pastimes (boxing and horse racing).
1
"Lawyers for some players involved in a lawsuit with the N.F.L. over its handling of brain injuries quickly seized on the league’s admission." And therein lies the problem. In this litigious society, admitting publicly what everyone already knows is just shooting yourself in the head.
Football at all levels seems like such a wonderful sport. How as a youngster I loved playing touch football. But the matter of CTE just seems downright scary. At all levels of organized sports, coaching and officiating and playing of the game has to be such that eliminating head-first tackles needs to be Job One. Penalize that. Require players to stay off the field if caught doing that. The NFL and the NCAA must lead the way by putting in place rules that eliminate head-first tackling.
Would I pay to watch grown men wearing leather helmets play flag football? Probably.
1
"Greg Aiello, a spokesman for the league...told The New York Times in 2009 that, “It’s quite obvious from the medical research that’s been done that concussions can lead to long-term problems.”
This story is internally inconsistent, but consistent with NYT's over-the-top coverage of the CTE/football issue. We're told at the top of the story, breathlessly, that history has been made as an NFL official for the first time has acknowledged that playing football can lead to permanent brain damage. Then, buried near the bottom, we find out that's not really the case.
Do editors read these stories before publication?
Of course CTE is a serious issue, and it needs more study. But as critics of the stop-football movement have consistently noted, there have been no studies establishing the prevalence of CTE and other permanent brain damage in former football players. All we know is, some players get it, some players don't and we have no idea what the percentages are. It would seem possible to survey former players to determine if they are exhibiting symptoms, but no one seems to have done this. Why not? If no one else will, why hasn't NYT done this? It is absolutely crucial, yet it isn't getting done. And so, while we know that football poses a risk, we don't know the degree of risk, which makes doing the right thing impossible when your son begs to be allowed to play football.
This story is internally inconsistent, but consistent with NYT's over-the-top coverage of the CTE/football issue. We're told at the top of the story, breathlessly, that history has been made as an NFL official for the first time has acknowledged that playing football can lead to permanent brain damage. Then, buried near the bottom, we find out that's not really the case.
Do editors read these stories before publication?
Of course CTE is a serious issue, and it needs more study. But as critics of the stop-football movement have consistently noted, there have been no studies establishing the prevalence of CTE and other permanent brain damage in former football players. All we know is, some players get it, some players don't and we have no idea what the percentages are. It would seem possible to survey former players to determine if they are exhibiting symptoms, but no one seems to have done this. Why not? If no one else will, why hasn't NYT done this? It is absolutely crucial, yet it isn't getting done. And so, while we know that football poses a risk, we don't know the degree of risk, which makes doing the right thing impossible when your son begs to be allowed to play football.
2
I'm not a doctor or researcher, but I'm curious about a few things. First, why can't CTE be diagnosed in living people? What symptoms do living humans with CTE exhibit? How do the findings of CTE of dead NFL players compare to samples of non-football players who are deceased? What causal links (not correlations) exist between concussion and CTE? Is CTE a multi-factorial disease? If so, shouldn't we ban all activities that have the potential for head injury?
1
The biggest brain injuries in the NFL are those apparent in its billionaire team owners and the commissioner. They make FIFA look decent.
11
As a concussion survivor I viscerally understand what it means to live with a long list of self concealing (embarrassing) cognitive deficits caused by what was deemed by physicians “a small concussion” Mine was the middle car in a three car fender bender. I was knocked unconscious by a blow to the left temple. The ER sent me home with instructions to rest. Two days after this (so called) slight injury I awoke to the fact that I could not read, nor do simple sums. Personal executive decisions were no longer possible for me. I lost depth perception and my reaction timing was so impaired that driving was finished. I lost my sense of smell and correspondingly sense of taste. I no longer enjoyed food. My list is long and humiliating and has proved permanent. I had an “insignificant injury” so try to imagine the savage damage done to an athlete who allows them selves to get hit in the head so some corporations can make lots-of-money? Pray for the injured. America needs a big attitude adjustment; for we live lives of lies to make money for the one percent.
42
I'm not a 1%er and I suspect 99.9% of spectators and participants aren't either.So,don't know why you threw that in.
2
Because those who own the league are in the 1%.
6
Teams and leagues (NFL, NCAA) are conduits for money from the broadcasters and, ultimately, the advertisers. Maybe if the victims (players) sue the source of the money (brewers, car manufacturers, etc.), they will re-calculate cost-benefits and stop supporting football.
3
We really are not far removed, as a people, from the citizens of Rome with their popular lust for gladiator blood and gore in the splendid venue of the Coliseum in Rome and throughout the Empire.
Slavelike labor, income and wealth extremes, the most modern ammenities, god roads, world trade, a grand and violent military industrial complex, democratic ideals constantly abused, persecution of religions and peoples from the Middle East, it seems to be in our DNA. And, what the heck, the system worked...until it didn't.
We really are like them. Why worry about concussion and violence?
Unlike Rome however, our gladiators on the floors of our coliseums can choose to play or not. They know the risks. Truth be known, they always have. Only after the damage is done do they, and us with our conscious if not fleeting guilt, seek redress.
Provide the best protective equipment available, update the rules as approprate and as needed and require insurance, no matter how costly, at their expense and LET THE GAMES CONTINUE.
American Gridiron represents the true American spirit. (Baseball is more like the Constitution, revered and defended, but not always understood, especially by the "only occasional" fan.)
Until we the people change, that is who we are...21st centurians with a Roman mentality.
Slavelike labor, income and wealth extremes, the most modern ammenities, god roads, world trade, a grand and violent military industrial complex, democratic ideals constantly abused, persecution of religions and peoples from the Middle East, it seems to be in our DNA. And, what the heck, the system worked...until it didn't.
We really are like them. Why worry about concussion and violence?
Unlike Rome however, our gladiators on the floors of our coliseums can choose to play or not. They know the risks. Truth be known, they always have. Only after the damage is done do they, and us with our conscious if not fleeting guilt, seek redress.
Provide the best protective equipment available, update the rules as approprate and as needed and require insurance, no matter how costly, at their expense and LET THE GAMES CONTINUE.
American Gridiron represents the true American spirit. (Baseball is more like the Constitution, revered and defended, but not always understood, especially by the "only occasional" fan.)
Until we the people change, that is who we are...21st centurians with a Roman mentality.
6
"Why worry about concussion and violence?"
I see a direct link between this and the political violence of the day.
A partial answer is for people to get off the couch, eat in a way that is healthy both for themselves and for the environment, and get more good exercise, such as walking, running, bicycling.
I see a direct link between this and the political violence of the day.
A partial answer is for people to get off the couch, eat in a way that is healthy both for themselves and for the environment, and get more good exercise, such as walking, running, bicycling.
4
The gladiator analogy is a popular one, but an inappropriate, tired cliche. If you're going to use that terminology, use it, also, in connection with rugby and Australian rules football and mixed martial arts and boxing and wrestling and other violent sports, and don't forget to note that practitioners of these sports who are successful become rich, unlike gladiators who were typically slaves forced to fight.
You can't make football safe and still have it be football. Protective gear won't help. Change the rules more than they've already been changed and it won't be football. Anyone who is familiar with the game knows this. What we need is research showing the degree of risk, and we don't have that now. We don't know whether 10 percent of former players will experience permanent brain damage or 1 percent or 20 percent or a pick-a-percent. That's the most important question now, and until it is answered--and it most certainly could be answered if someone would simply survey former players in a comprehensive fashion--there can be no intelligent discussion about football and its future in this country.
You can't make football safe and still have it be football. Protective gear won't help. Change the rules more than they've already been changed and it won't be football. Anyone who is familiar with the game knows this. What we need is research showing the degree of risk, and we don't have that now. We don't know whether 10 percent of former players will experience permanent brain damage or 1 percent or 20 percent or a pick-a-percent. That's the most important question now, and until it is answered--and it most certainly could be answered if someone would simply survey former players in a comprehensive fashion--there can be no intelligent discussion about football and its future in this country.
1
Another piece to consider is that the glory we supply to the NFL and college football stars motivates legions of high school players and Pop Warner kids to seek that adulation. For every kid who gets a college football scholarship, there are 99 who wanted one, but did not get it. The same can be said for college players seeking NFL positions. The reality is that the vast majority of those who take chronic blows to the head from football will never get any kind of compensation or substantial glory, nor will they have any resources to deal with the neurological sequelae. Plus, playing football for any significant period of time virtually guarantees knee and ankle injuries with serious physical deficits by middle aged. Those injuries do not kill, but they negatively impact quality of life. Football will never be shut down, but if we stop watching it, it will fade into obscurity. We will be just as happy cheering for basketball, baseball or soccer instead.
