In a stunning development, the NFL has finally acknowledged what we all knew about football and head trauma
In an announcement years in the making, the NFL has somewhat finally connected the link between football and brain degeneration. Years of research that has been avoided was put out into the open Monday. During a roundtable discussion on concussions organized by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, the NFL was a hot topic.
According to ESPN, Jeff Miller is the NFL’s senior vice president for health and safety and he was one of the members involved in the conversation. The video provided shows Miller being the first official that connects the football industry to Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE.
While the statement seemed casual, it was a very big deal. The NFL has avoided taking a position on the issue for years. We have seen that in the movie Concussion, where Will Smith plays famous doctor Bennet Omalu. Miller’s main points in the video were simple when asked if football is related to CTE. He stated:
"“The answer to that question is certainly yes…I think the broader point, and the one that your question gets to, is what that necessarily means, and where do we go from here with that information.”"
The NFL is obviously looking closer into it as we speak, but has the damage been done. We have found out that CTE has affected NFL players like Tyler Sash , Junior Seau, Mike Webster and recently Ken Stabler. For the NFL to reject the claim until now is very interesting. What does this mean for Roger Goodell, who has been highly criticized over the years due to the lack of discussion on the issue? Will he be a scapegoat in all of this?
While Miller’s comments are somewhat vague, it is a step in the right direction for the NFL. One can only hope that the NFL will do more to support those who may have been affected. It took long enough, but the cats finally out of the bag. This will definitely be an interesting conversation for NFL officials to finally be a part of.
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