99% of dead NFLers had brain damage - CFL implications

[jerrym]

A just released Boston University has found that 110 of 111 dead NFLers showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), while 177 of 202 players who played football at any level for at least ten years showed evidence of CTE. This raises serious questions about players at any level including the CFL.

A new study has found that 110 of 111 deceased former National Football League (NFL) players had evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or permanent brain damage as a result of repeated blunt force injuries to the head. Such injuries can result in behavioral changes or cognitive decline, like memory loss or dementia.
The study, by a team of researchers led by Boston University and the Veteran’s Association in Boston, was published July 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers were looking at the association of CTE in football players in general, and were funded in part by both the Concussion Legacy Foundation and the NFL itself. More broadly, they found that 177 of 202 deceased players who played at any level (including college and semi-professional) for an average 15 years (ranging from roughly 10 to 20 years) also had evidence of CTE.
Researchers conducted the study in two parts. First, a team of neuroscientists interviewed family members about the football players’ health and behavior. They asked for evidence of any kind of substance abuse, Parkinson’s disease, PTSD, sleep disorders, and even chronic headaches. Next, a separate team blinded to the interview results performed examinations on the late players’ brains and looked for evidence researchers previously decided were indicative of CTE—things like the lesions or patterns of tangled or darkened fibers in the brain.

https://qz.com/1038120/over-99-of-nf...-brain-damage/

[Joe Barnes]

The problem is, aside from the hideous implications for some players potential future health, the NFL has the financial ability to pay former players while it attempts to modify it's current and player safety. The CFL does not. Which is why they continue to deny the CTE link to footbalL, I would think.

[argolio]

The NFL pretty much denies it as well, otherwise they wouldn't fight all these lawsuits.

[Argo57]

Biggest effect will be enrolment in minor football programs.

[Wobbler]

As CFL fans, are we encouraging kids to damage their brains? I don't like where that line of reasoning goes...

[ArgoGabe22]

Simmons points out the pros outweigh the cons - http://ow.ly/mURl30dWohg

[Wobbler]

I suspect that there are solid data showing the value of team membership for kids. Even if there isn't, I doubt that the issue is controversial. But I don't buy Simmons' silly "Life is never risk-free - I know a kid who suffered brain damage on a golf course!" argument. When there is startling evidence that a particular sport is very high-risk, one should pay attention.

[Argo]

I suspect that there are solid data showing the value of team membership for kids. Even if there isn't, I doubt that the issue is controversial. But I don't buy Simmons' silly "Life is never risk-free - I know a kid who suffered brain damage on a golf course!" argument. When there is startling evidence that a particular sport is very high-risk, one should pay attention.

Here is one (Canadian) NFL player - a doctoral candidate in applied mathematics at MIT - who is abruptly retiring after just 3 years in the league, apparently motivated by the BU CTE study.

Yes, he certainly is an intelligent fellow.

I see a much less violent form of football played in the future, if football is to be played at all.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...om-nfl-aged-26

[ArgoGabe22]

But if it weren't for football, what would happen to so many of those who benefited from the sport. For example, the Pinball we all know could've ended up being a totally different person and may have never reached his adoptive home.

[paulwoods13]

As CFL fans, are we encouraging kids to damage their brains? I don't like where that line of reasoning goes...

By being fans of a sport that endangers the health of participants, we absolutely are complicit to some degree. I'm uncomfortable with that, but not yet at the point where I will stop following the sport. But I continue to believe we are slowly heading towards football having substantially less physical contact. I don't know how long it will take, but I believe it is coming.

[jerrym]

Biggest effect will be enrolment in minor football programs.

By being fans of a sport that endangers the health of participants, we absolutely are complicit to some degree. I'm uncomfortable with that, but not yet at the point where I will stop following the sport. But I continue to believe we are slowly heading towards football having substantially less physical contact. I don't know how long it will take, but I believe it is coming.

My feelings are similar to Paul's. I also agree that parents will increasingly over time move their kids in other directions than football when it comes to sports. Hopefully, improved equipment and reduced physical contact will significantly reduce the risk in the future.

[Wobbler]

By being fans of a sport that endangers the health of participants, we absolutely are complicit to some degree. I'm uncomfortable with that, but not yet at the point where I will stop following the sport. But I continue to believe we are slowly heading towards football having substantially less physical contact. I don't know how long it will take, but I believe it is coming.

I would feel better if there was any reasonable prospect of a regulatory or tech solution, but I think it's time to start advocating against football. Dammit.

[Jayahre]

My feelings are similar to Paul's. I also agree that parents will increasingly over time move their kids in other directions than football when it comes to sports. Hopefully, improved equipment and reduced physical contact will significantly reduce the risk in the future.

It just means one more reason for high schools to drop their football programs and they can blame things like high insurance costs and the need for much better safety equipment. The costs to equip high schools with the new safety helmets etc would be very expensive and parents would be expected to put up most of the costs. In my day the football equipment was provided by the board. Parents just can't afford to get their kids into football
The majority of kids are playing soccer and basketball and a minority are playing football and the results of this study just gives more ammo to parents to encourage their kids to play soccer/basketball.

[paulwoods13]

I would feel better if there was any reasonable prospect of a regulatory or tech solution, but I think it's time to start advocating against football. Dammit.

The solution is fairly straightforward -- flag football. It still has great throws and catches, which are what many fans want these days. It doesn't have blocking or tackling, which cause concussions. I can see the day coming when flag football replaces tackle football.

