Congresswoman: Trump endangering NFL players with ârecklessâ comments about safety
This is not the first time  President Trump  has appeared to underestimate the effects linked to repeated hits to the head. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via Bloomberg)
 President Trump  had an awful lot to say about the NFL this weekend â and not just about players who did not stand for the national anthem to protest racial injustice in the United States. Largely lost in the kerfuffle were comments  Trump  made suggesting the NFLâs player safety rules are âruining the game.â
âFifteen yards  throw  him  out of the game â  he  said at a Friday night rally in Alabama. âThey had that last week. I watched for a couple of minutes. Two guys  just really beautiful tackle  boom  15 yards. The referee gets on television   his  wife is sitting at home  sheâs so proud of  him  â theyâre ruining the game. Right? Theyâre ruining the game. Hey look  thatâs what they want to do. They want to hit  but it is hurting the game.â
On Tuesday  Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)  a longtime advocate for player safety  shot back  deriding  Trump  for âencouraging increased violence in football.â
âThese comments endanger player safety and completely contradict extensive scientific study â Schakowsky said in  a letter to Trump   reminding him of the adverse health effects of concussions  which  Trump  did not mention Friday but has downplayed before.
âConcussions are much more than âa little ding on the head â as you said during your campaign â  she  wrote. âEven repeated and sub-concussive blows to the head  commonplace in football  have been shown to cause lasting neurodegenerative diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This serious disease includes symptoms of impulse control problems  aggression  depression and paranoia. As time passes  CTE continues to degenerate the brain  resulting in memory loss  confusion  impaired judgment and eventually progressive dementia.â
Attached to  the letter   Schakowsky included links to congressional testimony about concussions in sports  as well as a recent study that found an alarming rate of CTE in former NFL players.
[Steinberg: Donât let  Trump  turn NFL playersâ brains into a political football]
âIt is inexcusable to deride systemic efforts to improve player safety â Schakowsky wrote to  Trump   whose comments came a day after BUâs CTE Center diagnosed Aaron Hernandez  who committed suicide while serving a life sentence for murder in April  with one of the severest forms of CTE. âThere are real consequences for your reckless comments  and players will pay the price. The time for denying facts and looking the other way is over.â
 Compared to the widespread reactions Trump received from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL owners  reaction to his Friday comments about public safety has been few and far between .  They  did elicit a response from Joe Lockhart  the NFL executive vice president of communications and public affairs  who called Trumpâs comments on safety âout of touch.â
This is not the first time   [TGT] has appeared to underestimate the effects linked to repeated hits to the head. (Olivier Douliery/Pool via Bloomberg)
  [TGT] had an awful lot to say about the NFL this weekend â and not just about players who did not stand for the national anthem to protest racial injustice in the United States. Largely lost in the kerfuffle were comments   [TGT] made suggesting the NFLâs player safety rules are âruining the game.â
âFifteen yards  throw   [TGT]   out of the game â   [TGT]   said at a Friday night rally in Alabama. âThey had that last week. I watched for a couple of minutes. Two guys  just really beautiful tackle  boom  15 yards. The referee gets on television    [TGT]   wife is sitting at home  sheâs so proud of   [TGT]   â theyâre ruining the game. Right? Theyâre ruining the game. Hey look  thatâs what they want to do. They want to hit  but it is hurting the game.â
On Tuesday  Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.)  a longtime advocate for player safety  shot back  deriding   [TGT] for âencouraging increased violence in football.â
âThese comments endanger player safety and completely contradict extensive scientific study â Schakowsky said in  a letter to  [TGT]    reminding him of the adverse health effects of concussions  which   [TGT] did not mention Friday but has downplayed before.
âConcussions are much more than âa little ding on the head â as you said during your campaign â  she  wrote. âEven repeated and sub-concussive blows to the head  commonplace in football  have been shown to cause lasting neurodegenerative diseases like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This serious disease includes symptoms of impulse control problems  aggression  depression and paranoia. As time passes  CTE continues to degenerate the brain  resulting in memory loss  confusion  impaired judgment and eventually progressive dementia.â
Attached to  the letter   Schakowsky included links to congressional testimony about concussions in sports  as well as a recent study that found an alarming rate of CTE in former NFL players.
[Steinberg: Donât let   [TGT] turn NFL playersâ brains into a political football]
âIt is inexcusable to deride systemic efforts to improve player safety â Schakowsky wrote to   [TGT]    whose comments came a day after BUâs CTE Center diagnosed Aaron Hernandez  who committed suicide while serving a life sentence for murder in April  with one of the severest forms of CTE. âThere are real consequences for your reckless comments  and players will pay the price. The time for denying facts and looking the other way is over.â
  [TGT]  has been few and far between .   [TGT]   did elicit a response from Joe Lockhart  the NFL executive vice president of communications and public affairs  who called Trumpâs comments on safety âout of touch.â