Tom McHale was an offensive lineman in the National Football League from 1987 to 1995. After he died last May at age 45, Boston University doctors discovered that he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head. It can be diagnosed only after death.
McHale is part of an unfortunate fraternity. Six former NFL players who died when they were between the ages of 25 and 50 have been tested for CTE. All six had it.
A growing body of research shows that mild brain trauma caused by repeated concussions can have long-lasting, far-reaching consequences. Several prominent neurologists and neuropathologists are sounding an alarm about the dangers of head-banging football.
The NFL is trying to cast doubt on Boston University’s conclusions about McHale’s death and its broader research on this kind of brain injury. That’s no surprise. Over the last decade and a half, the NFL has cast doubt on research at the University of North Carolina, West Virginia University and New York University. It has, for instance, disputed findings of a strong link between the number of concussions a player suffers and his risk of clinical depression.
The NFL has begun to address the dangers of concussions. Players who suffer a concussion are no longer allowed to play for the rest of the game or practice. There’s a hot line where players can report anonymously if they have been forced to play or practice against medical advice.
But the NFL could be a lot more aggressive about encouraging research and equipment advances to protect its players.
Concussions are an occupational hazard of professional football — just watch some of the jarring hits at the Super Bowl today. It is probably the roughest of all sports, and even the best mouth guards, neck braces and concussion-reducing helmets won’t eliminate the risk. But the NFL could do a lot more to reduce it before there is another Tom McHale.
