4 ms·

Decoding the N.F.L. Database to Find 100 Missing Concussions

93 points by clorenzo 11y ago

iaw 11y ago
While unfortunate I don't find this that surprising (or even nefarious). Getting every doctor to consistently do something outside of their normal scope is probably pretty challenging. Sometimes things can slip. As for the Dallas Cowboys, well, they clearly just couldn't be bothered.
- emodendroket 11y ago
  It looks pretty bad in conjunction with the simultaneously-published story that they deliberately funded and promoted misleading research
  - xufi 11y ago
    Yeah. It seems they've been doing that actaully before the Super Bowl based on what I've seen. THey'll do anything to try to find loopholes for players to still play regardless of the safety preacutions that experts have warned about
- URSpider94 11y ago
  What is nefarious, or at least extremely sloppy, is that the paper's authors claimed prominently that they had captured all of the data on every concussion in the NFL within the time period. Also, they included the games played by the teams that provided no data in the total, which therefore reduced the incidence rate of head injuries in their final analysis. From a companion article in NYT: “It was understood that any player with a recognized symptom of head injury, no matter how minor, should be included in the study,” one paper said. And in confidential peer-review documents, the committee wrote that “all N.F.L. teams participated” and that “all players were therefore part of this study.”
  - iaw 11y ago
    I was complaining to coworkers yesterday about what counts for "rigor" in a lot of important scientific research is actually sloppy. Case in point I suppose.
- dharbin 11y ago
  And Dallas's owner, Jerry Jones, has stated that it's "absurd" to say there's a link between CTE and football. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25527187/jerry-jones-its-absurd-to-say-theres-a-link-between-cte-and-football http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25527187/jerry-... Was the absence of Dallas Cowboys data truly a mistake?
  - iaw 11y ago
    I originally had something a little more accusatory about the Cowboys before I edited it. In light of Jones' attitude, it seems likely that he obstructed it out of self-interest.
markrote 11y ago
Far more important, and certainly not coincidental, is that the NFL employed some of the same lobbyists, lawyers, consultants as the tobacco industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/sports/football/nfl-concussion-research-tobacco.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/sports/football/nfl-concus...
- danso 11y ago
  Just for anyone who was confused as I was...the submitted URL is a sidebar for the massive article markrote links to. That said, I like the submitted URL because it's another example of how bad data (in this case, the database of concussions sloppily put together by the NFL) can be combined with old-fashioned research and reporting (looking up old football game news articles) to find damning evidence. Or, more broadly speaking, never trust a dataset without corroborating it with your own research.
- mikeyouse 11y ago
  And the same quack doctor (a Guadalajara-educated rheumatologist -- definitely not a neurologist) that ran these studies to hide the affects of CTE was the same asshole that was defending MLB's steroid policy during the early 2000's. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/sports/baseball/medical-adviser-for-baseball-lists-exaggerated-credentials.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/sports/baseball/medical-ad... What an amazing coincidence that the same guy happens to be an expert on both steroids and brain injuries when it benefits billion-dollar sports empires.
hbcondo714 11y ago
Here's the NFL's response to this new york times story: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000647389/article/nfl-response-to-new-york-times-concussion-research-story http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000647389/article/nfl-r...
thinkcontext 11y ago
Does anyone else find the timing of this and the NFL's recent surprise admission before Congress[0] interesting? I'm curious if they did that because they knew this story was coming out, undermining their science which produced uncertainty about the link. [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/sports/nfl-concussions-cte-football-jeff-miller.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/sports/nfl-concussions-cte...

93 points by clorenzo 11y ago

iaw 11y ago

While unfortunate I don't find this that surprising (or even nefarious). Getting every doctor to consistently do something outside of their normal scope is probably pretty challenging. Sometimes things can slip. As for the Dallas Cowboys, well, they clearly just couldn't be bothered.

emodendroket 11y ago
It looks pretty bad in conjunction with the simultaneously-published story that they deliberately funded and promoted misleading research
- xufi 11y ago
  Yeah. It seems they've been doing that actaully before the Super Bowl based on what I've seen. THey'll do anything to try to find loopholes for players to still play regardless of the safety preacutions that experts have warned about
URSpider94 11y ago
What is nefarious, or at least extremely sloppy, is that the paper's authors claimed prominently that they had captured all of the data on every concussion in the NFL within the time period. Also, they included the games played by the teams that provided no data in the total, which therefore reduced the incidence rate of head injuries in their final analysis. From a companion article in NYT: “It was understood that any player with a recognized symptom of head injury, no matter how minor, should be included in the study,” one paper said. And in confidential peer-review documents, the committee wrote that “all N.F.L. teams participated” and that “all players were therefore part of this study.”
- iaw 11y ago
  I was complaining to coworkers yesterday about what counts for "rigor" in a lot of important scientific research is actually sloppy. Case in point I suppose.
dharbin 11y ago
And Dallas's owner, Jerry Jones, has stated that it's "absurd" to say there's a link between CTE and football. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25527187/jerry-jones-its-absurd-to-say-theres-a-link-between-cte-and-football http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25527187/jerry-... Was the absence of Dallas Cowboys data truly a mistake?
- iaw 11y ago
  I originally had something a little more accusatory about the Cowboys before I edited it. In light of Jones' attitude, it seems likely that he obstructed it out of self-interest.

markrote 11y ago

Far more important, and certainly not coincidental, is that the NFL employed some of the same lobbyists, lawyers, consultants as the tobacco industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/sports/football/nfl-concussion-research-tobacco.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/25/sports/football/nfl-concus...

danso 11y ago
Just for anyone who was confused as I was...the submitted URL is a sidebar for the massive article markrote links to. That said, I like the submitted URL because it's another example of how bad data (in this case, the database of concussions sloppily put together by the NFL) can be combined with old-fashioned research and reporting (looking up old football game news articles) to find damning evidence. Or, more broadly speaking, never trust a dataset without corroborating it with your own research.
mikeyouse 11y ago
And the same quack doctor (a Guadalajara-educated rheumatologist -- definitely not a neurologist) that ran these studies to hide the affects of CTE was the same asshole that was defending MLB's steroid policy during the early 2000's. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/sports/baseball/medical-adviser-for-baseball-lists-exaggerated-credentials.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/sports/baseball/medical-ad... What an amazing coincidence that the same guy happens to be an expert on both steroids and brain injuries when it benefits billion-dollar sports empires.

hbcondo714 11y ago

Here's the NFL's response to this new york times story: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000647389/article/nfl-response-to-new-york-times-concussion-research-story http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000647389/article/nfl-r...

thinkcontext 11y ago

Does anyone else find the timing of this and the NFL's recent surprise admission before Congress[0] interesting? I'm curious if they did that because they knew this story was coming out, undermining their science which produced uncertainty about the link. [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/sports/nfl-concussions-cte-football-jeff-miller.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/16/sports/nfl-concussions-cte...