2
Great explainer on Miller's comment at the House hearing. The writer didn't assume we've all been following the NFL or CTE. I'd like it if the NYT covered more political stories like this. There is a tendency to assume that everyone will have the context to understand, for example, that a Trump remark violates the Constitution. We all want to pretend we're not dumb, and editors don't want to insult the reader. But many voters need more context and background to understand what the candidates represent and the significance of the election. NYT readers perhaps less than others, but we can assume that other news outlets are reading the NYT.
3
I'm curious about your understanding of the Constitution if you feel a candidate's "remark" somehow violated the document. Are you not aware of the first amendment to that very document?
This is very difficult for me. I never smoked so I could hate the tobacco industry with gusto. There are good alternatives to fossil fuels so fighting the Koch bros., Exxon etc. is easy. But I've been a life long lover of football and I'll find it very hard to change.
I hope the NFL and the rest of the football world will decide to do the right thing and make the game safer. (Though not safe. That's impossible). And also hope that what comes out of this process will be recognizable as football. But I doubt it.
I hope the NFL and the rest of the football world will decide to do the right thing and make the game safer. (Though not safe. That's impossible). And also hope that what comes out of this process will be recognizable as football. But I doubt it.
2
It doesn't surprise or confuse me. I've been saying that football is harmful since my brothers played as teenagers and the first reports to validate this came out years ago! It's profit and the good ole boys network that damaged many of our children and young adults!! Appalling that this great FEMALE doctor was at first rebuked and now the NFL still dances around the facts. God gave me girls, as I asked for so I would not have had to subject my son to what they would have called "over protection" when I would have refused to allow him to play this so-called "game." I won't even watch it any more!
4
Why don't you ask God to fix all the head injuries sustained from playing football?
2
I used to love watching football too. My college won the national title twice during my four years there. I was a varsity athlete in another sport, so I had a bunch of friends on the football team, a few of whom went onto success in the NFL. Then one of our star players, a highly touted NFL prospect, destroyed his knee during a game. He got some money from an insurance policy, but running and walking were a problem after that. An 18-year old redshirt freshman also died in practice that year. Plus, there were often guys in the training room who had been knocked unconscious during games. Everyone had ankles taped for every game because virtually the whole team was walking around with sprained ankles, all the time. Knee braces were not ubiquitous, but they were quite common too. All in guys who were 21 or younger. At first, it was hard not to follow football because that is what guys do or talk about when we hang out. But, having seen the carnage firsthand, I progressively watched it less and less until within about 4 years after college I did not watch it or highlights at all.
5
Despite these admissions by the NFL, states and cities continue to spend taxpayer money to fund football stadiums. Any governor, mayor or legislator who supports such spending at a time when funds are being cut for pressing needs should be booted out of office.
7
Not one more public dime should be spent supporting this death-dealing enterprise.
No more K-12 stadiums, coaching staffs or facilities. Not one penny in tax exemptions for donations to college football programs, no facilities or scholarships. No public funding of professional stadiums or tax exemptions for the NFL.
If it makes economic sense for football to operate solely on private money from the viewers who enjoy the "game", so be it. The rest of us have had the vicious futility of football forced on us, and with this final, dragged out admission by the NFL it is clear that we have been funding not just brutality but death.
If the NFL cannot earn its keep without public money, it should join its companion "entertainments" like dog fighting in the dustbin of approbrium and failure.
No more K-12 stadiums, coaching staffs or facilities. Not one penny in tax exemptions for donations to college football programs, no facilities or scholarships. No public funding of professional stadiums or tax exemptions for the NFL.
If it makes economic sense for football to operate solely on private money from the viewers who enjoy the "game", so be it. The rest of us have had the vicious futility of football forced on us, and with this final, dragged out admission by the NFL it is clear that we have been funding not just brutality but death.
If the NFL cannot earn its keep without public money, it should join its companion "entertainments" like dog fighting in the dustbin of approbrium and failure.
18
All that's really needed is an immediate, top-down rule change so that the worst hits stop.
Coaches, fans and athletes will adapt instantly and the game can go on, albeit a bit differently.
Change is coming; the NFL can lead the change or be told what to do. As a teacher, I tell unruly teenagers, "I'm giving you the chance to determine what happens next. You can correct your behavior now, or I can help you correct it with a detention, a call home, a trip to the front office, etc."
The vast majority of kids choose to make their own corrections; the NFL would be wise to do the same.
Coaches, fans and athletes will adapt instantly and the game can go on, albeit a bit differently.
Change is coming; the NFL can lead the change or be told what to do. As a teacher, I tell unruly teenagers, "I'm giving you the chance to determine what happens next. You can correct your behavior now, or I can help you correct it with a detention, a call home, a trip to the front office, etc."
The vast majority of kids choose to make their own corrections; the NFL would be wise to do the same.
4
When two masses (players) collide with the momentum of each combined the sudden deceleration, following the laws of inertia, results in the brain which is encased in a fluid medium rattles back and forth forcefully banging and ricocheting within the bony skull. This occurs whether the heads themselves are or are not directly involve in the collision. Helmets or other gear does nothing to prevent the contra-coup injury to the delicate brain tissue and egis is the reason that concussions are more frequent. Momentum is a product of mass and speed and thus the current faster and more massive players are part of the problem.
4
"Helmets or other gear does nothing to prevent the contra-coup injury to the delicate brain tissue and egis is the reason that concussions are more frequent."
1. Coup contra-coup model is simplistic.
2. Consider changing the impulsive force by reducing its peak and spreading it over time --- no effect?
1. Coup contra-coup model is simplistic.
2. Consider changing the impulsive force by reducing its peak and spreading it over time --- no effect?
1
Helmets are meant to provide some protection from literally cracking your skull bones. They do not protect from injury to a brain being pummeled around INSIDE the skull from concussive force.
1
Good. Now, when will this blood sport lose its non-profit status and pay taxes on the money it makes trashing people's brains?
13
The only part of the NFL with non-profit status is the league office. They don't make any money per se, their revenue comes from the individual teams that do pay taxes on what they take in. FYI, the league office is in the process of shedding the non-profit status for PR sake.
3
Parents, please do not let your children play football.
In addition, are some other sports really necessary?
Isn't their "brain health" more important?
In addition, are some other sports really necessary?
Isn't their "brain health" more important?
8
It took years to research it and figure it out, plus to get past all the usual denials by people making money off it, but here it is parents. Football is dangerous. Soccer is dangerous. Find other sports for your kids.
Banging your head or your body into something hard many thousands of times, will make your brain bang off the inside of your skull, and there is no helmet or anything else that can stop this from happening. Whether you get CTE is a game of Russian Roulette, but you are certainly setting yourself or your kids up for it. The games have to change. Kids playing soccer have to have different rules for contact and for heading the ball. Kids playing tackle football need better parents.
Banging your head or your body into something hard many thousands of times, will make your brain bang off the inside of your skull, and there is no helmet or anything else that can stop this from happening. Whether you get CTE is a game of Russian Roulette, but you are certainly setting yourself or your kids up for it. The games have to change. Kids playing soccer have to have different rules for contact and for heading the ball. Kids playing tackle football need better parents.
8
Tennis!
1
There's a moment in the film "From Here to Eternity" in which Frank Sinatra says to Montgomery Clift, "Hey, Pru, gimme a nail", meaning a cigarette (as in nail in the coffin). The film was set in 1941 in Hawaii, just before, during, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Even back then people knew cigarettes were deadly, but the research had not yet actually proven it. The warnings began showing up on cigarette packs in the mid-60's, and even then they advised only that cigarette smoking "may" be hazardous to one's health. Finally, empirical research caught up to common sense, and now everyone officially knows about the dangers of smoking.
Thanks to the sacrifice of guys like Dave Duerson and Junior Seau, science now knows definitively that football-related concussions cause CTE. So from this point on, every parent is fully informed and cannot make the excuse of ignorance or betrayal-by-cover-up when considering whether or not to allow their children to play football. Same for all young men and women past the age of parental consent.
Still want to play football? It's all on you now.
Even back then people knew cigarettes were deadly, but the research had not yet actually proven it. The warnings began showing up on cigarette packs in the mid-60's, and even then they advised only that cigarette smoking "may" be hazardous to one's health. Finally, empirical research caught up to common sense, and now everyone officially knows about the dangers of smoking.
Thanks to the sacrifice of guys like Dave Duerson and Junior Seau, science now knows definitively that football-related concussions cause CTE. So from this point on, every parent is fully informed and cannot make the excuse of ignorance or betrayal-by-cover-up when considering whether or not to allow their children to play football. Same for all young men and women past the age of parental consent.
