NFL Doesn’t Want Concussion Experts on Sidelines, According to NFLPA Executive Director

The grim realities of head injuries have really come into focus over the past couple years.

Every so often a player like Eric LeGrand or, more recently, Brandon McCarthy would come along and remind everyone about the serious physical danger many professional athletes face every day. But what about the injuries that don't show up immediately? What about concussions and other head injuries?

Well, hockey players like Paul Kariya, Sidney Crosby and, in the most extreme case, Derek Boogaard put a public face in the issue of concussions, and the litany of retired NFL players now dealing with the after effects of them have made it an urgent issue in the league.

So you'd think the NFL would want to do anything within its power to limit the danger of concussions.

Unfortunately, according to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, that is very much not the case. During an interview with ESPN 980 in Washington D.C., Smith was asked about the league's interest in protecting players in light of the ongoing referee lockout, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. Smith implied he isn't too sure that the league cares much about the health of its players, and in an offhand remark noted that the NFLPA has requestion concussion experts to be on the sidelines of all NFL games — and that the league is "fighting us on that, too."

If true, it would be a damning revelation to the public face of a league which has outwardly claimed that player safety is its foremost concern.

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Puberty hit someone like a ton of bricks.

Photo via Instagram/@JarnellStokes

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"It's hard to respect a guy that doesn't tell you the truth or doesn't
tell you face-to-face. There's probably reasons why."
–Marlins reliever Heath Bell, on his lack of respect for manager Ozzie Guillen.

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