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Thread: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

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    League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...gue-of-denial/

    Anyone watch Frontline last night? An hour and a half on the NFL's blatant whitewashing of evidence given to them over 20 years ago and every year since then, with Goodell speaking before Congress with the identical behavior that the Tobacco companies showed before Congress with their early denials of cigarette smoking and it's link to cancer.



    76 of 79 Deceased NFL Players Found to Have Brain Disease

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...brain-disease/


    The findings represent a more than twofold increase in the number of cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, that have been reported by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ brain repository in Bedford, Mass. Researchers there have now examined the brain tissue of 128 football players who, before their deaths, played the game professionally, semi-professionally, in college or in high school. Of that sample, 101 players, or just under 80 percent, tested positive for CTE.


    And, it's not the concussions, the nation's leading expert, Dr. Ann McKee explains, but the constant non-concussion collisions that occur regularly on any play that lead to CTE (the same physical traits that advanced Alzheimer's patients have). Players who have never been diagnosed with a concussion also had CTE.


    The bottom line is that if the lips are moving from a Doctor who works for an NFL team (generally), and definitely for the NFL itself, that Doctor is lying to the nth degree about whatever he says. Ask Cleveland's players and the lies they were told about the sicknesses that were going on at their facilities, as an example of how Doctors who work for the NFL teams lie when it comes to players' injuries.


    When Dr. McKee was asked, "If you had children who were 8 and 10 and 12, would they play football?"

    Eight, 10, 12? No, they would not.

    Why?

    Because the way football is being played currently, that I've seen, it's dangerous. (She's a huge football fan and from a big football family. Her brothers and father played collegiately, and she also played football. She loves the Packers.) It's dangerous, and it could impact their long-term mental health. You only get one brain. The thing you want your kids to do most of all is succeed in life and be everything they can be. And if there's anything that may infringe on that, that may limit that, I don't want my kids doing it.

    High school OK?

    You know, I just don't feel like I'm in a position to say anything is OK right now. I'm not going to -- I'm not even sure about high school football, even well-managed high school football. We see this in some high schoolers. Let's figure out what this is and how to prevent it, and then I'll say we should all be playing football.

    College?

    I have a lot of college football players in my Brain Bank with CTE.


    The cover-up in the Ray Rice incident fits the NFL's profile perfectly.


    The only reason that the NFL settled out of court in the lawsuit with those suing over brain trauma caused by the NFL's negligence to inform the player's of the issues was because the NFL did not want the details of their cover-up brought to light. Everyone involved would have had to testify about their actions and inactions. That would do more damage than the $750M they agreed to in arbitration. A Federal Judge found that the $750M was not enough and removed the cap on the settlement.

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...on-settlement/

    ''The revised settlement is a great deal - for the NFL and class counsel,'' who would get $112.5 million in attorneys' fees, the players' motion said. ''It is a lousy deal for the retired players, whose rights have been bargained away without adequate or independent representation.''

    Others have challenged the settlement’s award structure for CTE specifically, claiming it only allows for such payments if a player was diagnosed with the disease before the day that the agreement won preliminary approval in July. This detail, they say, would shut out any player who may be diagnosed in the future.
    Last edited by Kingspoint; 10-01-2014 at 02:59 PM.
    "One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."


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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    I don't see a problem as long as the NFL doesn't suppress any evidence. As far as I'm concerned NFL players have access to information concerning the risks of the game just like anyone else and then it's up to them to decide whether make a living in that manner

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by Sea Ray View Post
    I don't see a problem as long as the NFL doesn't suppress any evidence. As far as I'm concerned NFL players have access to information concerning the risks of the game just like anyone else and then it's up to them to decide whether make a living in that manner
    Hopefully, you can get the time to see the show through your computer. If you get a chance to read some of the articles, or if you had seen the show, it was pointed out pretty clearly that football players did not have any access to this information and that the NFL suppressed it and continues to suppress it.

    The NFL is doing such a great job of it, that they have everyone on REDSZONE fooled, too, as the number of responses to this thread shows little interest, when there should be outrage instead. It's much worse than what they've done concerning domestic violence, but since there's no elevator video to draw people's attention, it's easy to shove this information aside and ignore it. Slides of brain tissue doesn't have the same effect.
    "One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    The settlement is a raw deal for the players. But as you can see from the snippets Kingspoint posted above, the case has a lot of problems. The biggest problem IMHO is that NFL players played in college, high school, and in pee-wee leagues. Most players probably had their bell rung in some fashion at each level. Couple that with the theory that it may not even take a concussive impact for CTE to develop, and you've got one hell of a problem pinning causation on the NFL.
    Last edited by wolfboy; 10-01-2014 at 10:11 PM.
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    Kingspoint (10-29-2014)

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    I watched it. Only b/c I thought the A's had it wrapped up when ahead 7-3 (dumb me!). If this is true, how can so many doctors be lying> That is the real question that stuck in my mind. I might be dumb (as the Royals showed), but am I stupid enough to believe so many medical professionals would go against all they are taught for the love of the NFL and money? These people take an oath to protect people (of some sort). Would they really lie and cover-up like this? I do not know and there have been many doctors found guilty of bad things during my life. But I still ask.

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by Kingspoint View Post
    Hopefully, you can get the time to see the show through your computer. If you get a chance to read some of the articles, or if you had seen the show, it was pointed out pretty clearly that football players did not have any access to this information and that the NFL suppressed it and continues to suppress it.