Still want to play football? It's all on you now.
7
I think the next question that'll be a big one in so many cities across America: knowing what we know about the dangers of football, should school boards condone it?
1
I have seen very little information about responses from the NCAA and universities on this issue compared to the NFL coverage. Are similar lawsuits being filed against schools such as Alabama, Ohio State, and my school, Florida State? Do they not bear similar responsibilities to the NFL? The notion that CTE only occurs as a result of NFL games, but when the same players were playing in college games a few months before, there was little risk seems a bit nuts. What about high school games? My understanding is that CTE likely is the result of repeated blows to the head over time, not necessarily from "big hits." More research is needed on the lifetime impact of playing football over time through multiple levels. As one who played 12 years of football, none in the NFL, I am very interested!
6
As has been noted, this move to admit the connection between playing in the NFL and CTE is a decision that was made based totally on revenue and protecting the NFL from future lawsuits. Nobody should read anything more into this admission.
The way the NFL lawyers see it, once they have settled the current open player lawsuits on CTE, there will be no future basis for players to sue the NFL. The NFL will pay now, so that they can ensure their protection for the future.
Don't expect to see any other changes in the game such as helmets, new rules, etc. Ain't going to happen. The NFL knows that their success is based on violence, and they will protect that at all costs.
The way the NFL lawyers see it, once they have settled the current open player lawsuits on CTE, there will be no future basis for players to sue the NFL. The NFL will pay now, so that they can ensure their protection for the future.
Don't expect to see any other changes in the game such as helmets, new rules, etc. Ain't going to happen. The NFL knows that their success is based on violence, and they will protect that at all costs.
2
I wouldn't be so sure. All of the professional sports spend significantly on public relations via promoting their involvements in charities, etc. Image is crucial. Public opinion is changing and as we obtain more and more horror stories of still quite young men (early 40s) committing suicide, football will change --- at all levels.
You need not look any further than a review of the results at the annual scouting combine. The players are getting bigger and faster. It's simple physics - Force = mass X acceleration. The impacts player to player are getting more and more violent. This will either cause the extinction of this sport or relegate to a flag football league.
4
Why tackle football for kids (or headers in soccer) before high school? What of the game can't they enjoy and play without the risk of head injuries and concussion.
Recently had a friend report that her hockey-playing 12 year old had gotten a concussion. NHL and parents take note. What is the concussion record of hockey?
Recently had a friend report that her hockey-playing 12 year old had gotten a concussion. NHL and parents take note. What is the concussion record of hockey?
5
Even with increased awareness of concussion situations players are aware of what indicators will put them on the bench. Just watch any football game from high school to the NFL and the obvious concussions are ignored if the player is still somewhat functioning. Ask any former player if they can still feel the effects of a "neck stinger".?
3
Football is not the only sport in question here. There are other sports where head contact and concussions occur and may not be reported as widely as football. Consider hockey, soccer, lacross and even rugby, for example.
This is a huge question to ask at the youth sports and high school level. What will the youth programs for these sports and high schools do? Especially as this issue gains traction beyond the sport of football.
This is a huge question to ask at the youth sports and high school level. What will the youth programs for these sports and high schools do? Especially as this issue gains traction beyond the sport of football.
7
Soccer,I think,is a bit easier in that rules can be put in place to disallow heading of the ball. But football, with its high speed nature,even at the HS level, kids are going to use their heads as a battering ram, or the force of a hit is such that, even without using their heads as a battering ram, damage is inflicted to the head. This I think is the looming battle across USA: whether schools should allow kids to play football. And this is a battle that you know scares the beejesus out of the NFL higher ups.
Where is OSHA? The pro players are arguably employees and OSHA is responsible for enforcing employee safety. OSHA should be holding the NFL responsible for identifying risks and mitigating those risks, like they do other employers. Maybe the NFL is too politically powerful.
9
It does not take any special knowledge to know that if you ram your head into another human being (or any other object) -- regardless of wearing "a helmet" while doing so -- there will be physical and psychological consequences. Just as sucking hot smoke from a cigarette into the soft, pink, living tissue of lungs will have consequences. Before the medical community officially declared cigarettes dangerous to health, those who contracted lung cancer drew their own correlations. The brain and the body are hardwired for self-preservation. Both players and management have always known the consequences and have always pushed the override button on that self-preservation for the sake of money. Why smokers push that override button remains a mystery to me.
5
The NFL seems to be hiding behind a load of mumbo jumbo. The reality is that coaches at junior levels, like high school try to instill a killer mentality in players. Hurting and hitting other players is what incompetent coaches are all about. Football bodies right down to Pop Warner level must come down hard on coaches and players that turn a blind eye to violent tackles, blocking and use of hands and forearms. This probably requires rules that define what is acceptable and legit ways to tackle, block etc. Football is a great physical contact sport but for that reason alone a code of behavior and good practice must be adopted and enforced. Also, consideration must be given to the "protective" equipment players wear. In my opinion, there is way too much. Helmets do not so much protect but are offensive weapons like guided missiles or artillery shells . Shoulder pads and forearm pads likewise are more used to being offensive weapons than protection. Forearm pads turn players arms into clubs to bash opposing players especially around the head and neck. I would eliminate helmets and forearm pads altogether and greatly restrict the shoulder pads. Taking away the armor of the modern player will make them less inclined to resort to pure inflict violence behavior as the inflicter will end up being as much hurt as the inflictee. Thus a great self regulating mechanism which is great for the player and I think great for the game as the accent goes back to skill.
4
Realistically ... it's not going to happen. Or happen enough. Coaches aren't going to change. The only way to instill change is to have a new kind of officiating that seeks to eliminate use of the head as a battering ram. But, the problem is that CTE isn't caused just by jolts to the head because someone used their head as a battering ram; CTE is also caused by the physics of a large person hitting another person (even without using their head) with such a force that results in a head snapping micro and serious concussion. You can't officiate against that.
Finally. Revoke the pro football non-profit status. Unreal that so much money and profits isn't taxed.
8
It's not non-profit anymore. The NFL applied to withdraw it this year. Now, we will have no idea how much Roger Goodell is making as CEO.
Game? What game?
This "sport" is a violent physical step below gladiators in Ancient Rome or ball players in Ancient America. A violent physical step below the "art" of boxing. But more violent than rugby or hockey or wrestling.
These NFL behemoths are consenting adult professionals on the way to fame and fortune. They are of no concern nor benefit to anyone but themselves, their families and friends.
The real concern should be for the young people minors who play this "game" from elementary school through college.
This "sport" is a violent physical step below gladiators in Ancient Rome or ball players in Ancient America. A violent physical step below the "art" of boxing. But more violent than rugby or hockey or wrestling.
These NFL behemoths are consenting adult professionals on the way to fame and fortune. They are of no concern nor benefit to anyone but themselves, their families and friends.
The real concern should be for the young people minors who play this "game" from elementary school through college.
4
Just face it. They are gladiators. Death is part of the game. And we are the spectators.
5
When I was in sixth or seventh grade, I remember angering my gym teacher because I wouldn't even try to do a "header" in his soccer drills, ducking my head out of the way every time he threw the ball at me. Even at that age, it seemed to me that letting somebody hit you in the head was both stupid and painful. Glad the NFL is finally -- possibly -- catching up to the thinking level of a twelve-year old.
11
Artificial turf is part of the problem. Players were playing on the equivalent of a padded carpet in a parking lot. Do some research on injuries and concussions on real vs. phony grass. How did so many greats like Jim Brown play without injury with less protective equipment?
3
Knowing what is now unequivocally known:
Any parent who allows their very young, as-yet-physically-undeveloped child play football needs to have their *own* brain examined.
Any parent who allows their very young, as-yet-physically-undeveloped child play football needs to have their *own* brain examined.
9
Football players are severely underpaid given the huge wealth of the NFL, their short lifespan as players (compared to other professional sports), and their short lifespan, period.
2
It is pretty interesting to me to see all of the hullabaloo. People have been playing football for decades and it has always been clear that they did so with considerable risk to personal safety. People have been paralyzed, for gosh sakes. So are we supposed to have Congressional hearings each time we discover another twist on the injurious nature of a sport whose inherent danger is so obvious.
So now what do we do. We either have to make football illegal, or get the players to sign off on the risks and let it continue without all the lawsuits -- kind of like smoking, eh?
As is usual with our society, we turn a blind eye to the obvious until the litigious nature of our society makes it profitable for attorneys. At that point, we suddenly spring up with feigned shock and the politicians get to do some grandstanding. Pathetic.
Unless we are willing to make the sport illegal, let's quit pretending we are outraged and need to do something. While I wouldn't shed any tears if they outlawed the sport, I would give 100 to 1 odds that no one is going to do that.
