New Study: At Least 1 out of 4 NFL Players Gets CTE

[McD5]

This could be the last season where the sport resembles what we see today.

I would guess it's flag football within 5 years. Boxing and MMA are physical sports, but 1 out of 4 is an alarmingly high number.

At Least 1 in 4 NFL Players Gets CTE, Major New Study Finds

The actual prevalence, researchers said, may be much higher.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Conn]

Only marginally higher rate than the 1 out of 5 internet posters who develop CTE from banging their heads off their keyboards for decades

(Real post: this is very worrying obviously. But financial interests, of the league, of media, and of players who have no other path to wealth, will prevent much from changing for a long time. We are not at an all-time-high in regards to protecting people over profits, or trusting science, in this country. And I’ll leave it at that.)

 

[Chris]

Money has always been at the top of the pile since civilization started. The new emphasis on concussion seems like a great thing, in theory. But I would argue that it is, at it’s core, motivated more by protecting assets than it is protecting players.

 

[Boone]

Moved to the NFL forum as it's not Washington-specific.

I have said before that the NFL needs to use the correct terminology - traumatic brain injury - because that's what these are. A 'concussion' sounds like a 'bruise' where you just have to give it a few days and it fades away. Brain injuries don't go away. The effects are cumulative and irreversible. As a fan, I would hate to see the game change or go away as we know it. As a human being, I have to think about the impact on players. No sport is worth permanent brain damage. It just isn't.

I think we are already seeing parents opting out of letting their kids play pee wee football and even high school football. I think you could see this expand into college and even pro football too. There may be legal actions taken to force the NFL to change or that make damages they have to pay so exorbitant they cannot continue with the sport as we know it.

I agree with Chris on the money driving everything. But when it becomes a legal battle all bets are off, and it seems inevitable that there will be a class action lawsuit, maybe one of the biggest in history, and the courts will decide the future of the NFL, not NFL executives.