W Post: Congressional Report Chides NFL and Union on Injuries

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/09/AR2008040903562.html

Thursday, April 10, 2008; Page E02

Two members of a House committee that held hearings last summer on the complaints of retired NFL players said yesterday that the league and the NFL Players Association are not doing enough to deal with former players' health problems. The committee's chairman threatened to hold more hearings and might even introduce legislation to deal with the issue.

Also yesterday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and member Linda T. Sánchez (D-Calif.) released a 144-page report compiled by the Congressional Research Service that collected data on NFL injuries and the response to those injuries by the league and the union.

According to the report, the NFLPA does not have a full-time person to deal with health and safety and has limited say on the subject. It also said the fact that teams treat their own players for injuries creates a conflict of interest, because it is in the teams' interest to get players back on the field quickly and team owners expect those athletes to play injured.

The report sided with former players who have alleged it is difficult to get health benefits after they retire and said that neither the NFL nor NFLPA keep data on the percentage of players who retire because of injuries.

The CRS also found that NFL players are eight times more likely to get hurt than their counterparts in "any other commercial sports league, including ice hockey and auto racing."

"This report clearly demonstrates that the NFL and NFLPA need to make serious efforts to collect data on player injuries and eliminate the conflict of interest by team doctors who place the financial interests of their teams ahead of players' health," Sánchez said in a statement.

FULL story at link.