The NFL has been careful when talking about concussions, brain injuries and long-term consequences. So, when the NFL’s vice president for health and safety Jeff Miller spoke before a U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy & Commerce roundtable, his words were going to carry plenty of meaning.
What happened next was a bombshell moment in the NFL and world of football, period. Miller became the first NFL official to publicly admit there is a link between football-related head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
Miller was asked about the link from Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill, and Miller’s answer was about as blunt as possible.
“The answer to that question is certainly yes,” said Miller, via EPSN.com.
However, Miller was also quick to point out that recent studies suggest there is a link, the strength of that link is still in question and needs a lot more study.
“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.
Boston University has become the hub of research in to CTE and its link to athletics, especially football. Leading that study is Dr. Ann McKee, and she has only been able to identify CTE in 176 brains to date. Her study has included CTE diagnosis’ in 90 of 94 brains of NFL players.
However, the twist in this study comes that diagnosis can only come after death.
McKee is much more certain about a link between football and CTE based off here 5-year study so far.
“I unequivocally think there’s a link between playing football and CTE. We’ve seen it in 90 out of 94 NFL players whose brains we’ve examined, we’ve found it in 45 out of 55 college players and 26 out of 65 high school players. No, I don’t think this represents how common this disease is in the living population, but the fact that over five years I’ve been able to accumulate this number of cases in football players, it cannot be rare. In fact, I think we are going to be surprised at how common it is.”
Without diagnosis in living humans, there isn’t much else that can be done other than to warn of the potential consequences and what CTE could do to the human brain while living as well.
To that end, some football and non-football athletes are lining up to make sure their brains are eventually studied (alive or dead). Leading the way is former USWNT star Brandi Chastain.
In the meantime, the heat continues to turn up on the NFL in regards to the safety and long-term health of its players.
[ESPN]
