NFL acknowledges link between football and CTE

[sureLoss]

pretty big news as the league has avoided stating that there is a link

http://abc7news.com/sports/nfl-ackno...sease/1245566/

The NFL's top health and safety officer acknowledged Monday there is a link between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE -- the first time a senior league official has conceded football's connection to the devastating brain disease.

The admission came during a roundtable discussion on concussions convened by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president for health and safety, was asked by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., if the link between football and neurodegenerative diseases like CTE has been established.

"The answer to that question is certainly yes," Miller said.

He said he based his assessment on the work of Dr. Ann McKee, a Boston University neuropathologist who has diagnosed CTE in the brains of 176 people, including those of 90 of 94 former NFL players. The disease can only be diagnosed after death.

"I think the broader point, and the one that your question gets to, is what that necessarily means, and where do we go from here with that information," Miller said, noting that little is known about the prevalence of the disease or the risk of incurring it.

In 2009, an NFL spokesman told the New York Times that it is "quite obvious from the medical research that's been done that concussions can lead to long-term problems." But when pressed by Congress and in interviews, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other league representatives have for years avoided taking a position, repeating that the league would let the medical community decide. The league has never expressly linked playing football to CTE.

During Super Bowl week, Dr. Mitch Berger, a San Francisco neurosurgeon who leads the NFL subcommittee on long-term brain injury, asserted that there is still no established link between football and CTE.

[nik-]

"Tell da troof"

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by nik-

"Tell da troof"

LMAO oh man that accent. so bad.

[OMG!WTF!]

I wonder if this will effect the UFC. Those guys don't look too good.

[Language]

The difference with boxing and UFC is the athletes know they are getting into the ring/cage and a significant point of contact will be with their head.

While hockey and football are physical sports, it can be argued that head shots in both can be avoided, and that the game can be played physically without contact to the head (for the most part). Further, someone who decides to play hockey doesn't go into it thinking that their brain might get scattered. UFC and boxing athletes absolutely go in knowing that they can be knocked out.

Two totally different things and one reason why boxing/UFC isn't involved in these CTE studies. The athletes there know and essentially accept the risk they're taking.

[Northendzone]

so does this tilt the field for the group of ex players suing the NFL?

I would guess at the end of the day they will have no shortage fo players willing to risk it for the pay/lifestyle

[Flash Walken]

How does this impact CalgaryNEXT and the CFL I wonder?

I don't think the city of calgary should be spending public dollars to help a private business that leads to head injuries and the accompanying cognitive impairments.