The Hampton Script

Jelani Scott | Sports Editor

On March 29, the NFL once again found themselves in the middle of a huge controversy when the league called for the New York Times to retract a piece that calls into question the validity of their concussion studies.

In an article published by the New York Times on March 24, it was revealed that, while the NFL has stood by their findings for the last 13 years, “based on a full accounting of all concussions diagnosed by team physicians from 1996 through 2001,” more than a 100 concussions were removed from the report.

Iconic quarterbacks Steve Young and Troy Aikman were cited in the report as being some of the names the league omitted from their study.

The articles goes on to note that the NFL then “calculated the rates of concussions using the incomplete data, making them appear less frequent than they actually were.”

The newspaper juggernaut questioned the NFL’s concussion committee on these omissions and they replied, saying, “The clubs were not required to submit their data and not every club did.”

The article then went onto examine the similarities that the NFL has with the tobacco industry, citing that, while it can not be equated with smoking, there is evidence that both companies “shared lobbyists, lawyers and consultants” and that “personal correspondence underscored their friendships, including dinner invitations and a request for lobbying advice.”

This is not the first time the NFL has been accused of sweeping things under the rug.

In 2013, the NFL agreed to a $765 settlement in a lawsuit that saw retired players claiming that league officials covered up the risks of concussions.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the New York Times informed the public that they will not retract the article like the league is requesting.

“We see no reason to retract anything,” the Times poignantly expressed, citing the factual background presented in the article that justified each claim that was made.