An NFL representative again appears to have undercut league Senior VP/Health & Safety Policy Jeff Miller’s recent comments to a Congressional roundtable that there is a link between playing football and CTE. In a letter Friday to a federal appeals court opposing efforts by objectors to the concussion settlement to add Miller’s comments to the record, NFL outside counsel Paul Clement wrote, “[T]here is no need to supplement the record with additional information about any purported 'link' between football and CTE.” Clement's letter comes several days after Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones described to reporters as “absurd” the argument that there is a link between football and CTE. The NFL concussion settlement was approved by a lower court judge last year and does not cover CTE from the date of that approval. The league had long denied any link between CTE and football until Miller’s comment earlier this month. Owners at last week’s annual meetings were hesitant to embrace Miller’s comment. Jones, while saying he was not disagreeing with Miller, made waves by bashing the opinion, shared by many scientists, that there is a connection between the disease and the blows to the head endured playing football. Clement, who in an earlier letter to the appeals court described Miller’s comment as consistent with past NFL policy, now appears to be casting doubt on what he said by using the term “purported” in describing a link between football and CTE (Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer).
WHAT'D YOU SAY? Cardinals coach Bruce Arians in an interview last week with The MMQB said football "teaches more values than any other game." Arians: "People that say, 'I won't let my son play it' are fools." THE MMQB's Peter King today writes Arians is "wrong" with his stance." King: "I know thoughtful parents who won’t let their sons play football. Some are just not sure about the science, and they figure if they make a mistake and allow children to play tackle it could show up later in life in advanced brain trauma. Some think other sports are fine, just so long as it keeps the children active and playing a team sport. Parents who deny tackle football to their sons are, in most cases, concerned about the health of their kids, and they are absolutely right to be" (MMQB.SI.com, 3/28). In Boston, Christopher Gasper wrote Arians should have used his brain "before he uttered such misguided, macho, atavistic drivel." The NFL's message "should be increased education and safety, not brow-beating, strong-arming and brainwashing people into allowing their children to play." Football ideologues such as Arians and Jones "sound like people denying Darwinism" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/26).
FOR THE SAKE OF THE SNAKE: In San Jose, Elliott Almond reported former NFLers George Atkinson, George Buehler and Art Thoms have "pledged their brains" to Boston-based Concussion Legacy Foundation. The former Raiders "made the unusual decision to speak out together as a show of solidarity" for late Pro Football HOFer-elect Ken Stabler, who was found to have suffered from CTE. The group also "expressed concerns about the growing evidence that playing football can lead to debilitating brain disease." Atkinson: "I can't remember from yesterday to today half the time." He added that he "had to stop work as a Raiders' broadcaster because of memory loss" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/26).
