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AS A NEW American football season is set to begin, researchers examining the brains of deceased NFL players have found that 99% of them showed signs of degenerative disease — believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head.
Researchers found striking evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 110 of the 111 donated brains of players who played in the National Football League, according to the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
CTE causes symptoms including memory loss, vertigo, depression and dementia. Problems can crop up years after a player’s career has ended.
The NFL has faced growing scrutiny in recent years linked to the issue of concussions and head trauma, with the league agreeing in 2015 on a $1 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits by former players suffering from neurological problems.
Along with NFL players, researchers also examined the brains of those who had played in high school, college, semi-professionally and in the Canadian Football League.
Of the total 202 players examined, the authors of the study from Boston University found that 87% of the players — whose median age at death was 66 years old — showed signs of CTE.
“These findings suggest that CTE may be related to prior participation in football and that a high level of play may be related to substantial disease burden,” the study authors wrote.
The most acute evidence of the degenerative condition, which currently can only be diagnosed post-mortem, was found among those who played at the highest levels, with 86 percent of professional players having severe forms of CTE.
Though the research — the largest CTE study published to date — suggests the disease may be related to prior participation in football, researchers cautioned against extrapolating the results to the general population.
Because the brains studied were for the most part donated by concerned families, they do not necessarily represent all people who have played the rough contact sport.
Traumatic impact
Head injury risks in the US sport have become a major concern as former players speak out about long-term health effects, including erratic behavior and mood disorders.
The issue sprang to the fore after Junior Seau — considered one of the greatest linebackers of all time — shot himself in 2012 at the age of 43.
A post-mortem study of his brain showed that he had been suffering from CTE.
Another former player, Dave Duerson — who killed himself in 2011 — was also found to have the condition, a possible explanation for his mood swings and depression.
Last year, an NFL official acknowledged for the first time a clear link between football and CTE.
In recent years, the league has donated money to concussion research and stepped up regulations in an attempt at minimizing the potentially traumatic physical impact of the game.
In a statement widely published in US media, the league said it appreciated the study “for the value it adds in the ongoing quest for a better understanding of CTE.”
“The NFL will continue to work with a wide range of experts to improve the health of current and former NFL athletes,” the statement said, noting that “there are still many unanswered questions relating to the cause, incidence and prevalence of long-term effects of head trauma such as CTE.”
“The NFL is committed to supporting scientific research into CTE and advancing progress in the prevention and treatment of head injuries.”
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Best news. No more overpriced tickets. Hopefully the government pushes the rule through as quickly as possible.
This is great news.
A simple solution would be to link all tickets purchased to a name, via a form of identification (drivers license, passport etc.). If you then can’t make the gig or event, you inform the original seller, Ticketmaster in this case, who purchase the ticket back off you, less your booking fee, and resell the ticket at face value.
@David:
That’s a very smart idea
@Nick Allen: I have my moments.
@David: What happens when you want to buy tickets for your niece?
@Paraic McDonagh: agree Paraic heard this link ticket to ID of person who bought the ticket before but every year I buy tickets for other people including family and friends as gifts.
Glastonbury Festival does something similar – your photo is printed on the ticket
Again, put her name on the ticket.
@David: and what if said niece or daughter doesn’t have a passport or driving license?
@David: tough crowd today. Great to see ideas being challenged so the best solution is reached.
@David: yep. This is how it’s done for Glastonbury. Photo is on the ticket too, can’t make it, there’s a resale portal.
@David: I’m just being the devil’s advocate. I proposed the same thing on a previous article about touting and it was quickly pointed out that there are issues with ID linking. For example if I wanted to gift my niece 2 tickets so she could bring a friend of her choice, there would have to be loopholes, which would allow the touts a chink. The main issue though is that it’s the ticket sellers themselves that are the biggest touts, so they are not going to voluntarily implement such a system. So I welcome this legislation.
@TonyD2469: most people of concert going age would, or at least should, have some form of identification. If you’re under 16 you’re not supposed to be unsupervised at a gig.
@Paraic McDonagh: I appreciate that, I made my comment from the jacks, aka my quiet time. Opens up a bit of a debate if nothing else. May stop underage kids gaining access to events unsupervised. Two birds, one stone.
@David: I agree, I think the technology already exists to limit the ability of touts. But greater regulation is needed, because Ticketmaster does not care enough about the consumer. It also has a monopoly, which should be countered.
@David: my 17 year old daughter doesn’t have a passport and I am sure she is not the only one without a valid form of ID and for the proposal to link tickets to ID requires everyone who wants to go to a gig have a valid form of ID. I just don’t see how it can work.
@TonyD2469:
At 17, she really should have some sort of official ID. A passport is the simplest & most acceptable at that age. My 6 year old hasn’t travelled abroad in a couple of years but we still keep the passport active for official ID use.
@TonyD2469: at 17 she should have a passport, or driving licence, and can get one if she wishes to. It’s a simple fix, no id, no entry. Every night club in the country operates this policy. Most gigs are over 18, unless accompanied by a guardian anyway… this would help enforce that.
