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Leagues and Governing Bodies

NFL Parts Ways With Controversial Doctor Elliot Pellman; Will Hire Chief Medical Officer

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday notified owners that the league has cut ties with controversial doctor Elliot Pellman and that the league would hire its first full-time chief medical officer. Pellman co-chaired the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee from '94-'07, when the NFL denied a link between brain trauma and concussions. Since then, he continued to have role with the league, a fact outlined in a recent report from U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) looking at the league's alleged interference in grants from the National Institutes of Health. Also, the recent film "Concussion" negatively portrayed Pellman. A source said, "The Commissioner understands that we have to demonstrate strong leadership on health and safety and that our players and fans need to trust in us. This was his decision and Dr. Pellman agreed to retire." Pellman, a former Jets team doctor, is a rheumatologist, and so was criticized for not having the proper background to assess concussions (Daniel Kaplan, Staff Writer). In DC, Mark Maske notes in a memo to owners announcing Pellman's departure, Goodell wrote Betsy Nabel will "participate in the search for a full-time chief medical officer." The search is set "to begin this week." The NFL hired Nabel in February '15 as its Chief Health & Medical Adviser. She remains Brigham and Women's Health Care President (WASHINGTON POST, 7/21).

BORDER DOCTOR: In N.Y., Ken Belson writes Pellman's sudden departure "comes as the NFL tries to repair the damage done by him and other medical professionals hired by the league who ultimately tried to explain away the dangers of concussions and head trauma." The work of Pellman and his colleagues "eroded trust in the NFL, which has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by retired players and which has been repeatedly grilled by lawmakers who have accused the league of not doing enough to protect its players" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/21). ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert noted Pellman "used the questionable conclusions" of the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee in his work with the Jets, "often allowing concussed players back into games." In '05, the N.Y. Times "revealed that Pellman embellished his credentials and failed to disclose that he attended medical school in Guadalajara, Mexico." Pellman resigned as Chair "not long after, though he remained on the committee" (ESPN.com, 7/20). ESPN's Jim Trotter said this move "should have been done a long time ago." He said, "I guess I would, on the one hand, applaud Roger Goodell for doing this. But on the other hand I would say, ‘What took you so long?’” He called Pellman's departure "significant in the fact that now you will have people who deal with brain trauma, who are qualified to discuss this topic and evaluate this topic now who will be running this as opposed to someone, again, (who) was never a credible figure” (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 7/21).

MOVE MADE FOR PR REASONS: THE RINGER's Claire McNear wrote the NFL can "finally get rid of Pellman" for PR reasons. The league "said as much in its announcement: Pellman was forced to retire in order to build trust  --  that is, rebuild trust  --  among players and fans." McNear: "It's optics. The NFL only showed Pellman the door because it thought it had something to gain by doing so" (THERINGER.com, 7/20). Meanwhile, in N.Y., Nathaniel Vinton writes it was "clever" of the NFL to "find a way to dump awkward news into a news cycle consumed" by the Republican National Convention (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/21). SI's Michael McCann tweeted, "Timing of Dr. Pellman retiring notable since NFL may have waited on it till final approval of concussion settlement."

WHERE TO FROM HERE? In Boston, Ron Borges cites a UMass-Lowell poll as saying that 78% of surveyed people "felt tackle football should not be played before the age of 14." Those numbers "are an NFL nightmare." The league's marketing gurus "fear that failing to connect children to the game is likely to threaten its long-term popularity." Borges: "If the mothers of America begin to oppose their sons' participation in the sport, there is a potential chilling effect on that ever-expanding popularity" (BOSTON HERALD, 7/21).

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