The NFL and NHL have survived, for now, the first decade and a half of the age of full and complete awareness as to the link between repetitive head trauma and long-term health consequences. Both sports have yet to fully embrace that which most people now take as a given.
Following the recent suicide of former hockey enforcer Chris Simon at 52, the NHL’s deputy commissioner said that the “science is still lacking” regarding the connection between playing hockey and Chronic Traumatic Encephelopathy. The science might be incomplete regarding all aspects of how CTE develops and what it means to have it, but it’s hard to say it’s “lacking” as to the basic question of whether getting repeatedly hit in the head is hazardous to one’s health.
Simon’s family doesn’t need more proof; in a statement released through his agent, Simon’s family said that it “strongly believes and witnessed firsthand, that Chris struggled immensely from CTE which unfortunately resulted in his death.”
The NFL also has resisted fully submitting to that which is otherwise obvious. In a July 2022 deposition from the league’s effort to force insurance carriers to pay for the concussion settlement with former players, Commissioner Roger Goodell also said the science is lacking, in so many words.
Q. “As you sit here today, sir, do you know whether there is any medical consensus regarding whether concussions result in long-term damage to NFL players who sustain concussions while playing in the NFL?”
A. “I think there’s still a great deal of uncertainty about the causation issue, if that’s what you’re referring to.”
Is there really uncertainty about the link between a lifetime of concussions and long-term damage? Didn’t we already know from boxing that it’s not good for the human brain to get bashed around?
The reality is that the supply of pro hockey and football players has not diminished, even as everyone knows the risks of taking repetitive blows to the head. The NFL does, too, despite Goodell’s testimony. Why else would the NFL be so committed to reducing concussions?
The time for circling the wagons ended years ago. The reckoning arrived, and it took root. And both hockey and football have been fine. There’s no longer any reason to downplay science. People know the risks, and they’re still engaging in the activity.