So now what do we do. We either have to make football illegal, or get the players to sign off on the risks and let it continue without all the lawsuits -- kind of like smoking, eh?
As is usual with our society, we turn a blind eye to the obvious until the litigious nature of our society makes it profitable for attorneys. At that point, we suddenly spring up with feigned shock and the politicians get to do some grandstanding. Pathetic.
Unless we are willing to make the sport illegal, let's quit pretending we are outraged and need to do something. While I wouldn't shed any tears if they outlawed the sport, I would give 100 to 1 odds that no one is going to do that.
1
What also concerns me is that local high school football players, who play on the line, try to increase their weight to three hundred pounds or more. How can that be healthy? What also is upsetting is that these players have to pass a physical by a doctor, and the doctor lets them pass. What will they be like years down the road when they stop playing football? Seems to me the doctors are unethical, along with others, who allow this type of situation to exist.
4
Roger Goodell is correct. Other sports carry serious risks as well. For example, millions of table tennis players are killed in horrific in-game incidents every year... oh wait, no they aren't.
12
Made me smile.
5
Now maybe some one will study the brain damage done by America's mindless obsession with so-called professional sports.
4
"America's obsession"?? What about soccer (football), and rugby in much of the global community?
1
It's also ridiculous how so many fans describe football as a "wholesome" activity. They are confusing "popular" with "wholesome." Football commentators frequently describe football as a violent game. They are correct. Call the sport popular if you want. No argument there. But there really is nothing wholesome about the game. An ever-present risk of terrible traumatic injuries. Taunting and poor sportsmanship by many players. Arrogance and bragging. Off-the-field issues with player violence, including many cases of domestic violence, murder and even serial killing. Widespread use of growth hormone, steroids and other substances, even at the college and high school levels. Massive use of powerful painkillers, both legal and prohibited, but use of both categories really constitutes drug abuse.
This is wholesome?
This is wholesome?
18
We really are not far removed as a people from the citizens of Rome with their popular lust for gladiator blood and gore in the splendid venue of the Coloseum.
Slavelike labor, income and wealth extremes, the most modern ammenities, a grand but violent military industrial complex, democratic ideals constantly abused, persecution of religions and peoples from the Middle East, it seems to be in our DNA.
We really are like them. Why worry about concussion and violence?
Unlike Rome however, our gladiators on the floors of ourcoloseums can choose to play or not. They know the risks and, truth be known, always have. Only after the damage is done do they, and us seek redress.
Provide the best protective available, updare the rules as approprate and require insurance, no matter how costly and at their expense and LET THE GAMES CONTINUE
Until we the people change, that is who we are...21st centurians with a Roman mentality.
Slavelike labor, income and wealth extremes, the most modern ammenities, a grand but violent military industrial complex, democratic ideals constantly abused, persecution of religions and peoples from the Middle East, it seems to be in our DNA.
We really are like them. Why worry about concussion and violence?
Unlike Rome however, our gladiators on the floors of ourcoloseums can choose to play or not. They know the risks and, truth be known, always have. Only after the damage is done do they, and us seek redress.
Provide the best protective available, updare the rules as approprate and require insurance, no matter how costly and at their expense and LET THE GAMES CONTINUE
Until we the people change, that is who we are...21st centurians with a Roman mentality.
Maybe they're thinking about the wholesome food that is sold at concessions.
1
And so, the NFL's senior vice-president for health and safety is not a scientist and can not speak as a scientist or doctor. However, shouldn't he and Goodell at least "generally known" the substantial effects, or even the significant effects, of head trauma to NFL players, past and present? Can we check their e-mails and cell phone histories - or have they been destroyed? Where's Ted Well's when we really need him? Alter all what is truly more important PSI or CTE?
Next step, acknowledge use of marijuana is OK. Not only that, but I have strong suspicion that t might aid in recovery from concussions.
To the matter at hand: there is a fine line that has been crossed and in many cases with the approval of coach and management and even owners. What is it? Plain and simple, the idea of inflicting punishment when making a play, either when blocking or tackling, or even, with running backs, when being tackled. This idea of punishing has been developed to the extent of premeditatively aiming to remove a player from the game. This what must be stopped! The great game of football can still be played with a lot of force, but STOP COACHING PLAYERS TO INFLICT PUNISHMENT! That's really all that's needed.
To the matter at hand: there is a fine line that has been crossed and in many cases with the approval of coach and management and even owners. What is it? Plain and simple, the idea of inflicting punishment when making a play, either when blocking or tackling, or even, with running backs, when being tackled. This idea of punishing has been developed to the extent of premeditatively aiming to remove a player from the game. This what must be stopped! The great game of football can still be played with a lot of force, but STOP COACHING PLAYERS TO INFLICT PUNISHMENT! That's really all that's needed.
1
I have been an avid football fan for well more than 60 years, and I have noted with alarm the increasing level of violence in the game at all levels. It started in the professional level of the sport and gradually pushed downward to the college level, the high school level, and now even the grade school or "little league" level as younger athletes of the game try to emulate what they see in the pros. Then the process has started to feed on itself as these younger athletes have moved up the scale and brought the influences of the pros up through the ladder as they moved towards the pros.
Today's pro games are clearly testing the levels of human endurance and are starting to take on many of the aspects of gladiatorial combat of ancient Rome often with severe consequences to those who play the game for our enjoyment.
I do not blame Vince Lombardi for today's violence, but he was one of the first to analyze the game and develop strategies for winning plays. Unfortunately, left unchecked, this analysis has morphed into what we see today, and things have become so sophisticated that increasingly higher levels of violence are necessary to achieve victorious results.
We have to remember that football is a game. It is not combat. It should be played for the mutual enjoyment of the fans and the players. No player should have to sacrifice his health and well being for a game.
Today's pro games are clearly testing the levels of human endurance and are starting to take on many of the aspects of gladiatorial combat of ancient Rome often with severe consequences to those who play the game for our enjoyment.
I do not blame Vince Lombardi for today's violence, but he was one of the first to analyze the game and develop strategies for winning plays. Unfortunately, left unchecked, this analysis has morphed into what we see today, and things have become so sophisticated that increasingly higher levels of violence are necessary to achieve victorious results.
We have to remember that football is a game. It is not combat. It should be played for the mutual enjoyment of the fans and the players. No player should have to sacrifice his health and well being for a game.
8
Why no mention of Dr. Bennet Omalu?
6
He's mentioned in the article, and most people know his involvement in studying these brain injuries from the Frontline documentary and media interviews. What "mention" do you think is missing?
1
Looks like Peyton Manning made the right choice to retire.
5
Time will tell if he made the choice soon enough. 18 years in pro ball is a lot of potential for concussion, plus college/high school teams. Everyone sing to the tune of Nationwide Insurance: "Maybe Peyton quit too late."
1
Most of these football players don't tackle an opponent anymore. I'm inclined to think they don't even know how. I remember watching the great Reggie White when he played for the Green Bay Packers (Go Pack!). Reggie White knew how to tackle a player. I never saw him use his head. Players should be required to view all old footage of Reggie on the field. They might learn something....from one of the greatest players to ever play the game.
1
The NFL is a pretty mean and ugly dog leaving present and future players with the tacit admission that football can kill you, this protecting them from any law suits (or so they think). They're willing to kill the game just to protect all the pink boys who run the NFL.
1
Less violence means less supporters.
3
I suspect my 25 year old daughter has CTE, especially after she assaulted me and knocked me across the room into a plate glass door two years ago. She played soccer from age five through high school. It breaks my heart every time I read these stories because as her mother I didn't protect her. No amount of science can protect the head in these violent sports. A better helmet or less full body tackling during football practices means nothing. The brain is fragile and encased in a bony skull. When hit, the helmet doesn't stop the brain from sloshing around and smacking into that bony skull. These sports have to be dramatically revised or banned.
9
Don't be fooled, it's all about money, still.
7
A number of recent validated studies on mouth guards, one by UPMC, have been dismissed by the NFL. Even one they did at their own research facility in Canada, which showed a reduction in force trauma to the jaw joint, that would reduce rotational forces from the chin strap. Yet, they were reluctant to say it may help reduce concussion. Another on a specialized orthodontic mouth guard used in the league for over two decades, it was dismissed, At least it has initiated a $750k U.S. Army project underway, that will be completely independent and Dr. Robert Cantu is advising on the project. Boxing mandated mouth guards in 1935 due to jaw injury known as glass jaw. CTE is Pugilistica dementia and footballers are subject to the same forces as boxers. A mandate of mouth guards is the next step, failure to recognize this element of head and neck trauma and effect on musculature is a crucial mistake. Only about 60% of NFL players wear mouth guards.
