Hernandez's CTE Should Change the NFL

The news about Aaron Hernandez's CTE diagnosis will not be the end of the NFL or American Football as we know it.  There is too much money invested in football for an illness that currently can only be diagnosed posthumously to eradicate it.  But the severity of Hernandez's condition will have lasting effects on the sport and the people who volunteer to play the sport. The severity of those effects will be determined by how the NFL reacts to the news about Hernandez in the steps they take to address this problem that has now become more palatable to those people playing football at all levels.  Before we go further, there must be three axioms that we all need to agree to before going further in this article.

Axiom #1: Hernandez's CTE does not absolve him of the crime he committed.  Fortunately for the NFL, most discussions that have occurred about this topic have devolved into vociferous outrage over Hernandez's family suing the NFL because people think the lawsuit mitigates Hernandez's accountability for murdering Odin Lloyd.  Even if the courts knew that Hernandez had CTE during the trial, that would not have been enough to overcome the two things needed to hold someone accountable for a crime which are actus reus (Hernandez killed someone) and mens rea (Hernandez knew what he was doing was wrong).  There was sufficient evidence to show that Hernandez tried to cover up his crime, which shows that he knew what he did was wrong.  CTE is not to blame for this murder, Aaron Hernandez is to blame for this murder.  Are we all OK with this?  Good. Because Hernandez's CTE is the focal point of this article.

Axiom #2: All speculation about players having CTE is SPECULATION.  I have no evidence of any player currently having CTE, and any suggestion of this is merely to evoke critical thought about player behavior and what the NFL should do about addressing the CTE issue.

Axiom #3:  All information presented about CTE in this article has been done through personal research, and is not intended to be presented as absolute fact.

If you cannot agree to these statements I suggest you stop reading immediately as you will only become more incensed.  For those of you who do agree, here we go.

The diagnosis of Aaron Hernandez's CTE is startling and it presents the NFL with a whole host of new problems, the most pertinent being the severity of Hernandez's CTE diagnosis relative to his age.  Some reports state that Hernandez had Stage 3 (out of 4) CTE, and that the progression of his brain deterioration was that of something doctors see in 60 year old patients.  This should make all current NFL players perk up and start doing some math.  Hernandez was 27 at the time of his suicide, but remember that the last down of football he played was in 2012 when he was 23 years old after only playing three years in the NFL.  This is not someone like Junior Seau, Ray Easterling, Dave Deurson, or Andre Waters who had long careers and committed suicide 10-20 years after they retired.  Hernandez was right around the average age for a current NFL player when he committed suicide, and well under the average age when he left football.  The details about CTE are still being learned, but what seems to be unanimous is that CTE is a degenerative condition that progresses as the person gets older.  If Aaron Hernandez was at Stage 3 by age 27, that means that he probably showed the beginning symptoms of CTE while he was playing in his early 20's.  This could mean (again PURE SPECULATION) that some current players in their early 20's are showing signs of this disease, and it could progress to Stage 3 before they are 30 years old. This is not to say that all players with CTE commit suicide or murder, but current players have to see that Hernandez was one step away from Stage 4 symptoms which include full blow dementia, parkinsons, trouble walking, paranoia, loss of executive dysfunction, and language difficulties.  The rate at which CTE progresses in unknown, and the question of how some players get it and others do not is still being researched, but Hernandez's case will put some doubt into younger players' minds about the nature of their health, and it raises the second problem that the NFL will now have to face.

The NFL will now have to face the question "is this player exhibiting signs of CTE" every time they become violent off the field or show erratic behavior.  Since CTE has become more of a mainstream topic this question has been asked of player conduct off the field, but it has been dismissed as being a ridiculous notion due to the players being too young.  "Players in their mid 20's do not have CTE, and their behavior is a manifestation of playing a violent game".  This has been the explanation for this kind of behavior, and it has been tacitly accepted by all areas of society.  The Jovan Belcher incident and the death of Chris Henry should have brought this argument into question, but now Hernandez's diagnosis makes it even harder to peddle that statement as an answer to the question "is this player exhibiting signs of CTE".  If Hernandez could have Stage 3 CTE at 27, then could it be (again PURE SPECULATION) that certain players' actions can be explained by symptoms of early CTE that include depression, minor losses of mental control and self regulation, impulsiveness, short term memory problems, and aggressiveness.  Examples of erractic/violent behavior of football players off the field can be seen in recent incidents involving Su'a Cravens, Lawrence Timmons, Randy Gregory, Greg Hardy, Adam Jones's numerous incidents, Ray Rice, and countless others.  And let's not forget all the incidents that are occurring with college players.  Are these incidents just the byproduct of these players playing a violent game, or could these be manifestations of early onset CTE?  We will never know for sure, but Hernandez's case opens up a new road of justification for the latter, and the NFL needs a plan to address this for the future if it is to head off lawsuits and a possible dwindling of its labor force.