    The NFL is doing such a great job of it, that they have everyone on REDSZONE fooled, too, as the number of responses to this thread shows little interest, when there should be outrage instead. It's much worse than what they've done concerning domestic violence, but since there's no elevator video to draw people's attention, it's easy to shove this information aside and ignore it. Slides of brain tissue doesn't have the same effect.
    If the NFL is indeed suppressing it then they're really exposing themselves

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    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by RedFanAlways1966 View Post
    I watched it. Only b/c I thought the A's had it wrapped up when ahead 7-3 (dumb me!). If this is true, how can so many doctors be lying> That is the real question that stuck in my mind. I might be dumb (as the Royals showed), but am I stupid enough to believe so many medical professionals would go against all they are taught for the love of the NFL and money? These people take an oath to protect people (of some sort). Would they really lie and cover-up like this? I do not know and there have been many doctors found guilty of bad things during my life. But I still ask.
    I don't think it's surprising a doctor would do and say these things. Are they lies? Probably but they can always back it up by saying that it's not necessarily a cause and effect. That playing football may not be the cause of CTE and CTE may not cause these problems. Let's say you have a sore back. You go to Doctor A and he tells you it's a slipped disc. You go to Doctor B and he says it's just a muscle pull. Neither doctor may be lying but they just have different opinions on what is wrong with you. Doctors who are paid by the NFL and are dazzled by the lure of pro football have incentive to form an opinion favorable to their employer.

    Another thing that I believe to be true is that even if the NFL knew 20 years ago what they know now and decided to be forthcoming and tell the players everything; they could put a sign on every bench that warns them that playing football could lead to concussions which could lead to brain disease which could lead to early death and players would still want to play. These guys are in their 20s and early 30s and most men that age feel like they can do anything. They feel that even if they have problems, medical technology in the future will fix them up. Even if it doesn't, what is the alternative? Working at Wal Mart for minimum wage? Maybe they would have enough money to retire without having to work again but most likely they won't. Even though most of these guys went to college they are probably not well educated. While I have an enormous amount of sympathy for the players and I believe the NFL covered this up to protect themselves, you can't always protect people from themselves.
    Last edited by Chip R; 10-02-2014 at 01:59 PM.
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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Good stuff, Chip. They had one guy who was some sort of "head doctor of the NFL" that was interviewed in 2007(?) about CTE. He came across as a pompous arse by simply answering "no" to each question he was asked by the interviewer. And he seemed angry as if he could not believe people would even think that football could cause brain damage to humans.

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Good comparison to the Tobacco industry, except that CTE from football is not the leading cause of preventable death in the US. But it makes sense, the financial interests here are so great that it could actually cause people who we might otherwise expect to speak the truth, to make up stories.

    It seems the NFL's biggest threat is not from the immediate problems of CTE and the players they owe because of it, but rather from parents who are not letting their kids play football because of the fears they may have of brain damage. My own son never showed the slightest interest in football, but had he asked about playing I think I would have tried to dissuade him from it. As we know from baseball, the biggest challenge it faces is the switch in kids' interests from that to other sports. If that happens with football, things will change pretty seriously and now that we're hearing it's not just from head knocking but also from getting hit hard in general, football could be in for some trouble.
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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    I think the league will become filled with the underprivileged seeing it was a way to quick riches and an escape from tough circumstances, because they will be the only ones willing to take those particular risks.
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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by improbus View Post
    I think the league will become filled with the underprivileged seeing it was a way to quick riches and an escape from tough circumstances, because they will be the only ones willing to take those particular risks.
    There will always be a sub-set of the population who is willing to accept the potential long term consequences as a way out of poverty, but what happens when the youth sports organizations and local school districts start dropping football to avoid becoming involved in the same kind of lawsuits as the NFL and NCAA? Without a feeder system the NFL's player pool will start to wither away because unlike MLB, football doesn't have a pool of foreign talent to replace the American kids who end up playing other sports.

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by nmculbreth View Post
    There will always be a sub-set of the population who is willing to accept the potential long term consequences as a way out of poverty, but what happens when the youth sports organizations and local school districts start dropping football to avoid becoming involved in the same kind of lawsuits as the NFL and NCAA? Without a feeder system the NFL's player pool will start to wither away because unlike MLB, football doesn't have a pool of foreign talent to replace the American kids who end up playing other sports.
    Maybe. I would guess that the NFL will find a way to find players as long as there is money to be made.

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    Rally Onion! Chip R's Avatar
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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    A third high school football player has died this week due to head injuries in a game. That's not counting the young man from Missouri who recently died.

    http://m.cnn.com/primary/cnnd_fullar...us&pagesize=10
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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by improbus View Post
    I think the league will become filled with the underprivileged seeing it was a way to quick riches and an escape from tough circumstances, because they will be the only ones willing to take those particular risks.
    Really? You have to be underprivileged to want to make millions of dollars? I don't think so. That's a revolutionary lifestyle change whether you come from the backwoods or suburbia. I'd take that "risk" in a heartbeat if I had the talent.

    And as far as those risks go, I think you've lost perspective...football players live longer, healthier lives than the average person. Significantly so. Conclusion: NOT playing football is what's risky.

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    Re: League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis | FRONTLINE

    Quote Originally Posted by improbus View Post
    Maybe. I would guess that the NFL will find a way to find players as long as there is money to be made.
    There's no maybe about it. The NFL is here to stay. It's not going anywhere. I recall in my youth they said that boxing would go away due to its violent nature and no such thing has happened.
    Last edited by Sea Ray; 10-06-2014 at 09:30 AM.


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