@OU812: I think Tony is a tout, seeing a problem in a very easy solution, which covers unsupervised underage access, above cost reselling. His business enterprise going up in smoke…
I was at the Iron Maiden concert at the point last Saturday night,
They had a ticketless system where you brought your confirmation email and your payment card that you used to purchase the tickets with you,
Your card was swiped at the door to confirm your identity,
100% success to eliminate touting,
Great gig by the way.
@Niall Power: as I asked above what if the ticket is a gift?
@TonyD2469: you need the credit or debit card that purchased the ticket with you,
Two of the teenagers in our party had parents cards with them to gain access,
It’s a little inconvenient but it works 100%
@Niall Power: having to carryl someone elses credit card is problematic. Thats a bad policy
@Niall Power: So if I buy my 16 year old daughter or neice tickets for Justin Beiber I have to give them my credit card to bring along to the gig?
@TonyD2469: I’m beginning to think you’re a tout Tony…
@David: All legislation can be criticized some way – what about 40km speed limit if I can do faster on my bike – do I get a ticket? Doesn’t mean speed limit is bad.
@cortisola: you should, you’re breaking the speed limit
@TonyD2469: IT should work the same way as buying flights for someone as a gift, They can only use them in both cases.
Ticketmaster- the lady doth protest too much methinks.
This makes perfect sense. Ticketmaster and seatwave is a conflict of interest
Ticketmaster should never have been allowed to buy Seatwave as huge conflict and guarantee they pass tix directly through system for higher price and profit……ID system is the way to go…. @lavbeer:
Delighted to hear this.
Great News , now please get on with it. Good work all
I hope ticketmaster are fined as well. They’re criminal in their activity. They should have their licence revoked for ruling consumers off.
@6ljJQRRU:
what current law did they break? Probably took advantage off a lack of law, but they didn’t break any law as far as i can tell.
Fair play to Peter Aiken promotions in supporting this.
@Johnny O’Connor: Considering he’s fairly involved with Ticketmaster, I’d say his support of it is for publicity reasons only.
It’s impossible to get a ticket for a major event or artist(s) without using Ticketmaster.
MCD staying quiet, hmmm
Company who resell tickets for extortionate profits are against proposed legislation to make said activity illegal, there’s a shock. Ticketmaster/seatwave are s#um, delighted with this piece of legislation and hope it pushes forward.
#### them
It’s about time something was done about this. I was charged €150 each by Viagogo for tickets to Bruno Mars with a face value of €92 plus €40 service charge per ticket that had the service charge as €6.85 on them. They’re nothing but touts.
@Cindy Crawford: By the way i went through the Ticketmaster website & was diverted to Viagogo.
Reading the Ticketmaster submission (staunchly opposed to new legislation and regulation) it’s clear where their interests lie. Also they claim less than 1% of tickets were resold overall which is misleading. Not the case for high demand events. They should be forced to give examples e.g. U2
No more gouging for “resale” touts? Hah, good enough for them! They’ve a handy little scam going and its about time their overcharging wings were clipped!
At point of sale it will control cost but how do you police it supply and demand will always suit the kerbside touts no control unless fines are massive
At least now the touts selling tickets outside the 3 arena will have a legitimate business!
10% profit?
Or will they bother?
Like everything else we “nearly” get it right.
Why not just make it illegal to sell any ticket for anything above its face value and stop ticket profiteering altogether.
Finally something is moving. But would it be so hard to put a name on the tickets and apply name-change procedures similar to the plane ticket ones?
Ticketmaster should be Investigated for unfair competition practice
Call me cynical , but I can’t accept that any business which can legally transfer its products to a sister company and sell it for 10 times its original price, will not, in some form , take advantage of this .
Also, maybe a tad patronising there Ticketmaster – anybody there in the public confused about ticket touting ?
This needs to happen ,
Tickets have become near impossible to buy for gigs the last few years .
Now let’s do the same with nama properties
In other news, Irish people very unhappy at rainy forecast for the weekend……….obviously
Brilliant, This is badly needed. Well done Sin Feinn
First world problems or what? This is not what we need government for, add this to standing in the dail for prayer, blasphemy laws, helmets for cyclists etc. Here’s a simple solution: don’t want to spend loads of money to see some poxy band/team/event? Don’t.
@Sean O’Keefe: Yes we do need the government for this matter. People are being ripped off by the companies selling tickets & they won’t stop until they are forced to. This is a problem affecting the public which the government represent. You stay at home in your poxy house if you want to.
@Seán O’Keeffe: I think it’s more about Ticketmaster deliberately reserving tickets to sell on seatwave for a fortune and up their overall profits. If they weren’t doing this, I would be surprised.
Hurray!
Ahhh god love them ! Sad face! Not!!!
Both companies are See you next Tuesday’s
This is really funny. The problem with ticket touting or overpriced tickets can be solved fairly quickly without government involved.
Don’t be stupid and don’t buy them.
It would be very interesting to only sell event tickets via an open auction, with every ticket class sold at the final bid price
Great News , about time something was done to stop this. Good work all
Hmm sure let’s listen to the company who profit off ticket resales.
have your say