The plan the NFL should adopt needs to address two issues.  The first is participation in the sport.  Depending on the source, youth football is either in decline or it is slightly increasing but high school football numbers are in decline.  There are probably truths on both sides, but the more cases of CTE showing up in players around age 25 start to accumulate, the more doubt begins to sink in to the minds of the "NFL farm system".  College Football.  If players in college right now are concerned that they could have advanced CTE symptoms before they end their rookie contract it may dissuade some of them from pursuing that goal.  The NFL should increase the amount rookies are allowed to be paid in order to add incentive for them to come to the sport, and soften the idea that some could have CTE by age 25.  The NFL also needs to think about those making the league minimum.  Right now the league minimum ranges from $465,000 to $1,000,000 dollars, but for the players making that much money is that worth it to risk their long term health?  The NFL and NFLPA need to realize that this CTE issue will not go away, and to keep players wanting to join the sport out of college and stay in the sport as long as they can they need to increase the league minimum.  Increasing these two areas of salary will give players short term peace of mind about making a decent living in the face of CTE, but it will only partially address the long term problem CTE will have on the NFL.

Lawsuits against the NFL regarding CTE have come, gone, and come again, and they will not stop if the NFL does not have a long term solution.  With CTE thrust into the public sphere because of the NFL, some health organizations have taken it upon themselves to try and develop tests that can screen for CTE while the player is alive, but none have been able to do it reliably.  If the NFL were smart they would put as much money into this research as possible.  Now, you are asking yourselves, isn't this, on some level, admitting that football causes CTE?  Maybe.  But admitting that CTE is an issue is less risky than pretending it is not, and if the NFL can sponsor research that comes up with a reliable test it will do two things.  First, it will be a good faith gesture that shows the NFL is not some money making ogre that does not care about the well being of its players.  The NFL would fund research that could develop a test that will help its players and other segments of the population like military veterans.  Second, let's assume the NFL's funding bears fruit and a reliable test is found that has the ability to test for CTE in living players.  The NFL would have the ability to ameliorate future lawsuits by giving the players a choice to get tested or not.  Those who choose not to get tested will have a tough time suing the NFL later if they continue to take risks when the NFL allowed them to know if they had CTE while they were players.  If a player decides to get tested, and CTE is found, then the NFL can have the players sign a waiver before testing saying that the NFL is not responsible for any previous CTE conditions that are found because it cannot be determined when those conditions were acquired.  This also mitigates culpability for any future symptoms after the test is administered because it may be hard to determine whether those symptoms were manifestation of symptoms that were discovered before or after the test.  This may open up more people to get tested, but the NFL needs to start proactively trying to get ahead of some of these future lawsuits by admitting on some level that this is a problem and that they are taking steps to increase player safety.

Whatever you think the merits of Hernandez's Family's lawsuit against the NFL are, the fact is that the NFL needs to begin to address this issue on many levels.  Hernandez is now at least the third confirmed case in the last ten years, along with Jovan Belcher and Chris Henry, of an NFL player in their mid 20's who suffered from CTE and whose life ended in a violent and tragic manner.  The longer the NFL waits to proactively address this problem, and the more cases of younger players having CTE start to pile up, the higher the risk the NFL runs of irreparably damaging the empire it has built.  But like D'Angelo Barksdale once said, "The king stay the king", and the NFL will continue to rule over all other American professional sports leagues even with this CTE issue.  It is just a matter of how big of a kingdom do they want to have.

