ESPN/PBS Investigation Finds NFL Awarded Concussion Payments

ESPN's "Outside the Lines" and PBS' "Frontline" in a joint investigation found that the NFL's retirement board "awarded disability payments to at least three former players after concluding that football caused their crippling brain injuries – even as the league's top medical experts for years consistently denied any link between the sport and long-term brain damage." The board paid at least $2M in disability benefits to the players in the late '90s and '00s, according to documents obtained in the investigation (ESPN.com, 11/16).

ESPN's "Outside the Lines," airing at 3:00pm ET Friday, has more on the concussion story. The partnership will culminate in Fall '13 with a "Frontline" documentary on the subject, as well as a book written by ESPN reporters Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada (PBS).