During congressional testimony, the National Football League on Monday admitted a link between football and the degenerative neurological disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
However, a representative for the league said he doesn’t know what that means for America’s most popular game.
“There is a number of questions that comes with that,” said Jeff Miller, executive vice president of health and safety policy for the NFL, during a concussion roundtable Monday held by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
He added that there are questions about what to do with that information and where to go from there. He said that he isn’t a medical expert and couldn’t answer those questions.
The concession comes after a neurosurgeon employed by the NFL, Michael Berger, refused to acknowledge a link between CTE and football after being questioned during the Super Bowl last month.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., criticized the NFL, saying that the league has downplayed the link. She brought up league efforts to discredit Dr. Bennet Omalu, the doctor who was featured in the recent movie “Concussion.”
“The NFL is peddling a false sense of security,” Schakowsky said. “The public needs honesty on the healthcare risks”
Miller pointed to research from Boston University that found CTE in numerous retired football players.
“I unequivocally think there is a link between football and CTE,” said Ann McKee, neurology professor at Boston University, who has conducted research on brains belonging to retired players’ who have since died.
CTE is a degenerative brain disease that can lead to depression and eventually dementia. It has been linked to boxers since the 1920s, according to Boston University.
McKee said CTE isn’t caused necessarily by concussions but by repetitive blows to the head.
“It is not about concussions, it is about limiting the head injuries,” she said.
In recent years, new research from Omalu, McKee and other scientists has discovered the disorder in the brains of retired NFL players.
