NFL Announces $100 Million Donation to...Someone to do...Something About Concussions

Hey remember how Cam Newton got his brain scrambled in the NFL's season opener in Denver and not a single person on the field seemed to care or know? Good times. After the game, Newton finally went through some sort of concussion protocol where he was asked a few questions he could not recall minutes later. Better times. Now, nearly a week later, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a whole long letter announcing that the league has earmarked $100 million for concussion research and player safety initiatives. Great times!

If you read Roger's letter you quickly learn that it is virtually meaningless. It is the same press release they've been releasing for years, only this time it's trumped up as an open letter to You, The Fan. Outside of the very lovely sounding $100 million—and maybe some stuff about helmets and, oooh "advanced technology"—there is not a concrete detail to be found anywhere. There are a whole lot of promises to do…things I'm sure will be specified later in great detail because they are now contractually obligated to do them by virtue of this letter, and the phrases "we will" and "do better" appear approximately five thousand times, but outside of that, good luck figuring out what, if anything the NFL is going to do. A new program was established and it's going to do things like "research" and establish "an independent, scientific advisory board comprising leading doctors, scientists and clinicians to engage in a clear process to identify and support the most compelling proposals for scientific research into concussions, head injuries and their long-term effects."

There are four pillars to the NFL's new Commitment to Make Sure the NFL Tells People it is Committed to Player Safety, and they are:

• Protecting Players
• Advanced Technology
• Medical Research
• Sharing Progress

Sounds fancy!

Somehow in this press release, Roger Goodell manages to paint both the doctors on the league's Head, Neck, and Spine committee, and it's—let's call it complicated relationship with the National Institutes of Health as positive factors in the commitment to concussion research. The letter even references the $30 million grant the league made to the NIH, and subsequently pulled back, as another example of its commitment. In a lot of ways, this was not unlike the announcements we often see regarding player contracts: a PR man, writing entirely meaningless words and hoping everyone looks at the big, shiny number, that will probably never get paid out.

[NFL]