Page 17 - atoday mrch 16

SPORTS A17
Wednesday 16 March 2016

NFL links HIT
MACHINE
football, CTE;
Marlins’ Ichiro closing in on major milestone
could it affect
Miami Marlins center finder Ichiro Suzuki flies out during the
$1B deal? third inning of a spring training baseball game against the
Washington Nationals Friday, March 4, 2016, at Roger Dean
MARYCLAIRE DALE Stadium in Jupiter, Fla.
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Associated Press
NFL is standing behind a Page 18
top executive’s acknowl-
edgement that the brain
disease CTE can be linked
to football.
The comments by Jeff Mill-
er, the senior vice president
for health and safety, “ac-
curately reflect the view of
the NFL,” league spokes-
man Brian McCarthy said
Tuesday. Miller spoke Mon-
day at a congressional
committee’s roundtable
discussion about concus-
sions.
League officials have long
denied proof of a connec-
tion between playing in
the NFL and the condition
called chronic traumatic
encephalopathy.
Miller told the congres-
sional panel that brain re-
search on former NFL play-
ers “certainly” shows a link
between football and CTE.
Responding to questions,
Miller referenced the work
of Boston University neuro-
pathologist Dr. Ann McK-
ee, who has found CTE in
the brains of 90 former pro
football players.
“Well, certainly, Dr. McK-
ee’s research shows that a
number of retired NFL play-
ers were diagnosed with
CTE, so the answer to that
question is certainly yes,
but there are also a num-
ber of questions that come
with that,” Miller said.
CTE is tied to repeated
brain trauma and associ-
ated with symptoms such
as memory loss, depression
and progressive dementia.
Players diagnosed after
their deaths include Hall
of Famers Junior Seau, Ken
Stabler and Mike Webster.

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