On March 14th, the NFL finally came forward in admitting the link between playing football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), as, when asked by Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) if there was such a link, NFL senior vice president for health and safety, Jeff Miller, responded by saying, "The answer to that question is certainly yes."
Not everyone's on board with this admission, however. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, during a speech he gave at the NFL owners meetings in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday, said the following about the matter:
"We don't have that knowledge and background, and scientifically, so there's no way in the world to say you have a relationship relative to anything here. There's no research. There's no data. ... We're not disagreeing. We're just basically saying the same thing. We're doing a lot more. It's the kind of thing that you want to work ... to prevent injury."
When asked if he believes there's a link between playing football and CTE, Jones responded with this:
"No, that's absurd. There's no data in any way creates a knowledge. There's no way that you could have made a comment that there is an association and some type of assertion. In most things, you have to back it up by studies. And in this particular case, we all know how medicine is. Medicine is evolving. I grew up being told that aspirin was not good. I'm told that one a day is good for you. ... I'm saying that changed over the years as we've had more research and knowledge.
So we are very supportive of the research. ... We have for years been involved in trying to make it safer, safer as it pertains to head injury. We have millions of people that have played this game, have millions of people that are at various ages right now that have no issues at all. None at all. So that's where we are. That didn't alter at all what we're doing about it. We're gonna do everything we can to understand it better and make it safer."
No studies? No data? Seriously?!? Perhaps Jerry missed the study Frontline published last year. The study was conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University. It found that of the 91 deceased NFL players the researchers analyzed, 87 of them tested positive for CTE (or 95.6%).
As VA Boston Healthcare System chief of neuropathology, Dr. Ann McKee, told Frontline following the release of the study, "[CTE] is a very real disease."
She added:
"People think that we're blowing this out of proportion, that this is a very rare disease and that we're sensationalizing it. My response is that where I sit, this is a very real disease. We have had no problem identifying it in hundreds of players."
I love football, but I can't for one second deny the indisputable link between participating in the sport and CTE. Given Jones' comments denying this link, expect him to utter the following lines in the future:
- "I honestly don't think we have enough information to prove whether or not smoking is bad for you. I mean, I smoked for I don't know how long and look at me. :: suffers a coughing fit :: Sorry about that. I don't know what that was all about. Anyway, where was I?"
- "When the sun's out and it's still cold, I really have to wonder if the sun is actually warm, you know? I think we need more data before fully concluding on the mater."
- "Gravity? I don't know. I haven't fully come down one way or the other on that whole thing."
Yeah, after hearing Jerry Jones' recent comments, I think he should have probably preceded them by saying, "Linking football to CTE is absurd! It's also unproven that thought enters my mind before I open my mouth. We need more data."
Actually, I'm not sure we do. Congratulations, Mr. Jones! You've earned my Douche of the Day Award!
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/15047068/jerry-jones-says-not-convinced-link-cte-football
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-for-brain-disease/
Not everyone's on board with this admission, however. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, during a speech he gave at the NFL owners meetings in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday, said the following about the matter:
"We don't have that knowledge and background, and scientifically, so there's no way in the world to say you have a relationship relative to anything here. There's no research. There's no data. ... We're not disagreeing. We're just basically saying the same thing. We're doing a lot more. It's the kind of thing that you want to work ... to prevent injury."
When asked if he believes there's a link between playing football and CTE, Jones responded with this:
"No, that's absurd. There's no data in any way creates a knowledge. There's no way that you could have made a comment that there is an association and some type of assertion. In most things, you have to back it up by studies. And in this particular case, we all know how medicine is. Medicine is evolving. I grew up being told that aspirin was not good. I'm told that one a day is good for you. ... I'm saying that changed over the years as we've had more research and knowledge.
So we are very supportive of the research. ... We have for years been involved in trying to make it safer, safer as it pertains to head injury. We have millions of people that have played this game, have millions of people that are at various ages right now that have no issues at all. None at all. So that's where we are. That didn't alter at all what we're doing about it. We're gonna do everything we can to understand it better and make it safer."
No studies? No data? Seriously?!? Perhaps Jerry missed the study Frontline published last year. The study was conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University. It found that of the 91 deceased NFL players the researchers analyzed, 87 of them tested positive for CTE (or 95.6%).
As VA Boston Healthcare System chief of neuropathology, Dr. Ann McKee, told Frontline following the release of the study, "[CTE] is a very real disease."
She added:
"People think that we're blowing this out of proportion, that this is a very rare disease and that we're sensationalizing it. My response is that where I sit, this is a very real disease. We have had no problem identifying it in hundreds of players."
I love football, but I can't for one second deny the indisputable link between participating in the sport and CTE. Given Jones' comments denying this link, expect him to utter the following lines in the future:
- "I honestly don't think we have enough information to prove whether or not smoking is bad for you. I mean, I smoked for I don't know how long and look at me. :: suffers a coughing fit :: Sorry about that. I don't know what that was all about. Anyway, where was I?"
- "When the sun's out and it's still cold, I really have to wonder if the sun is actually warm, you know? I think we need more data before fully concluding on the mater."
- "Gravity? I don't know. I haven't fully come down one way or the other on that whole thing."
Yeah, after hearing Jerry Jones' recent comments, I think he should have probably preceded them by saying, "Linking football to CTE is absurd! It's also unproven that thought enters my mind before I open my mouth. We need more data."
Actually, I'm not sure we do. Congratulations, Mr. Jones! You've earned my Douche of the Day Award!
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/15047068/jerry-jones-says-not-convinced-link-cte-football
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/new-87-deceased-nfl-players-test-positive-for-brain-disease/
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