2
"Those who know football already know what a watered-down NFL game of the future will look like: the Pro Bowl." - American Zeitgeist
2
The NFL had no choice but to admit CTE was a problem. The magnitude of evidence was so large it could not continue to ignore. Football will go the route boxing and dog fighting.
2
While the sport at all levels is risky, I think it is so embedded in our culture that it will be awhile before it goes away, at least in its current form. Perhaps it will morph into a "new" sport, maybe like flag football, where speed, agility, and catching and throwing can still be a factor, or perhaps not. In any event, think of the huge collective investment that school districts across the country have invested in fields, equipment, rallies, etc. and then imagine some new event taking its place - hard to see in the next ten years, but in 50 not so hard.
4
The evidence is clear but the consequences are not. Football has expanded over the years so that many kids begin playing as early as 10-12 years old. College seasons have expanded to the number of games that once were limited to professionals. So at what point do we do the right thing and scale the game back?
The only logical options are fewer games, fewer contact practices, mandatory outside medical reviews at all levels of the game and more rule changes. Short of that, players are playing a game of Russian roulette because no one knows how many even mild concussions might trigger C.T.E.
You can't make today's players smaller or weigh less or run slower. So as long as football is a collision sport head trauma's will occur. And as long as they occur C.T.E is a risk. Short of that it's time to ban the game, or require any one who plays to have a long term care insurance policy so that those afflicted with CTE will get treatment at private rather than public expense. Maybe the market cost associated with this risk will do what sports fans are unable to do.
The only logical options are fewer games, fewer contact practices, mandatory outside medical reviews at all levels of the game and more rule changes. Short of that, players are playing a game of Russian roulette because no one knows how many even mild concussions might trigger C.T.E.
You can't make today's players smaller or weigh less or run slower. So as long as football is a collision sport head trauma's will occur. And as long as they occur C.T.E is a risk. Short of that it's time to ban the game, or require any one who plays to have a long term care insurance policy so that those afflicted with CTE will get treatment at private rather than public expense. Maybe the market cost associated with this risk will do what sports fans are unable to do.
8
Ten or twelve years old? Try six.
The worst thing about football is that the instant you are no longer able to play you are cut from the team and sent packing. All the other major sports make room for the veteran who has given his life and his body to the sport.
Case in point, Kobe Bryant. His legs are shot, but he gets to end his career somewhat on his own terms.
All of this is what makes football an absurd sport. Whether or not your brain gets injured, it's almost guaranteed that you'll end up in constant physical pain. And the minute you can't make a tackle or break a tackle you'll be fired.
Case in point, Kobe Bryant. His legs are shot, but he gets to end his career somewhat on his own terms.
All of this is what makes football an absurd sport. Whether or not your brain gets injured, it's almost guaranteed that you'll end up in constant physical pain. And the minute you can't make a tackle or break a tackle you'll be fired.
2
I wonder if, in the light of the change of N.F.L. attitude, something will be done about Boxing and its connection with the syndrome known as "Dementia pugilistica" (DP), a form of C.T.E. caused by concussive, as well as sub-concussive blows constantly received by boxers during boxing matches. I do realise that Box is not nearly as popular as football, but danger in the sport may be even more dramatic.
1
First comes football, then basketball and baseball, afterward segueing to hockey and soccer, and, finally, ending the field games...
The sooner Science&Technology finishes developing and mating robotics, animatronics and AI, the sooner we can all get back to vicarious rock 'em, sock 'em, beat 'em up "sports" without mamby pamby buzz killers pitching a bit...
The sooner Science&Technology finishes developing and mating robotics, animatronics and AI, the sooner we can all get back to vicarious rock 'em, sock 'em, beat 'em up "sports" without mamby pamby buzz killers pitching a bit...
1
Well, the NFL paid no taxes for years, lied about brain injuries and will do nothing to help the already injured players, why? Because sports is the opium of the people! Nobody cares about the players, just the sport.
5
"Football combines the two worst features of American life: violence punctuated by committee meetings." -- George Will
10
I've never been a fan of football and never had to be told that doing something like that could cause injury. Every sport I can think of has dangers so will that be next? Sliding in baseball you can break something. Are we going to wrap ourselves and our children in foam and walk through life that way? Think this is just the start of another politically correct thing to do. Another way to control our lives as that is what being politically correct is.
1
This is not about being politically correct -- it's about using our brains now to save the brains of others in the future.
2
It's not just American football that needs some rule changes. The end of soccer star Taylor Twellman's career due to chronic vertigo demonstrates that soccer is not going to be safe until headers are no longer part of the game. Women's soccer is even less safe for its players. Reform is needed well before Brandi Chastain's brain becomes available for study.
9
Does this also mean that our large state universities are going to have to stop being football franchises? Will education have to become their primary mission?
7
Let the law suits begin. When a Corporation of this size gets knocked back on it's heels, there is always a chance of it going under. As they say, it is the cover up, not the crime. Well in this case it is both and I believe they will pay dearly! They certainly have the public on their side.
Get ready to pay higher prices for those season tickets people, Corp.s never really pay for this stuff if they can shift the costs to the consumer.
If they do go under, what will happen to all of those huge stadiums around the country?
Get ready to pay higher prices for those season tickets people, Corp.s never really pay for this stuff if they can shift the costs to the consumer.
If they do go under, what will happen to all of those huge stadiums around the country?
1
Looking to the past, it is okay that the NFL has challenged studies, but not okay that it has drawn conclusions and offered recommendations based on no study at all. Lacking any scientific foundation, the NFL represented as facts the fiction that maximizes the profits of team owners (whom the NFL represents).
Given the NFL's strong and consistent assurances over the years that football does not result in CTE, hundreds of players signed contracts under false pretenses. That makes the NFL responsible for the economic damages and other personal injuries incurred by players who relied on the NFL's advice. Lives are shorter, the ability to enjoy relationships is reduced, earnings capacity is diminished for years or decades hence.
In the future it is likely that better data will make it possible to develop an impact estimate of the injury done by each concussion, or the probability of a concussion per minute of game play. It will be interesting to observe players then, when they know that a hard tackle or block may shave off three points from their IQ, shorten their life by six months and reduce their net lifetime income by $250,000. It will certainly give TV sports commentators something to ponder between plays.
Given the NFL's strong and consistent assurances over the years that football does not result in CTE, hundreds of players signed contracts under false pretenses. That makes the NFL responsible for the economic damages and other personal injuries incurred by players who relied on the NFL's advice. Lives are shorter, the ability to enjoy relationships is reduced, earnings capacity is diminished for years or decades hence.
In the future it is likely that better data will make it possible to develop an impact estimate of the injury done by each concussion, or the probability of a concussion per minute of game play. It will be interesting to observe players then, when they know that a hard tackle or block may shave off three points from their IQ, shorten their life by six months and reduce their net lifetime income by $250,000. It will certainly give TV sports commentators something to ponder between plays.
5
Brain injuries following blows to the head have been part of medical practice for a long time. Helmets reduce the incidence of skull fractures but the effects of the brain sloshing around remain. The NFL with the help of complicit doctors have been peddling lies for a long time. Many of those who coach at the high school and college levels are components of this disservice. Even those should now understand the dangers of this game.
2
And now that the Ivy League is moving toward banning tackling during practice sessions, the pendulum at last is starting to swing the other way.
Good.
Good.
2
So hundreds of thousands suffered and died before Big Tobacco was cornered and forced to spill the beans about cancer and heart disease – and no one ever went to jail or death row. Bummer!
Big NFL forced to spill the beans after a few score have paid the price. I guess we're suppose to accept this as progress!
So, I'm wondering how my College, high school and grade schoolers are/were effected.
Big NFL forced to spill the beans after a few score have paid the price. I guess we're suppose to accept this as progress!
So, I'm wondering how my College, high school and grade schoolers are/were effected.
2
The written word sometimes seems inadequate, or at least redundant, in trying to capture the amoral essence of Roger Greedell, his predecessor and their League of Denial in the roughly 14 years leading up to Mr. Miller's sudden outburst of truth. At such times, the best way to come to grips with the N.F.L.'s utter shamelessness regarding C.T.E. and the lasting damage done to the human beings who play the game is to invest less than two hours watching the best documentary film ever made on the subject. It's an education:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/
3
If you let your kid play football at this point you are being willfully ignorant.
5
So just when I thought the NFL had a moment of conscience and an important member was saying the "right thing", it turns out the admission is only a way of boxing in players that play after 2015!? As the settlement was finished that wrapped up ALL the claims prior to 2015, it's now in their interest to admit football can be dangerous to the brains of participants so they can say that they warned the players. How cynical of the game that bills itself as America's sport, the one that teaches fair-play and charachter, or is that once again just a kind of morality The Working Man lives by, while the owners have a much more salacious goal in mind...
