Football is a dangerous sport, anyone that has watched a game can attest to that. It also happens to be the most popular sport in this country. Those two absolute facts make any discussion surrounding the game more complicated, specifically when it comes to the issue of concussions and player safety.
For the last several years there has been an ongoing public debate about the link between concussions suffered while playing football and the degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Many former football players upon their death and subsequent autopsies have revealed to possess varying degrees of CTE.
If you are a fan of the game, casual observer, or just a concerned citizen you have no doubt heard of or seen the Frontline Special, League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis. You may have even seen the recent Hollywood film Concussion starring Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist who first discovered CTE and published a study on professional football players with the disease.
Recently, during a congressional roundtable of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Jeff Miller, NFL Senior Vice President of Health and Safety Policy admitted there is a link between football and CTE. A major admission by the league that has steadfastly denied any concrete connection for years. In a recent article by espn.com senior writer Steve Fainaru, Miller was asked by a committee member if the link between football and CTE has been established. Miller’s answer:
“The answer to that question is certainly yes.”
According to multiple accounts of the congressional roundtable, Miller qualified his statement by adding:
“But there’s also a number of questions that come with that.”
The NFL is involved in a concussion lawsuit with former players and a settlement that is proposed to pay one billion dollars in damages. That sounds like an awful lot of money, but when you break down fees, associated costs and the number of plaintiffs in the lawsuit, that billion quickly becomes only a few million per plaintiff and that is only for the most severe cases. And, this settlement doesn’t include any future players that may die as a result of CTE.
It’s quite obvious why the NFL is hedging around this “admission” of a link between football and degenerative brain disease. Being the most popular sport in the country also means (in this case) it is the wealthiest sport. If the popularity of the game is affected adversely, that would certainly lead to less money and when you’re talking about billions of dollars, those at the helm can’t afford to have that happen.
I wonder, what would it take for the NFL to fully admit that playing football is dangerous? Unfortunately, we might find out.