A True Game of All-Stars

post by: Mark Sweet


Let’s be honest, no one actually likes all–star games. If anyone watched the Pro Bowl this year you may have noticed the game was one step above playing two-hand touch.  If the NFL would like to make their All-Star game more popular, they may want to take notes from the league with the best All-Star game experience around.  That league would be the NHL.

The NHL spends an entire night showing off the skills of their players in six different competitions. They also understand that this is an event for the fans and let their players have fun. In 2009, Alex Ovechkin decided to put on a pair of sunglasses, a hat, and use two sticks during the breakaway challenge. It wasn’t the prettiest goal, but the fans vote on the winner and they loved his schtick. P.K. Subban followed in Ovi’s footsteps by dressing up like Jaromir Jagr and winning. Players also get to show off their raw talent. Watching Zdeno Chara fire a shot upwards of 108 mph is undeniably impressive, much more impressive than watching a third rate defensive back pull up on every tackle as the receiver fox trots for five yards to the sideline. 

The NHL is also working to make their game as good as it can be. In 2010 the NHL ditched conference teams and started a fantasy draft format (copied by the NFL a few y
ears later). This was fun for a few years but it still suffered from unenthusiastic play on the ice. They realized this and decided that the All–Star game will now be a 4 team 3v3 tournament. This is by far the best decision they could make. The 3v3 format opened the game up for big offensive plays. More than just scoring, guys were back checking, fore checking, and goalies were making saves that could be considered for save of the year. In another stroke of Canadian Capitalist Genius, the winning team was awarded one million dollars. For the first time in forever there was effort in this game. Players were skating hard to not give up an odd-man rush and what could have been a potential game winning goal. It was clear no one wanted to lose. And amidst all of this newly invigorated competitive spirit, the NHL was able to create their own version of WWE style hype and it had nothing to do with dropping the gloves.

Google “John Scott” and read about how the NHL did everything in their power to stop him from playing in the All-Star game. They stopped publicizing fan votes, asked him not to play, traded him to another team, moved him to the minor league, and did not choose him to be voted on as MVP of the game. And after all of the disrespect he received from the NHL, he scored two goals, “fought” Patrick Kane, captained the Pacific team to a victory, and won as a write in candidate for MVP. He was the Stone Cold Steve Austin to the NHL's Vince McMahon, and ultimately a breath of fresh air for what can be a very boring product.

But what makes the NHL All-Star game truly special is that there isn’t one every four years. The all-star game is ditched for the Winter Olympics. The NHL is filled with players from the USA, Canada, and Europe. I’ve never seen so many people care about hockey than I did in 2010 when USA lost to Canada in the finals. T.J. Oshie became a household name for a few days in 2012.

Hockey isn’t everyone’s favorite sport, but most people have never been to an NHL game. Everyone owes it to themselves to see just how fast the game is in person. This will give you a new found respect for what the game is and will let you appreciate just how much fun the All-Star game can be.

Redskins vs. Eagles: Redskins Must Not Revive Another Nemesis's Season

Do you know what nemesis means? One of the Redskins' nemeses got theirs last Thursday night as the Redskins began to fill their obligatory annual quota of bad losses in big situations that revive the other team's season.  The Redskins gave a reprieve to another floundering Giants team last Thursday night and breathed life into their otherwise pathetic season.  We will see if that win means anything to the Giants, but after a week of high hopes and nickname contests for the Redskins running back tandem HTTR nation was brought back down to Earth after the loss to the Giants.  Now all the cynicism and insecurities have been running rampant for the last 10 days as another nemesis comes to town looking for a little pick me up for their season.  The Eagles offense finally came through last week, and they look to a Redskins team in limbo and a soggy FedEx Field to resuscitate their chances at an NFC East title.  The Redskins were too happy to oblige the Giants when they were in dire need of a win, and the Eagles present a style of play that could wreak havoc on an injury ridden Redskins team. The weather will also produce challenges of its own, but the Redskins must trust in their system and know that the Eagles' flaws are gaping and could be exploited to great effect.  The keys to this game are as follows:

