NFL Concussion Settlement a Loss for Public
By Ken Reed
The recent settlement between the National Football League (NFL) and approximately 4,500 former players is definitely a win for the NFL. The league gave up less than 10% of its gross revenue for one year and didn’t have to admit any type of guilt, reveal any internal research, or open any medical records. It’s also a win for the hundreds of players that are suffering the debilitating effects of football-induced brain trauma and need the financial help to pay medical bills.
But it’s a big-time loss for the general public, and in particular, young football players and their families.
If this case had gone to trial, Americans would’ve learned even more about the dangers of brain trauma in football and other contact sports. We would’ve learned more about brain injury symptoms and treatment do’s and don’ts. Parents would’ve had more information at their disposal when making decisions regarding sports participation options for their children.
But we’ll never know now what the NFL knew, and when they knew it. What type of information does the NFL have under lock and key about concussions and sub-concussive hits and the links with depression, memory loss, early-onset Alzheimer’s, and even Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS)?
The lawsuit settlement means critical information in our quest to learn more about brain trauma will never see the light of day, and that’s a loss for all of us.
Alas, the NFL suit is over but the concussion/brain issue certainly isn’t. The focus now needs to shift from the 2,000 or so NFL players to the more than 3.5 million youth football players in this country. Young players are more vulnerable to brain injuries than adults because their brains are still developing.
What are we to make of youth football? High school football? Should our public schools — designed to enhance the brain — even be offering activities that are hazardous to the brain?
When it comes to concussions, a ton of issues remain — despite the NFL’s desire to close the book on the issue.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
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Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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