Page 17 - Aruba Today

SPORTS B1
Wednesday 30 March 2016

NFL demands SOUR
retraction of NOTE

New Lakers fall to Jazz by 48 points
York Times
concussion story Los Angeles Lakers forward Kobe Bryant sits on the bench
after coming out of the game during the second half of an
BY BARRY WILNER NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz Monday, March
28, 2016, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 123-75.
AP PRO FOOTBALL WRITER
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) -- The NFL Page 20

has demanded The New

York Times retract a story

that called the league’s

concussion research

flawed and likened the

NFL’s handling of head

trauma to the tobacco

industry’s response to the

dangers of cigarettes.

In a letter from its law firm to

the general counsels of the

newspaper and obtained

by The Associated Press on

Tuesday, the league said it

was defamed by the Times.

The NFL added the story

published last Thursday did

not “present a shred of evi-

dence to support its thesis

that the NFL intentionally

concealed concussion re-

search data.”

The NFL also said it will

“more broadly reserve all

of the league’s rights and

remedies,” a veiled threat

of legal action.

Times sports editor Jason

Stallman said, “We see

no reason to retract any-

thing.”

“The NFL apparently ob-

jects to our reporting that

the league had ties to the

tobacco industry,” Stall-

man added. “But, as the

article noted, a co-owner

of the Giants, Preston R.

Tisch, also partly owned

a leading cigarette com-

pany, Lorillard, and was

a board member of both

the Tobacco Institute and

the Council for Tobacco

Research, two entities that

played a central role in

misusing science to hide

the risks of cigarettes. Also,

the NFL and the tobacco

industry shared lobbyists,

lawyers and consultants.”

Continued on Page 3