Congressional hearings on football related head injuries
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary spent nearly seven hours on Wednesday listening to testimony given by former players, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and experts on head injuries.
The morning panel consisted of Commissioner Goodell, DeMaurice Smith, former Tampa Bucs Executive Gay Culverhouse, Dr. Andrew Tucker, Dr. Robert Cantu, Dr. David Weir and NFL Alumni Executive Director George Martin. You can read their individual testimony by clicking on their name above. CLICK HERE to view their testimony.
In the afternoon session, former players Tiki Barber and Merril Hoge joined Dr. Eleanor Profetto, Chris Nowinski, Dr. Ann Mckee, Dr. Joseph Maroon, Dr. Julian Bailes, and Dr. Joel Morganlander. Former player Bernie Parrish, who was scheduled to testify, did not appear before the Committee. Afternoon session can be viewed here.
Here’s an overview from the Baltimore Sun on today’s hearings.
Washington – Congress today waded into the debate over revelations that former NFL players may suffer from memory-related disorders at a much higher rate than the population at large.
In a House Judiciary Committee hearing, representatives heard stories of former football players who have struggled with homelessness, depression and an inability to perform basic tasks after suffering hundreds of blows to the head during their careers. But some present criticized the conclusions drawn from a report highlighting memory-related diseases among the players and emphasized the changes the NFL has made to protect players.
“The causes and pervasiveness of these football injuries warrant federal scrutiny,” said committee chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), who called for the league to release its injury data for an independent review. “These are not the types of risks these players or their families associate with the game of football.”
A retired player quality-of-life study commissioned by the NFL found former players between the ages of 30 and 49 experience memory-related diseases at a rate 19 times that of men who did not play, according to an analysis of the study by The New York Times. READ MORE
