Much like the tobacco and lead industries the league tried to cover up problems which they knew about. That's why they settled the lawsuit.
And while concussions were well known, CTE is a relatively recent discovery. CTE does not require concussive-level hits. Repeated sub-concussive hits will do the job.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_tr...n_football
The problem with CTE is that it can only be diagnosed via autopsy and examination of the brain. Some NFL players have committed suicide by shooting themselves in the chest so their brains could be studied. The initial count of positive CTE diagnoses was 89 of the first 91 brains examined. I think the count is now up to 92 out of 94.
Personal mea culpa: When I coached high school hockey in the early 90's I told my players to "finish their checks" and "play the man" like everyone else did. I would never give such an instruction now.
And while concussions were well known, CTE is a relatively recent discovery. CTE does not require concussive-level hits. Repeated sub-concussive hits will do the job.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_tr...n_football
Quote:CTE was first recognized as affecting individuals who took considerable blows to the head, but was believed to be confined to boxers and not other athletes.[25] In the early 2000s neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu worked on the case of football player Mike Webster, who had died following unusual and unexplained behaviour. In 2005 Omalu, along with colleagues in the Department of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh, published his findings in the journal Neurosurgery in a paper which he titled “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player.” This was followed by a paper on a second case in 2006 describing similar pathology.
The problem with CTE is that it can only be diagnosed via autopsy and examination of the brain. Some NFL players have committed suicide by shooting themselves in the chest so their brains could be studied. The initial count of positive CTE diagnoses was 89 of the first 91 brains examined. I think the count is now up to 92 out of 94.
Personal mea culpa: When I coached high school hockey in the early 90's I told my players to "finish their checks" and "play the man" like everyone else did. I would never give such an instruction now.