Let Sam Bradford Throw The Ball:  Just do not let the Eagles running attack get going.  The Eagles win last week was predicated on Ryan Matthews and Darren Sproles running for 123 yards last week and taking the pressure off of Sam Bradford and the Eagles passing offense that has been statistically abysmal this season.  They are tied for last in the league in yards per completion (9.3) and longest completion (32 yards), and they are next to last in yards per attempt (5.8).  Couple that with an offense that has the worst average time per drive (1:48), the lowest average yards per drive (21.4), and scores on only 22.5% of their offensive drives (second worst percentage in the league), and you see that the Eagles rushing attack was their savior last week by lengthening drives and allowing Bradford's short passing game to be effective.  Bradford is not throwing the ball far, but he can be effective if given short down and distances and a depleted secondary to throw against.  He will get the latter on Sunday as the Redskins will probably be missing their top two cornerbacks in Chris Culliver and DeAngelo Hall.  What the Redskins need to do is win the yardage battle on first down, contain the Eagles running attack, and support a depleted secondary by blitzing selectively.  If the Redskins become too blitz happy it may give Bradford easy pre-snap reads and the ability to catch them overcommitting against the run.  The Redskins defense should drop back to cover the medium to short passing routes and not leave their young corners on an island.  They will also need a big push from the defensive line to control the running game.  If Matthews and Sproles are able to do what the Giants did and put the Redskins defense in short third downs it may be a long day for the Redskins defense.

Limit the Eagles' Opportunities:  Sproles returned a punt last week, and the Eagles were also able to get a touchdown off of a Brandon Marshall fumble that gave them a short field to work with.  This allowed them to go up big on the Jets.  Special teams returns and turnovers are something that the Redskins may have a tough time avoiding, and it has nothing to do with Cousins's penchant for throwing interceptions. The Eagles Defense is forcing a turnover in one out of every five offensive possessions they face this season, which is third best in the league. They have only turned two of those turnovers into points, but in a game that could be a monsoon it does not bode well for the Redskins who have an interception prone quarterback, a rookie running back with a history of ball control issues, and a special teams unit that is just itching to give up a game breaking return.  Both offense and special teams need to be sharp if they are to limit big plays and execute the final key to success.

Ball Control/Cousins Bounce Back:  Cousins had a bad game last week, but he has shown better resiliency this season in coming back from mistakes within the game.  He will need to show that he can come back from game to game because the Redskins Offense faces another stout run defense.  The Eagles run defense is allowing the lowest yards per attempt in the league (3.1), and with the Redskins' offensive line possibly being without Morgan Moses, Kory Lichtensteiger, and Josh LeRibeus it could be another long day for the Redskins running attack.  Cousins will need to prove that he can throw the ball effectively and efficiently to take pressure off of the running game.  Jordan Reed is an easy person to mark as needing to have a big game, but also look for Jamison Crowder and Chris Thompson to turn short passes into big gains with their legs that could keep the Eagles defense honest if they begin to crowd the line of scrimmage.  Jones and Morris should be given the ball early to give the Redskins favorable down and distance, but they also need to make sure they get positive yardage to give Cousins a chance to extend drives.  Chip K
elly's offense runs at a quick pace, and if the Redskins Defense is out there for too long they become more susceptible to big plays.  The Redskins need to run the ball over 25 times for at least 80 yards to be successful.  Anything less means they are not controlling the clock, Cousins is having to throw more, and the Redskins will not come out on top. 

This could be Thursday Night all over again.  Philly has the ability to stop the Redskins running attack and force Kirk Cousins into doing what he does best; throwing untimely interceptions. They also have the up-tempo offense needed to put the Redskins in a hole that will force them to throw if they get down by a fair margin.  The Eagles, though, have shown the ability to have crappy drives that give the ball back on downs.  The Redskins need to force Bradford to make decisions after the snap by dropping into coverage, and they need to control the ball with positive runs, accurate passes, and a little speed here and there from the likes of Thompson and Crowder.  This is going to be an ugly one, but all the Redskins need is a win and they will get it.

20-17 Redskins Win.

Redskins vs. Rams: Whose Afraid of the St. Louis Rams?

