Is the Medical Community Coming After the NFL?
Uncategorized October 30th. 2007, 11:25am
A reader writes in with this random yet alluring tale that, if true, could be a story to watch in 2008: “[Whoops, name redacted] is on a lot of medical school boards including the University of Texas Medical Branch. [According to someone close to the name redacted] the University of Texas and many other prominent medical schools are currently studying the connection between head injuries and Alzheimer’s. This involves both new research and gathering past research done by the NFL. What they have found so far is staggering. The really big thing, according to [name redacted], is that the NFL has had this information and has knowingly and willingly withheld it from the public. The medical community is finally starting to get the medical records and files from the NFL, and what they are seeing … [is] “horrifying.” According to [name redacted], this will all be documented in medical journals within the next year or two (medical research is deliberate). If the NFL has known about the dangers of traumatic head injuries and did indeed withhold it, then I think its huge blow to their image.”
Obviously the ‘huge blow’ part is subjective – if (just this year) the NFL can weather a gazillion offseason arrests and the Belichick videotape cheating controversy, surely this will not cripple the most popular sport in the country.
HBO tackles NFL head injuries (Post-Intelligencer)
NFL’s big-bang reality (Denver Post)
10 Responses to “Is the Medical Community Coming After the NFL?”
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October 30th, 2007 at 11:30 am
it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out playing football is bad for the brain.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Me fail English? That’s unpossible!
October 30th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I think the NFL should be more concerned with self-sustained head trauma resulting from watching the Rams, Dolphins, Jets, etc…
October 30th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Who doesn’t know that football is dangerous? These cats are compinsated extremely well and every single one of them knows the dangers.
October 30th, 2007 at 11:40 am
it is a serious issue and the more you see players like dan morgan and trent green roll themselves out there, it just makes you cringe…what i dont understand is with the new helmet technology, why doesnt the league requrie that all players wear special, concussion preventing helmets like the riddell revolution? i understand its the players’ preference, but that just seems like a logical step to take from both the players and medical sides.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
I think we should have 10 more posts like this one a day and then on the weekends we can watch OTL and hear more about it and be shocked every time. I can see from the previous comments, that I am not alone in the “why is this such a shocker” group.
BTW, I was in NYC this weekend and their was an article in the NY Times about a new helmet. It was pretty interesting because they showed the evolution of helmets and it really looks like technology has greatly improved the helmet in the last 10 years.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
i wouldn’t be surprised if in 100 years football is banned.
October 30th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
1.This is like being shocked that people get hurt or die in car accidents. There’s an understood risk known by all players, but you can’t hold the league accountable for it.
2. Wonder why they deem this exclusively dangerous for the NFL, but not the NCAA or high school athletics?
October 30th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
“…surely this will not cripple the most popular sport in the country”
I’m not so sure. We seem to be talking here about suppressing information that people thinking about playing football should have. Look at how well suppressing evidence worked out for the tobacco industry.
October 30th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
The point of the post is that the NFL may have knowingly held back critical information, not that football is dangerous.
If this is true and the medical community pursues it and the story gains some steam, I could see it becoming a huge story. In my opinion, this would be a MUCH bigger deal and more damaging than Bellichick/camera (which was one of the most overblown stories and did exactly zero damage to the NFLs image)