Football Players and CTE

On The Herd with Colin Cowherd and ESPN radio program, he spoke about a PBS Frontline story regarding the link between football players and CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. The PBS study shows that 128 former high school, college, semi-professional and professional football players were tested for the disease. 101, or just under 80%, tested positive. 76/79, or 96%, of the former NFL players tested positive. The studies were done by a collaborated brain bank from the VA and Boston University's CTE center, once the "preferred" brain bank of the NFL. Up to this point, this story seems debate proof. Although no one would argue that there is a definite link between football players and the brain disease, the findings came from a skewed population thus bringing debate to the findings of the study.

The testing was not done at random. All of the samples submitted for testing were submitted by the families of players who had suspected they might have had the disease before their deaths. In this way, Frontline author Jason M. Breslow admitted that the players represented in the study represent a skewed population. There is a good chance that these families were seeking closure or in some cases, compensation.

In July of this year, a federal judge approved a preliminary settlement by the NFL in a case where nearly 4,500 former players sued the organization for allegedly concealing the long-term effects of concussions. Ten days before the judge's decision, the NFL agreed to remove the cap placed on damages they would pay. The original cap was set at $675 million. The Judge said that would not be enough to cover the settlements of all the players who might require aid in the future. The new agreement allows $5 million for league veterans diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease; as much as $4 million for a death involving traumatic brain injury; and as much as $3 million for players suffering from dementia. It includes $75 million for baseline medical exams for retired players and $10 million for concussion research and education.

Many families of deceased players who had CTE and committed suicide, argue that CTE was the cause of the suicide. There have been a handful of players that have committed suicide in recent years. Some of the former players were known to have struggled with depression, which can be a symptom of CTE but CTE is not a difinitive cause of depression in every athlete. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, there is a suicide committed every 13 min in America. Stock brokers on Wall Street are 38% more likely to commit suicide than the average person. Lawyers, 54%. The profession with the highest rate of suicide is a physician. Most of them have a wonderful life but they are almost 100% more likely to commit suicide. By comparison, football players have a low rate of suicide despite the CTE findings.

Cowherd argues that while no one is refuting CTE studies, no one is talking about the benefits players have been given by playing football that they might not have gotten any other way either. For example, many of these athletes would not have recieved an education any other way than through sports. In a CNN investigation, entrance exam  scores for football and basketball players from 37 public universities across the country were petitioned and 21 of the schools cooperated. Some that did not said they would submit the records "after" football season had ended. The results proved that 10% of the athletes read at or near a 3rd grade level. One of the universities that received scrutiny was the University of North Carolina. UNC academic counselor Mary Willingham went through test scores over an 8 year period from 2004-2012. She found that 25% of athletes did not have the skills to take classes at a community college, let alone a university. She found that 8% read below a 4th grade level and 60% were between a 4th and 8th grade level. CNN also looked into the data Willingham discovered and found that many players at UNC were enrolled in classes that required little or no work. A UNC professor was even indicted for academic fraud over the scandal.

Football has been a gateway to opportunity and success. Football has helped student-athletes that otherwise could not have been accepted into college have a better quality of life. They have football to thank for that. Specifically to those at UNC, Willingham said, "there are athletes who are reading at a third- and fourth-grade level.... there is no way for them to succeed in a college classroom; the only place they can succeed is on the football field."  The benefits of underqulified athletes being accepted into academic programs and given opportunities for education should not be overlooked. While sports, specifically football in this case, can be viewed as being detrimental to some because of CTE, it has been beneficial to thousands just through educational opportunities alone.

The PBS special about CTE is based on a skewed study and overlooks the educational benifits provided to athletes.