This is a fair question to ask.  What makes the St. Louis Rams so special that the Redskins need to put on brown pants to hide their fear from the viewing public?  Could it be because the Rams are 6-2 against the Redskins since 2005?  Could it be their mauling defense that has five first round picks in their front seven?  Is it because the Redskins feel some sense of buyers remorse for the RG3 trade? Whatever the reason may be, if you absorb the main stream sports media you would think that the '85 Bears were coming to FedEx Field on Sunday.  While the Rams have a good defense they are not without their flaws, but so are the Redskins, so it will take some semblance of game plan and coaching that the Jay Gruden led Redskins have yet to show over the past 17 games.  While the media seems caught up with sack numbers (the Rams' defensive lineman combined for 22.5 sacks last season and combined for another 5 against the Seahawks in Week 1) and cute monikers (The
Rams are the most physical/nasty/competitive 6-10 team you will ever meet) the Redskins should be looking at their personnel and saying, "F these guys.  We are just as tough as they are and here's how we are going to ball control our way to winning this game."

Big Receivers = Big Game: Pierre Garcon and/or Jordan Reed (if healthy) need to be the focal points of a ball control offensive plan that relies on possession receiving first.  The Rams lost five of seven games last season when they allowed a receiver who was over 6'0" tall and weighed more than 200 pounds to go over 80 yards receiving.  Garcon and Reed both fit this bill, and their possession skills need to be in full effect if the Redskins expect to win.  If Garcon or Reed can go for eighty plus yards with a 7-9 yard per catch average it means the Redskins are taking longer drives that are looking to keep the St. Louis offense off the field.  It is not out of the question either.  The Rams' intimidating sack numbers from last year look less intimidating when you consider that Miami had a lower Net Yards Per Pass Attempt (6.2) than the Rams (6.7) last season.  A breakdown of those averages shows that the Rams had only one more sack than the Ndamunkong Suh-less Dolphins and still gave up over 300 yards more in passing on only three more passing attempts than Miami last season.  Within that difference in attempts the Rams also allowed 30 more completions that the Dolphins, so the Rams showed they can be susceptible to a possession style passing game but it will only be effective if two things occur.

Positive Running/Long Passing: Alfred Morris silenced all the Matt Jones trumpets last week by proving he is one of the best running backs in the NFL at getting positive yardage in tight spaces.  He is not the type of back who will hit the hole and take it 60 yards to the house, but he has the agility and vision to go for four or more on every single carry.  The Redskins need to take advantage of that by putting themselves in 2nd or 3rd and less than 7 situations more often than not so they can exploit those plays for long pass gambles.  No Desean Jackson means that it is time for Jamison Crowder, Rashad Ross, or Ryan Grant to prove they are good for at least one big pass play per game from the slot.  My money is on Ross who looks to have the best speed of the three, and deserves a legitimate shot at being the short term replacement for Jackson as the resident burner for the Redskins' receiving corps.  Either way, the Redskins will win this game if they can complete a pass play of 40 yards or more at least once and if they can manage the down and distance on each drive by running Morris 20 times or more.  Whatever the case may be, it will be for naught if the Redskins' defense cannot wake up from the...........

Nightmare of Tight End Seem Routes, Running Back Screens, and Special Team Returns:  The two leading receivers for the Rams last week were tight end Jared Cook and running back Benjamin Cunningham.  Those two positions have given the Redskins defense fits in the past, and if they want to win on Sunday they need to limit the production of at least one of them. Quick.  Name the leading wide receiver in receiving yardage from last week.  I know you fantasy degenerates picked up Tavon Austin this week, but it was actually Stedman Bailey who led the Rams' wide receivers in receiving yards.  We need to limit Cook and Cunningham in the passing game and force the Rams receivers to beat us.  And since Tavon Austin already returned a punt for a touchdown last week, you can believe he is licking his chops against the Redskins.  No TD's allowed by the special teams will mean a win for them, even if a return is stopped at the one yard line it means the Special Teams did not give up a touchdown.  What would be even better is for the special teams to actually learn from their mistakes and not give up big returns.  If the Redskins defense cannot contain the non wide receivers in the passing game, or Austin has a big day on punt returns, it may be hard to vanquish the Rams.

So who is afraid of the St. Louis Rams?  The Redskins shouldn't be.  The Rams should not be taken lightly, but statistically their defense is not any better than Miami.  If Washington can get a possession game going with a combination of Garcon, Reed, and Morris while getting one or two big plays and containing the Rams' running back and tight ends, we may be sitting at 1-1 going into New York next week.