Tag: NFL
Presidential Concern
On January 16, President Barack Obama made it clear that if he had a son, he would have to think “long and hard” before he let Junior play football. This isn’t an attack on the sport, it’s our nation slowly coming to terms with just how dangerous and damaging the game can be to its players.
As a relatively new journalist, I often feel overwhelmed and helpless. There’s so much wrong that needs righting, so much news that need telling, and so much time and energy wasted in shock and awe because Beyonce-lipsyched-the-national-anthem.
So it is extraordinarily inspiring to realize that one journalist, Alan Schwarz of the New York Times, is responsible for effectuating change in a behemoth as powerful as the NFL. Starting with just basic math that no one took the time to check (or that they chose to ignore), Mr. Schwarz painstakingly analyzed the rate of brain injuries in ex-NFL players, versus the rate in the general population. He wrote story after story.
And the stories led to Congressional hearings, NFL rule changes, and a reworking of our nation’s mindset as we opened our eyes to the true horror story that are concussions.
In this age of cost cutting at every (still extant) newspaper across the country, we’re fortunate to have amongst us dogged investigative reporters like Mr. Schwarz, and his employer, the New York Times.
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Tags Alan Schwarz, Football, New York Times, NFL, pee wee football, President Obama |
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Date 01/30/2013 |
An Unfortunate Update
By LASIS Staff
Back in May, the world was shocked to hear that Junior Seau, former Pro-Bowl linebacker for the NFL, most famous for his time with the San Diego Chargers, had committed suicide.
LASIS has written about the evidence that contact sports are resulting in non-reversible and life threatening brain injuries to players. (see here and here).
Now this: An autopsy has revealed that Mr. Seau had been suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the brain disease that has been linked to and numerous professional athlete’s homicidal attacks suicides, as well as cases of dementia and other mind altering diseases.
The news is tragic — and did not even make the front page of the major newspapers. For shame.
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Tags chronic traumatic encephalopathy, concussions, CTE, Junior Seau, NFL |
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Date 01/15/2013 |
Because a Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Last Friday evening I attended a screening of “Head Games,” a documentary detailing the current concussion crisis in sports. It’s been just over a week, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
Steve James, director of “Hoop Dreams,” one of the best sports documentaries of all time (actually, one of the best documentaries, period), now brings us the story of Christopher Nowinski, ex-football player and professional wrestler turned author and activist. If you’ve played contact sports at some point in your life, Mr. Nowinski wants your brain.
He also wants to make clear that whatever happens in college football and the NFL is repeated by millions of children in their pee wee and high school leagues. The issue is not merely whether, as a sports fan, you agree with concussion inspired rule changes in the NFL, but whether, as a mom or dad, you’re protecting your child’s future.
As Mr. Nowinski, who grew up loving the sport, says, “If I had a six-year-old playing football I would be freaked out, and rightly so. You’re playing Russian roulette with their future.”
The science of the long-term negative impact of concussions is explained in the film so clearly that even I, a guy who passes out in hospitals, easily understood it. Brain after brain and doctor after doctor point to the same conclusion: Concussions are a very serious problem and the signs of long term damage (most notably Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a degenerative disease that in Nowinski’s words “can make you go crazy”) have been found in even a few teenage athletes. And not just in football. Lacrosse, hockey, and even women’s soccer are also damaging our children’s brains.
So the message is clear. It’s getting the message out that’s the problem.
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Tags Alan Schwarz, Christopher Nowinski, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, concussions, Head Games, Hoop Dreams, lacrosse, NFL, NHL, pee wee football, soccer, Steve James |
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Date 10/02/2012 |
Roger and Me: An Open Letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
By Chris Cotter
In early March, a 20-year-old Georgia college student accused Pittsburgh Steelers QB, Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her at a bar in Milledgeville, GA. After a month-long investigation, Georgia district attorney Fred Bright announced on April 12 that he would not charge Roethlisberger with rape. But while Roethlisberger has managed to avoid criminal charges, he will likely face discipline from either his team or from the NFL.
Under the NFL’s latest iteration of its personal conduct policy implemented in 2007, the league can discipline a player for any “conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League.” According to the policy, this includes “illegal or irresponsible conduct,” and discipline may be imposed for “conduct that undermines or puts at risk the integrity and reputation of the NFL, NFL clubs, or NFL players.” But the League has no set benchmarks by which it measures the length of any suspension it might impose against the conduct from which it resulted.
So, if I’m advising NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, there are a few things I’m telling him to consider, and thus begins, my open letter…
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Tags Collective Bargaining Agreement, Labor Law, NFL, Roger Goodell, sports law |
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Date 04/19/2010 |