Athletes Leaving Brains to Concussion Study

The debate over whether NFL players suffer long-term injuries from playing football seems both silly and sad. Many older NFL players have debilitating injuries but did not make the massive salaries of modern players. From what I've read, the NFL has consistently stone-walled these players when they have sought assistance from the league. Twelve athletes will donate their brains to Boston University to study the effects of conccussions on their brains:

A dozen athletes, including six N.F.L. players and a former United States women’s soccer player, have agreed to donate their brains after their deaths to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

On Thursday, the center will announce that a fifth deceased N.F.L. player, the former Houston Oilers linebacker John Grimsley, was found to have brain damage commonly associated with boxers.

The former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, one of the players who has agreed to donate his brain, said he hoped the center would help clarify the issue of concussions’ long-term effects, which have been tied to cognitive impairment and depression in several published studies. The N.F.L. says that, in regard to its players, the long-term effects of concussions are uncertain.

Hopefully, this new initiative will provide conclusive proof of the effects of football and spur the league into action.