The-Hogs.net - Washington Football Discussion, Redskins to Commanders Era

After years of the N.F.L.‘s disputing evidence that connected football to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in nearly 100 former players, a top official for the league for the first time acknowledged the link. To many, it was an echo of big tobacco’s confession in 1997 that smoking causes cancer and heart disease.

Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois, asked during a round-table discussion about concussions whether “there is a link between football and degenerative brain disorders like C.T.E.”

Jeff Miller, the N.F.L.’s senior vice president for health and safety policy, said, “The answer to that is certainly, yes.” His response signaled a stunning about-face for the league, which has been accused by former players and independent experts of hiding the dangers of head injuries for decades.

His reply came moments after a leading C.T.E. researcher — Dr. Ann McKee — had presented her findings, showing that dozens of former players who had died were afflicted with the disease.

DEHog wrote:Instead of paying out billions wouldn't the money be better spent by opening 2 or 3 TBI Centers to treat, diagnose and research concussions and CTE...It would cost the league less money and better serve the players IMO.

Burgundy&GoldForever wrote:

DEHog wrote:Instead of paying out billions wouldn't the money be better spent by opening 2 or 3 TBI Centers to treat, diagnose and research concussions and CTE...It would cost the league less money and better serve the players IMO.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes. They obviously need better helmets. The Cryolite and foam isn't protecting anyone. But nothing is going to prevent concussions entirely. I'm not sure there's anything they can do to eliminate the risk other than making the game a non-contact sport. I don't see the league voluntarily going in that direction but they have made rules which have fundamentally changed the game in the interest of reducing head injuries. The fact that those changes haven't worked is the disturbing part. Players are stronger and faster and better trained than ever before. There were fewer head injuries when players wore leather helmets and no facemasks. The equipment hasn't kept up with the players. I'm sure the NFL will blame Riddell or Pro-Line if it comes to that.

Countertrey wrote:

Burgundy&GoldForever wrote:

DEHog wrote:Instead of paying out billions wouldn't the money be better spent by opening 2 or 3 TBI Centers to treat, diagnose and research concussions and CTE...It would cost the league less money and better serve the players IMO.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes. They obviously need better helmets. The Cryolite and foam isn't protecting anyone. But nothing is going to prevent concussions entirely. I'm not sure there's anything they can do to eliminate the risk other than making the game a non-contact sport. I don't see the league voluntarily going in that direction but they have made rules which have fundamentally changed the game in the interest of reducing head injuries. The fact that those changes haven't worked is the disturbing part. Players are stronger and faster and better trained than ever before. There were fewer head injuries when players wore leather helmets and no facemasks. The equipment hasn't kept up with the players. I'm sure the NFL will blame Riddell or Pro-Line if it comes to that.

I would contend that the improved protection offered by modern equipment, along with rules that have eliminated defensive tactics such as the bump and run (which eliminate the distance between the db and receiver, therefore reducing the frequency of truly violent hits), have contributed to the rise in these injuries even more than the physical quality and talent of the players. Yes... I am saying that I believe that better equipment (not inadequate equipment) has played a major role in the increase in head injuries. Quality equipment encourages players to lead with their heads, and gives them greater confidence to put great force into their hits... increasing the likelihood of coup-countercoup violence within the cranial vault.

I fear this sport may not survive.

Countertrey wrote:

Burgundy&GoldForever wrote:

DEHog wrote:Instead of paying out billions wouldn't the money be better spent by opening 2 or 3 TBI Centers to treat, diagnose and research concussions and CTE...It would cost the league less money and better serve the players IMO.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes. They obviously need better helmets. The Cryolite and foam isn't protecting anyone. But nothing is going to prevent concussions entirely. I'm not sure there's anything they can do to eliminate the risk other than making the game a non-contact sport. I don't see the league voluntarily going in that direction but they have made rules which have fundamentally changed the game in the interest of reducing head injuries. The fact that those changes haven't worked is the disturbing part. Players are stronger and faster and better trained than ever before. There were fewer head injuries when players wore leather helmets and no facemasks. The equipment hasn't kept up with the players. I'm sure the NFL will blame Riddell or Pro-Line if it comes to that.

I would contend that the improved protection offered by modern equipment, along with rules that have eliminated defensive tactics such as the bump and run (which eliminate the distance between the db and receiver, therefore reducing the frequency of truly violent hits), have contributed to the rise in these injuries even more than the physical quality and talent of the players. Yes... I am saying that I believe that better equipment (not inadequate equipment) has played a major role in the increase in head injuries. Quality equipment encourages players to lead with their heads, and gives them greater confidence to put great force into their hits... increasing the likelihood of coup-countercoup violence within the cranial vault.

I fear this sport may not survive.

Not content with a strongly-worded rebuttal and strategically-placed digital ads, the NFL is taking its fight against the New York Times a step further, demanding retraction of a story the newspaper published last week about the league’s allegedly incomplete concussion research and alleged ties to Big Tobacco.

Brad S. Karp, the NFL’s legal counsel, wrote that the story, which was headlined “NFL’s Flawed Concussion Research and Ties to the Tobacco Industry” is “false and defamatory” in a letter to the Times that was obtained by Politico. Karp, of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, writes: “Like the ‘Big Tobacco’ charge, the thesis that the NFL manipulated concussion data to skew research on which the [l]eague continues to rely is false and defamatory and not supported by the facts set forth in the story.”

Karp hints that legal action may be in the offing, too, by requesting that “the Times reporters and editors who worked on this story preserve their notes, correspondence, emails, recordings and work papers and all other electronic and hard copy documents generated or received in connection with this work.”