Newly appointed NFL Chief Health & Medical Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Nabel will be at this week's Scouting Combine "to meet with the league’s various medical committees and trainers and executives," according to Peter King of THE MMQB. Nabel's position is not a full-time job, and NFL Senior VP & Chief Security Officer Jeff Miller explained that by saying, "We were looking for a consultant. We have found that mode works very well for us." King writes an "immediate focus for Nabel, at least in the eyes of fans and teams, will be to examine the league’s concussion-diagnosis protocols and see if the NFL has it right" (MMQB.SI.com, 2/16). A BOSTON GLOBE editorial states it is "easy to see why the league would be interested in someone like Nabel." Not only is she "an acclaimed cardiologist in her own right, but as president of Brigham and Women’s ... she has unique experience in leading researchers working in disparate fields." As she "decides what her role with the NFL will be, Nabel should take full advantage of the podium the league is offering, and use it to expand her message beyond the league and its leadership" (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/16). Meanwhile, ESPN’s Keith Olbermann noted Brigham and Women’s Hospital “is a partner with the Kraft Group in the Kraft Healthcare Center in the Patriot Place Mall” next to Gillette Stadium. Additionally, Kraft family members "have sat on the board” of Brigham and Women’s. Olbermann: "At a time in which domestic violence, anger management and especially head trauma are the dominant medical issues in the league, the NFL’s new chief health and medical adviser Dr. Elizabeth Nabel is a CTE specialist? No. Brain specialist? No. Head trauma? No. Cardiologist, because of that rash of heart murmurs going around the league. A cardiologist in a time of post-concussion crisis. Only the NFL” (“Olbermann,” ESPN2, 2/13).
CHIEF AMONG THEM? Michigan-based attorney Jim Acho said that he "has two of the three endorsements he needs to get a spot on the official ballot" as a candidate for the position of NFLPA Exec Dir next month at the union's annual meeting in Hawaii. Acho: "The feedback has been unbelievably positive." He also said that he "hopes to have a third endorsement by the end of the month." He said he has been told "by a number of guys that if I get that third endorsement, I have the best shot to upset" current Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 2/16). Acho joins Sean Gilbert, Andrew Smith and John Stufflebeem as expressing their desire to run against Smith during next month's vote (THE DAILY).
MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS: USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes the NFL "deserves credit and praise" for driving conversation about domestic violence, "particularly at a volume no other organization can match." But "talk is cheap," and the services that will help victims "are not." The awareness the NFL has brought to the issue "is taxing an already overburdened and underfunded system." If the NFL "is sincere about wanting" to make a difference, it is "time for the league and its teams to start writing some checks" (USA TODAY, 2/16).
ROUGH DRAFT: A CHICAGO TRIBUNE editorial ran under the header, "Chicago Will Pay A Price For Hosting The NFL Draft." The NFL "has morphed into Bridezilla." Chicago residents "can be grateful the Bears didn't have to give up a first-round pick." The editorial: "Why should many ordinary folks accommodate themselves to the hassle of accommodating a party which very few will be allowed to attend?" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 2/13).