14
@Richard Scott....I'm shocked, shocked! Profit and cost are the highest priority of NFL owners and their tax-exempt "non-profit" league. How can this be? Aren't they all involved in professional football as a wholesome
"hobby", instead of a global, multi-billion dollar business??!!
"hobby", instead of a global, multi-billion dollar business??!!
In soccer, heading the ball should be banned.
10
I read in the Times recently that the college sport that results in the most concussions is women's soccer. So if we are going to demand accountability in this regard, then i suppose women's soccer would be at the head of the class for examination.
19
All they have to do is ban heading.
The NFL can't ban blocking and tackling.
The NFL can't ban blocking and tackling.
[[fred NYC
I read in the Times recently that the college sport that results in the most concussions is women's soccer.]]
"Most" in terms of raw numbers doesn't seem possible. But even if it is, I can't believe that women soccer players face them same pressure to "walk it off" that football players face. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. As retired football players were killing themselves to end their pain, making sure to shoot themselves in the chest so their brains could be studied, current football players were saying on the record that they would lie to their coaches after a concussion in order to stay in a game.
I read in the Times recently that the college sport that results in the most concussions is women's soccer.]]
"Most" in terms of raw numbers doesn't seem possible. But even if it is, I can't believe that women soccer players face them same pressure to "walk it off" that football players face. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. As retired football players were killing themselves to end their pain, making sure to shoot themselves in the chest so their brains could be studied, current football players were saying on the record that they would lie to their coaches after a concussion in order to stay in a game.
Even if that is true, the primary focus should continue to be on football as that is the most popular, the most profitable and the most powerful sport. Concussions and brain injury in soccer should also be looked into.
But it's curious why you focus only on women's soccer, and not soccer generally. Why?
But it's curious why you focus only on women's soccer, and not soccer generally. Why?
1
Now perhaps someone will start to inquire about the relationship between the brain pathology and all those drugs players have taken to grow to gargantuan sizes while maintaining strength and speed.
So far neither The Times nor those pathologists or neurologists it frequently quotes as experts have said anything about this.
So far neither The Times nor those pathologists or neurologists it frequently quotes as experts have said anything about this.
7
Of course not. When the media has an agenda, don't let the truth or even pragmatism get in the way. The media has declared war on football despite the fact that those who voluntarily play assume the risk of injury and a 2 year old understands that the risk of head injuries from playing football.
1
Mr. Goodell... saying that all sports carry risks. “There’s risks in life,” he said. “There’s risks to sitting on the couch.”
Considering that most people's participation in football is precisely from the couch, he has captured two of the major threats of football, obesity and CTE. Now if only he could look into bad salsa...
Considering that most people's participation in football is precisely from the couch, he has captured two of the major threats of football, obesity and CTE. Now if only he could look into bad salsa...
61
Perfectly apropos comment, Jiro--thanks.
3
You're all neglecting a very important question regarding what is America's favorite sport. How will the game change.? One idea for consideration: Tackling can only be done with the hands and arms. Neither offensive nor defensive players can lower their heads. Tops of helmets may not be used for primary contact.
How do rugby players do it? What's their record for the same kind of brain injury?
How do rugby players do it? What's their record for the same kind of brain injury?
20
The theory seems to be that, in rugby, players intentionally or unintentionally protect their bare heads from the impact that American football may inadvertently foster by the use of protective helmets.
My son played Rugby at Yale for four years. I am pretty sure it was officially organized before football.
Rugby players have significant injuries, but play anyway.
What we all knew is finally now spoken by the NFL , so now they have a legal loophole as player beware , truly disgusting as was the paltry settlement . I have news for everyone all trauma to the head is bad and adds up over time . No sport is immune , head shots w a soccer ball, pounding down ski trails not good for the brain. Football has become brutal , players are too big and the helmets might even make things worse than the old days with leather helmets....finally spring is here with baseball which is very dangerous but nothing like football. You have to be insane to let your child play this so called sport .
21
The most American thing about this league is its hypocrisy.
Would be funny if it wasn't so sad. In appearing to finally "do the right thing" all the NFL is doing is protecting itself.
Cigarette companies probably regret not putting warning labels up decades earlier. And Fed gov't. likely wishes it told us Ground Zero was toxic.
Still all about self interest. If NFL seems to be generous, you know it has to be motivated by money, from their breast cancer awareness campaign to charging for armed services promotions.
Would be funny if it wasn't so sad. In appearing to finally "do the right thing" all the NFL is doing is protecting itself.
Cigarette companies probably regret not putting warning labels up decades earlier. And Fed gov't. likely wishes it told us Ground Zero was toxic.
Still all about self interest. If NFL seems to be generous, you know it has to be motivated by money, from their breast cancer awareness campaign to charging for armed services promotions.
1
The NFL lawyers from Bancroft just muddled this. CTE has no cause and needs research. Miller's statements consistent with long-term NFL view (try League of Denial).
Miller's views have no bearing on the litigation.
We have devolved into lunacy.
Miller's views have no bearing on the litigation.
We have devolved into lunacy.
1
Your bias is showing. Everything has a cause.
2
Footballers are modern-day gladiators to their corporate masters. They entertain the crowd in the arena and are utterly disposable. Their future health outside of that arena is of no concerns to their masters. Or the crowd.
47
Ah, an Earthling with a brain. How refreshing.
But, the Cassowary only got it very close. 2,000 years ago, the Romans referred to it as "Bread and Circuses". Today, we watch from our Entertainment Centers, everyone is given a view according to his wallet, and we stuff ourselves in sedentary gluttony.
We haven’t evolved at all, probably due to our exclusive use of our smaller brain.
Momentarily switching to my larger brain, I am including myself in the indictment.
The lawyers must be salivating profusely.
But, the Cassowary only got it very close. 2,000 years ago, the Romans referred to it as "Bread and Circuses". Today, we watch from our Entertainment Centers, everyone is given a view according to his wallet, and we stuff ourselves in sedentary gluttony.
We haven’t evolved at all, probably due to our exclusive use of our smaller brain.
Momentarily switching to my larger brain, I am including myself in the indictment.
The lawyers must be salivating profusely.
1
And they get paid VERY handsomely for their participation. Eyes wide open. It's amazing what people will compromise for the almighty dollar.
2
And frankly, the players don't care either - they are making a fortune and while their careers don't last decades, they walk away with lots of money. Money isn't worth it to me, but in the US we have choices.
1
So now we seem have a long-term legal answer: "For future sufferers, the N.F.L. has now effectively put them on notice that their decision to play professional football comes with the acknowledged risk of degenerative brain disease."
The question for the future will be: "How many parents will have their children choose to play non-contact sports? The answer is pending.
The question for the future will be: "How many parents will have their children choose to play non-contact sports? The answer is pending.
9
Both football and boxing should be banned, certainly in college and high school, if nowhere else. If adult men are stupid enough to engage in such violence, that's their problem -- but we shouldn't be rewarding them for their stupidity with such enormous salaries. The more interesting question: if football is banned in colleges and universities, will schools once again get serious about demanding better academic performance from their athletes, especially those on scholarships? And what will these schools do for money, considering the big bucks alumni have contributed to college football programs?? Will the alums start donating all that cash to math, physics, arts and humanities programs instead, or maybe to women's sports programs? (Unlikely. Don't hold your breath for that one. Neither the geeks nor the women will benefit, I'll bet -- not macho enough -- even though it's the geeks of both genders, not the sports figures, who will save the future. Too bad the football-chasing alums are too dumb to get that.)
14
That's the same quote that was my takeaway. And given the rewards of playing if you get to the top of the game, there will be ample numbers of young men willing to bet the future. Part of that is from overestimating their chances of making it in professional sports; part youthful feelings of invulnerability; for some it will look like the only way out of poverty. The NFL is laying out their future argument: the risk was yours to take or not.
So we need - at youth level - more serious research into preventing head injury ( in each sport where its a significant risk), bans on the most dangerous collisions, and better identification of concussions and potential concussions and strictly enforced rules for removing players from the game. Coaches can not be the decision makers here, either.
So we need - at youth level - more serious research into preventing head injury ( in each sport where its a significant risk), bans on the most dangerous collisions, and better identification of concussions and potential concussions and strictly enforced rules for removing players from the game. Coaches can not be the decision makers here, either.
2
Geez.... You mean repeatedly getting hit on the head over a period of years can cause brain damage????? Who knew??? This sounds like a "no brainer" to me. Amazing how people want to be in denial of the obvious if it gets in the way of their fun or money. Kinda like pumping 50 million years worth of sequestered CO2 back out into the atmosphere over a period of 100 years or so can have some negative global consequences. Ya think???!!!