[argolio]

Here is one (Canadian) NFL player - a doctoral candidate in applied mathematics at MIT - who is abruptly retiring after just 3 years in the league, apparently motivated by the BU CTE study.

Yes, he certainly is an intelligent fellow.

I see a much less violent form of football played in the future, if football is to be played at all.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...om-nfl-aged-26

Just wondering how the CFL didn't draft this guy.

[ArgoGabe22]

Doesn't seem to be a problem in highschool

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/7/11/1...ource=facebook

[doubleblue]

Just wondering how the CFL didn't draft this guy.

They knew about him being born in Winnipeg but the rules for a "National" has changed now to just being able to be a Canadian citizen. He would qualify now. There is also a WR Jones with the Detroit Lions who came out the same year and could be classed as a "National" now.
I remember reading an article on John Urschel when he came out of Penn State. He was an All American in academics and kind of gave the impression then that he might not play Football too long.

[Argo]

They knew about him being born in Winnipeg but the rules for a "National" has changed now to just being able to be a Canadian citizen. He would qualify now. There is also a WR Jones with the Detroit Lions who came out the same year and could be classed as a "National" now.
I remember reading an article on John Urschel when he came out of Penn State. He was an All American in academics and kind of gave the impression then that he might not play Football too long.

The reality of the CFL seems to be if you've got a high-quality player or players on the team you're cheering for, you're pleasantly surprised by every little bit of roster continuity, viz. three years in CFL time is a long time.

[jerrym]

Doesn't seem to be a problem in highschool

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/7/11/1...ource=facebook

While the frequency of injuries and concussions in high-school football does not automatically mean CTE will occur, it has led to parental concern about the risk as this article from Maine illustrates.

Football players were injured more frequently than kids playing any other high school sport in the 2014-15 school year, according to the National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Survey. Concussions accounted for about a quarter of the injuries among all high school athletes, the survey found.
“The thing I’m constantly talking about is that we need, as a group, to educate people on this concussion thing,” said Greely High coach Dave Higgins, who started the season with 27 players – about 10 fewer than last year. “Parents are worried.”

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/09/1...-high-schools/

[jerrym]

An American judge in June 2021 criticized the NFL practice of race norming that the league practiced in dealing with Black players who suffered from concussions. Race norming was used by the NFL to exclude some Black players from receiving concussion benefits by assuming that Blacks have a lower level of cognitive ability than whites, and therefore could be excluded from getting concussion-related benefits unless their cognitive ability was below the lower level than the whites players allegedly had. You can't get any more racist than that. Since 58.9% of NFL players are Black this resulted in enormous savings for the league. This is not a practice carried over from the 1920s but introduced for the concussion settlement. What century do the NFL owners live in?

This was revealed only because two Black players sued the NFL over this. Furthermore, the judge only directed the league, which created the practice to negotiate a settlement with the players.

When this hit the media, the NFL said the practice would be discontinued. However, it did not even bother to apologize for this extreme act of racism.

The history of racism in the NFL has been long and tragic, from the lily white days shortly after its founding (there were a couple of Black players in the 1920s and then none till after WWII), the refusal to allow Black QBs play in the league well into the 1980s and only recently has that increased in a major way, to the blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick over simply taking a knee during the national anthem.

The CFL certainly has not been not perfect in dealing with racism but the league has allowed, benefited from, and celebrated its Black QBs much earlier than the NFL. If the CFL ever reaches a settlement over concussions with the players, which it should, I cannot see any circumstance where it would implement this racist practice of 'racenorming'.

Judge Anita Brody of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who oversees the NFL’s settlement with thousands of former NFL players regarding the league’s cavalier handling of head trauma issues for decades, has ordered the league and class counsel representing those former players to the negotiating table to address the race-norming issue, which former players say weighs settlement awards against former Black players.

On Monday, Judge Brody issued a pair of orders — one dismissing the lawsuits brought against the league by former players Kevin Henry and Najeh Davenport as “an improper attack on the Settlement Agreement.” But Judge Brody also issued an order expressing concern about the practice of race-norming, which sets a lower cognitive bar for Black players, thus preventing them from gaining equal consideration when cognitive impairment due to head trauma is determined.

“We are glad that the Court has expressed concern about the NFL Concussion Settlement program’s ‘race-norming,’ since for the last four years it has been used to discriminate against Black former players and must be changed immediately,” said Cy Smith, an attorney at Zuckerman Spaeder, who represents Henry and Davenport. “However, we are deeply concerned that the Court’s proposed solution is to order the very parties who created this discriminatory system to negotiate a fix. The class of Black former players whom we represent must have a seat at the table and a transparent process, so that we are not back in the same place four years from now dealing with another fatally flawed settlement.”

At the request of an attorney who represents several former NFL players, a neuropsychologist who has evaluated former NFL players under the concussion settlement program recently re-scored the results of cognitive tests from a group of 94 Black former players.

Nine tests were deemed “incomplete” because of “missing raw scores,” leaving a sample of 85 scores recorded by approximately 40 different clinicians between 2016 and 2020.

When the clinician interpreted the test scores as if those former players had been white, 34 of them met the criteria to receive payouts through the program. When the clinician applied the recommended demographic correction to those same scores, however, only 10 of those same players qualified.

https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2...on-settlement/