NFLPA president Eric Winston blasted the NFL on Monday after a new report by ESPN’s Outside the Lines exposed some troubling league practices.
The report indicates the NFL has been trying to influence concussion studies by the National Institute of Health, which would be a scruple-less endeavor if ever there was one.
The details exposed by Outside the Lines are astonishing, including alleged redistribution of money ($16 million) from a Boston University project to members of the league’s committee on brain injuries (read more about the troubling report here).
Needless to say, Winston was upset, and he took to his Twitter account to write: “This is why the NFLPA refused to be apart of any study with the NFL. They cannot be trusted to do the right thing when it involves players.”
It’s hard to argue against his point. The NFL has not been trustworthy when it comes to protecting players and has been the opposite of helpful when it comes to ensuring concussions are at the forefront of its agenda — new rules notwithstanding.
There is new technology becoming available that could have a revolutionary impact on concussions in the NFL. Hopefully the league will make a better effort in the future to implement new products and will actually work with the players, rather than against them, on this serious issue.