41
As a mother, I would never want to put my boys in such danger.
5
Parents who let their kids play football need to first have their heads examined. Then their kids.
44
This is just beginning. You think the hits in college football aren't causing the same kinds of damage? They most certainly are. Even high school.
I ran the ball in the early '90's as a 210 pound running back 30 times+ per game for a large Texas high school, playing against some defensive line that averaged over 300 lbs, and I played defense as well. In almost every practice the coaches would have me and a good friend - a 250 pound fullback lovingly but accurately nicknamed "Moose" - repeatedly run full-speed and head-on at each other to demonstrate the kind of hard running and vicious tackling they wanted from the team. Moose would beg me before practices: "James, not the head today, OK? C'mon let's take it easy today?" But I knew what the coaches wanted and I gave it to them: vicious hits, often involving the head, because, well, that was what I was ordered to do.
I was once told by the head coach to target and blindside a defenseless receiver in a game. I did it the best way I knew how - head-to-head at full-speed. They guy was knocked out for at least t minutes. Cold.
Now that I have every single symptom of CTE I have to wonder and worry what might, just, maybe, be coming next. It's not a great feeling...
I ran the ball in the early '90's as a 210 pound running back 30 times+ per game for a large Texas high school, playing against some defensive line that averaged over 300 lbs, and I played defense as well. In almost every practice the coaches would have me and a good friend - a 250 pound fullback lovingly but accurately nicknamed "Moose" - repeatedly run full-speed and head-on at each other to demonstrate the kind of hard running and vicious tackling they wanted from the team. Moose would beg me before practices: "James, not the head today, OK? C'mon let's take it easy today?" But I knew what the coaches wanted and I gave it to them: vicious hits, often involving the head, because, well, that was what I was ordered to do.
I was once told by the head coach to target and blindside a defenseless receiver in a game. I did it the best way I knew how - head-to-head at full-speed. They guy was knocked out for at least t minutes. Cold.
Now that I have every single symptom of CTE I have to wonder and worry what might, just, maybe, be coming next. It's not a great feeling...
81
Scary! Hope you are the exception to the rule ...
1
Maybe CTE wasn't known at the time, but head to head contact of the was known to be dangerous. Your coach should have been fired.
Best of luck. You're in my thoughts.
Best of luck. You're in my thoughts.
3
Thank you, James Key, for helping identify a new class of child abuser.....your friendly, charismatic, sociopathic high school football coach.
3
Cigarette companies finally admitted that smoking causes lung cancer.
The NFL now admitting that football head injuries can cause brain damage.
What's coming next? Is it too much to expect that Republicans will admit that human activities are causing climate change?
Don't hold your breath.
The NFL now admitting that football head injuries can cause brain damage.
What's coming next? Is it too much to expect that Republicans will admit that human activities are causing climate change?
Don't hold your breath.
82
Shame on the NFL for covering up what it no doubt knew for many years. How many men and boys have been damaged for life as a result of not knowing the extreme dangers of football concussions?
For the NFL, it's all about the $$$.
For the NFL, it's all about the $$$.
24
People have known about the severe toll playing football can take on the human body for over a hundred years. In fact, at the beginning of the 20th century so many people were concerned about this, there was a movement to end college football.
2
As I've suggested in the past. watch the Frontline episode entitled "League of Denial" which provides background into this tragedy, showing how the NFL (as expected) denied clear evidence of CTE for many years. ScottW has it right partly NFL is not for long but maybe NSE - not soon enough.
5
It took long enough -- the handwriting has been on the wall for at least nine years.
3
When you think through what happens next, it seems only a matter of time before most high schools drop their football programs. My son won't be playing, that's for sure, and many other parents are making the same decision.
There's lots of precedent. Schools used to have boxing teams, for example. Some schools used to have smoking areas. Football seems to be facing the same future.
The parents who want their sons playing football will just have to organize private leagues, with their own insurance, liability waivers and medical care. Those participants can bear the costs and the rest of us will wash our hands of it.
There's lots of precedent. Schools used to have boxing teams, for example. Some schools used to have smoking areas. Football seems to be facing the same future.
The parents who want their sons playing football will just have to organize private leagues, with their own insurance, liability waivers and medical care. Those participants can bear the costs and the rest of us will wash our hands of it.
92
There never were as many high schools with boxing teams as there were schools with football programs. Not that many colleges competed in NCAA D1 boxing, in the double digits. The lure of playing in at Alabama, USC, Ohio State, and the rest of the Big Ten, SEC, Pac 12 schools will keep high school boys wanting to play football. Hockey players have suffered from C.T.E. and a soccer player has been too (headers anyone?). Boys and young men's dreams of playing on the big stage in the NFL will keep football going in high schools and colleges for decades. And of course there's the $$$$.
3
Andrew,
This is going to date me but my High School had a smoking area. I tell this to my nieces and nephew and I'm greeted with a smile and a great big "Nooooo". I may has well have told them that I once lived on Mars, the world I'm describing is so different from the world we're now living in.
And given that the world has changed so much, I don't discount the possibility that one day we may fall Sunday's as a day of some other sport.
This is going to date me but my High School had a smoking area. I tell this to my nieces and nephew and I'm greeted with a smile and a great big "Nooooo". I may has well have told them that I once lived on Mars, the world I'm describing is so different from the world we're now living in.
And given that the world has changed so much, I don't discount the possibility that one day we may fall Sunday's as a day of some other sport.
The other added benefit will be the money that will be spent on actual education as opposed to all things football.
Jittery mothers? Excuse me?
Surely all parents, mothers and fathers alike, are concerned about their children's risk of brain injury from football or other youth sports. "Jittery mothers" makes it sound like this is something that hysterical women made up. The writer Steve Almond, a father, has even written a book called Against Football on this very topic - is he jittery too?
Surely all parents, mothers and fathers alike, are concerned about their children's risk of brain injury from football or other youth sports. "Jittery mothers" makes it sound like this is something that hysterical women made up. The writer Steve Almond, a father, has even written a book called Against Football on this very topic - is he jittery too?
52
Blinker, If your kid has had orthodontics or jaw issues they should be evaluated for jaw joint balance issues. This key factor has been found in research
to effect the cervical flexors that support the head. Ordinary custom guards do not recognize or correct imbalances in neck strength.
to effect the cervical flexors that support the head. Ordinary custom guards do not recognize or correct imbalances in neck strength.
"Jittery mothers"? Really? I'd invite the NYT to join the NFL on its journey into the 21st Century. Fathers care about this stuff, too.
52
Come on, in 2016 you need to state that the NFL gave money to a group to "reassure jittery mothers"? Why not jittery "parents"? Perpetuating stereotyped gender parenting roles in this day and age seems sloppy to say the least.
46
College football is next. Football is a great sport but too gladiatorial for the modern world.
6
As in many states the football coaches at state universities are by far the highest paid state employees, it's far more likely to be like in the Marx Brothers movie where Groucho as president of a college is informed it can't afford both the college and its football team. His solution: start tearing down the college.
1
Great Sport! Knock yourselves up, get Alzheimer's and forget you even played.
The NFL cashes in, and says Rah! Rah! Next!
The NFL cashes in, and says Rah! Rah! Next!
18
Goodell says that there are risks in life. True enough. One such risk is that you might well look like an imbecile for making a patently stupid case.
5
So what about the 99.9% of children who play football growing up, don't make it into the NFL, but still have to suffer a lifetime of brain damage?
10
Good point, but it's hard not to just think, that well before CTE was gaining traction, that it's a bit of common sense that football is damaging to the body. This common sense should have stunted the league from becoming what it is today (IE what does that say about parenting in America?), I doubt if this seriously alters the complete business of football, from Pee Wee to NFL. Philip Morris still churns a profit, especially now with e-cigarettes, and that admittal that it causes cancer was 20 years ago.
1
Not even an organization as obtuse as the NFL can continue to deny the reality of head trauma when 95% of the brains that have been examined show varying degrees of CTE. Further, the bulk of the problem has not yet been realized. If you shut down the NFL tomorrow, many of those now playing the game will spend their retirements either dealing with the effects of head trauma or waiting and wondering if and when it's going to happen to them. And, that doesn't begin to address the most compelling question; that of kids playing football. Evidence strongly suggests that the longer you play, the greater the chance you will develop CTE. In spite of this, parents continue to push their kids into the game. How anyone can rationalize this with such callous disregard of the realities, is beyond my comprehension.
31
Please educate yourself. When the media has an agenda, don't let the truth or even pragmatism get in the way. The media has declared war on football despite the fact that those who voluntarily play assume the risk of injury and a 2 year old understands that the risk of head injuries from playing football.
