Jerry Jones Called For More C.T.E. Research, Even Though The Cowboys Failed To Provide Their Own
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Last week, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones became the latest executive to downplay the links between professional football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (C.T.E.). Specifically, he said that he and others "want to continue to support any type of research that would let us know what [the] consequences really are.
"In no way should we be basically making assumptions with no more data than we've got about the consequences of a head injury."
Jones' comments aren't necessarily wrong, but they ring hollow now that the New York Times has published an investigative report revealing that more than 100 reported concussions were omitted from studies conducted on behalf of the NFL. Of the concussions reported between 1996 and 2001, none of them came from the Cowboys.
In that time period, Cowboys Hall-of-Fame quarterback Troy Aikman suffered at least four documented head injuries, three of which reported as concussions and the last of which proved to be the final nail in a career cut short at age 34. Aikman suffered 10 documented concussions in 12 career NFL seasons.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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The NFL has stood by the research for over a decade, which at times was described as a "full accounting of all concussions diagnosed by team physicians from 1996 through 2001." That statement is patently false, considering that Aikman was diagnosed with at least three concussions during that time period.
On October 26, 1997, in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles, defensive end Jimmie Jones slammed his helmet into the back of Aikman's neck. The hit forced Aikman out of the game with a concussion, then the fifth of his NFL career. Aikman returned to the field the following week, coincidentally against Steve Young and the San Francisco 49ers in a game dubbed "The Concussion Bowl." Aikman took a sack in that game and "wobbled to his feet, stunned," but stayed in the game and "survived the game without a serious injury," according to a Newsweek story from December 1997.
Two years later, Aikman took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Colts cornerback Jeff Burris, sat out one series, sniffed some smelling salts, then returned to the field. An MRI that following week did not reveal a concussion and Aikman was cleared to play the following week on Monday Night Football and did, despite complaining of headaches that week.
Aikman suffered two concussions during the 2000 season, his last in the NFL before retiring. On September 3, 2000 against the Eagles, Aikman had to leave with a concussion and missed the following two games. He suffered another on December 10, 2000 against the Washington. On March 7, 2001, the Cowboys waived Aikman, who retired a month later.
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It is unknown whether the Cowboys deliberately omitted Aikman's concussion history from the research, or whether Jones directed anyone to do so. But Aikman's four head injuries between 1997 and 2000 were irrefutably missing from the studies, one of which says the "The Commissioner of the N.F.L. [at the time Paul Tagliabue] mandated all team physicians to complete and return forms whenever they examined a player with a head injury."
The league later told the NY Times that the studies "never purported" to include all reported concussions and merely "strongly encouraged" teams to fill out the necessary forms to send back to the league on reported head injuries. Ostensibly, Jones ignored that encouragement and the forms were never filled out. A cynic would look at the Cowboys' (and, by extension, the NFL's) curious omission of Aikman's concussion history from the research and say that neither Jones nor the league wanted a superstar player's name linked to concussion research, which undoubtedly would have led to a larger media storm than what actually happened.
Regardless of the Cowboys' reasons for failing to fill out the necessary forms to include Aikman's concussion history in the studies, Jones literally said more research is needed to find links between pro football and concussions, when his own organization contributed to the perceived lack of research in the first place.
If Jones wants more work done to look into the possible connections between the NFL and C.T.E., he doesn't need to look far. He can look to the QB who helped win him the only championships of his career as Cowboys owner. He can ask Aikman. And so can the NFL.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
