NFL Vetoed Funding For Boston University CTE Study, Per ESPN Report
By Ty Duffy
The NFL donated $30 million to the National Institute of Health in 2012. The NFL termed the gift “unrestricted” at the time. According to an ESPN report, that appears to not be the case. ESPN is reporting, according to an NIH official, that the NFL vetoed having its gift fund the Boston University CTE study.
NFL PR denied the report, though no one accused the NFL of “pulling funding,” just exerting influence over how that funding was used.
ESPN story is not accurate. NFL did not pull any funding. NIH makes its own decisions.
— Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) December 22, 2015
According to ESPN, the NFL, creators of the clearly biased Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee chaired by a rheumatologist, challenged the “objectivity” of the Boston University CTE study’s lead researcher Robert Stern. Stern was critical of the NFL’s concussion settlement in 2014.
Stern, awarded the grant by the NIH, met the requirements of the organization’s own rigorous review process.