1
Proving once again that you can't reason people out of a position they haven't been reasoned into.
1
This is an international health problem with the same adverse brain damage being found in other high-impact football codes such as rugby and Australian rules football. Just as with smoking, the health impact is undenial with all the available evidence.
That does not mean that vested interests like the NFL won't continue to deny it for years, however. It's tobacco all over again.
That does not mean that vested interests like the NFL won't continue to deny it for years, however. It's tobacco all over again.
4
The comparison to the tobacco industry brings back a memory of what happened: nobody was held accountable for the lying, perjuring, criminal negligence, and conspiracy. In effect, the tobacco situation was a forerunner and model for the lack of accountability of bankers, brokers, and their cohorts regarding the Great Recession and its aftermath.
Whether the N.F.L. falls into that category I do not know. However, I am willing to bet that five or ten years from now there will be another category of people who, like the tobacco and financial execs, will be working for outfits too big to fail and will personally be too well connected to be held accountable.
Whether the N.F.L. falls into that category I do not know. However, I am willing to bet that five or ten years from now there will be another category of people who, like the tobacco and financial execs, will be working for outfits too big to fail and will personally be too well connected to be held accountable.
18
Here's what youth lacrosse and football coaches have said to me when I asked about concussions and subconcussive impacts: "Oh, we are trained. We take training about concussions." I wasn't asking about you.
Do any of them talk to the players about it? No. The coaches in these sports don't want to give up on their dream of coaching a team. They can't let it go. So, they don't "tell the truth". It's sad.
The parents are just as bad. You'd think CTE hadn't even been in the papers. They are in denial - or worse - the seem to be purposefully remaining ignorant.
The games have to be radically changed, and I don't see any movement in that direction. Won't happen until parents stop signing their kids up and parents stop signing up to coach.
Do any of them talk to the players about it? No. The coaches in these sports don't want to give up on their dream of coaching a team. They can't let it go. So, they don't "tell the truth". It's sad.
The parents are just as bad. You'd think CTE hadn't even been in the papers. They are in denial - or worse - the seem to be purposefully remaining ignorant.
The games have to be radically changed, and I don't see any movement in that direction. Won't happen until parents stop signing their kids up and parents stop signing up to coach.
8
Of course the NFL's decision is self-serving, and nothing but self-serving. It has nothing to do with afflicted players or those who will become afflicted. The League is a gigantic income producer. Period. It operates solely on the basis of sports capitalism, meaning human considerations (players, school kids, society) are as relevant to The NFL as they were to the big cigarette companies. To think of football as "sport" is akin to understanding smoking as a medicinal practice. So don't expect Dr. Goodell and other League "physicians" to suffer, if they dare take a long look into their consciences. They'll see nothing, a result, perhaps, of front-office ethical concussions of long standing.
4
Motor Donors - what a nurse friend calls motorcycle riders that ride without a helmet.
"He bounced" - the term skydivers use when a chute doesn't open.
Life has risks, and rewards - now they are plain to see and obvious to all.
Good reason to like the worlds most popular sport, soccer, or as they say everywhere but the US, football.
"He bounced" - the term skydivers use when a chute doesn't open.
Life has risks, and rewards - now they are plain to see and obvious to all.
Good reason to like the worlds most popular sport, soccer, or as they say everywhere but the US, football.
2
Soccer players have very similar (often higher) rates of concussion than football players. Surely you don't imagine those head bounces are consequence-free! Did you miss the news that Brandi Chastain just announced that she's donating her brain to research?
6
Despicable people, the NFL is. They fleece cities for stadiums, they teach children violence, they pump players full of drugs. I'm so done with football. Completely. And I grew up a short walk from the Hall of Fame. In my youth football players, the good ones, got whatever they wanted. I wonder how many of the ones I grew up with are living with the effects of that violence forty years on. It's all about money and power. A tiny little town near San Jose drank the Kool-Aid and gave the 49ers the keys to the city, it's been a disaster since, and it continues.
More scoring in soccer, please. Imagine an entire half of a game with absolutely not one commercial.
God must love soccer, after most injuries miracles happen and the player, who seemed near death, jumps up and goes back into the game.
More scoring in soccer, please. Imagine an entire half of a game with absolutely not one commercial.
God must love soccer, after most injuries miracles happen and the player, who seemed near death, jumps up and goes back into the game.
14
As the article notes, the NFL's admission really serves its own interests in possibly limiting its liability with respect to current and future players.
In the meantime, it still raises questions about relevant research, seeks to steer research in NFL-friendly directions, downplays risks, emphasizes that certain approaches (such as "heads up" tackling) can limit damage, retains relationships with doctors who denied footballs' links to CTE, limits compensation for veterans harmed by its cover-up and paints a self-portrait of an organization truly concerned about the CTE problem.
The real problem, though, is that football is an inherently dangerous sport.
In the meantime, it still raises questions about relevant research, seeks to steer research in NFL-friendly directions, downplays risks, emphasizes that certain approaches (such as "heads up" tackling) can limit damage, retains relationships with doctors who denied footballs' links to CTE, limits compensation for veterans harmed by its cover-up and paints a self-portrait of an organization truly concerned about the CTE problem.
The real problem, though, is that football is an inherently dangerous sport.
6
looks like the NFL studied the tobacco industry's playbook.
3
As a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) survivor ('90, MVA - my fault, no intoxicants in system, coma 22 days), I had the privilege of guest speaking to both the 1st year Medical and Physician Asst students each semester at one of the medical schools in Houston's Texas Medical Center, local, state, national and several int'l conferences for 17-years ('94-'10) about the affective consequences of TBI. Even repetitive mild concussions, heading a soccer ball kicked with great force, "getting your bell rung" after a hard tackle, being "punch drunk", getting knocked out in boxing or MMA.
Doing this week after week, year after year does long term damage. The brain is not attached to the skull; it 'sits' atop a very jagged sphenoid bone. When the head is hit with great force, it 'jiggles'. When this happens the axons at the base of the brain rip and tear across the sphenoid bone causing damage to different areas of the brain; additionally, as Newton explains in his Third Law of Motion, "[W]hen one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body" - this is called a coup-contre coup injury and this can cause the brain to bleed and/or swell.
I, myself, have blood spots on my brain and because of a second MVA (not my fault) now have an uncontrolled seizure disorder; no longer drive; and take multiple anticonvulsants at high does until my CNS adapts and then switch one out for another.
Doing this week after week, year after year does long term damage. The brain is not attached to the skull; it 'sits' atop a very jagged sphenoid bone. When the head is hit with great force, it 'jiggles'. When this happens the axons at the base of the brain rip and tear across the sphenoid bone causing damage to different areas of the brain; additionally, as Newton explains in his Third Law of Motion, "[W]hen one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body" - this is called a coup-contre coup injury and this can cause the brain to bleed and/or swell.
I, myself, have blood spots on my brain and because of a second MVA (not my fault) now have an uncontrolled seizure disorder; no longer drive; and take multiple anticonvulsants at high does until my CNS adapts and then switch one out for another.
15
Switch the rules to flag football, rewarding skills other than massiveness and blunt trauma. After all, there is always ice hockey for violence!
8
Football does not cause CTE. Concussions cause CTE, whether you are playing football, soccer, basketball or riding a bike or a skateboard.
4
Nice try. I presume you are joking. You are much more likely to suffer a concussion when you play football than when you engage in other 'sports' such as chess, baseball, basketball, tennis, track, band, swimming, orchestra, choir, debate, soccer, etc.
8
I'm sure we could adapt the old saying "Guns don't kill people --- but they sure make it easier!" for football.
10
Bet you like that "Guns don't kill people. People do." slogan...
all fine and well to talk about the excitement, etc of contact sports; but, at a certain point, when you have FACTS in front of you .... an abridged version of flag football makes sense.
and goodbye to boxing completely.
and goodbye to boxing completely.
9
What?????? What's next? The NRA admitting that more guns lead to more gun violence??? What will this world come to when invested parties admit to what EVERYONE else knows to be true (except their own rabid adherents)?
A better world.
Truth. Let's give it a try.
A better world.
Truth. Let's give it a try.
16
I really hope the NFL goes away. I hate these people and their sport.
7
N.F.L=Not For Long.
53
So, does the NFL continue encouraging people's children to play a sport that can cause brain damage?
100
sure thing
th nfl money machine must have a fresh supply of new vicitms
th nfl money machine must have a fresh supply of new vicitms
5
Yes, but the settlement is not final yet, which means that either the NFL has inside information from a law clerk about the 3rd circuit's opinion, or they are taking an enormous risk.
16