22 Omalu was in Lodi: Omalu interview, 2012.
23 A Shakespearean drama: Details surrounding case against Wecht and Omalu’s involvement derived from 2012 interviews with both men as well as Shakir and Dominick; “Timeline: The Investigation and Trial of Cyril H. Wecht,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jan. 27, 2008.
24 Brain Injury Research Institute: Interviews with Omalu, Bailes, Fitzsimmons, and Garrett Webster, 2012.
25 Another former NFL player died young: Tom McHale biography from Lisa McHale interview, 2012; ProFootballReference.com; “Ex-Buccaneer Tom McHale Found Dead at 45,” Tampa Bay Times, Sept. 25, 2008; “Major Breakthrough in Concussion Crisis,” Boston Globe, Jan. 27, 2009.
26 The Omalu Group got to McHale’s family first: Omalu e-mails; Nowinski and Omalu interviews, 2012.
27 Nowinski called Omalu: Details of the Omalu Group’s agreement with Nowinski and subsequent contact with McHale’s family are derived from Omalu’s e-mails.
28 Trying to contact Omalu: Nowinski interview, 2012.
29 Go public with the results: Nowinski and Lisa McHale interviews, 2012.
30 The press conference: Details derived from Nowinski, McKee, and Lisa McHale interviews, 2012; “Major Breakthrough in Concussion Crisis,” Boston Globe, Jan. 27, 2009; “Sixth NFL Player’s Brain Is Found to Have Brain Damage,” New York Times, Jan. 28, 2009; BU-CSTE press release.
31 Learned of BU’s announcement on TV: Omalu interview, 2012.
32 Coming-out party as a spokeswoman: “Major Breakthrough in Concussion Crisis,” Boston Globe, Jan. 27, 2009.
CHAPTER 14
1 It was that kind of call: McKee interview, 2012.
2 She asked if Nowinski could attend: McKee and Nowinski interviews, 2012.
3 Another expert in neurodegenerative disease: Daniel Perl interview, 2012; www.hjfcp3.org/military-medical-symposium/symposium-files/Daniel%20Perl-%20MD.pdf.
4 McKee was nervous but excited: McKee interview, 2012.
5 NFL headquarters: This account of McKee’s presentation to the MTBI committee is drawn from 2012 interviews with McKee, Perl, Nowinski, Henry Feuer, Colonel Michael Jaffee, and John Mann.
6 Call her brother: Ann McKee and Chuck McKee interviews, 2012.
7 The young Pittsburgh lawyer: Luckasevic interview, 2012.
8 The league could fall back on: Collective Bargaining Agreement, specifically the role of the retirement board.
9 One such case: “Seeing Is Believing,” Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2003; “Orlando Brown, Who Sued the N.F.L. over Errant Flag, Dies at 40,” New York Times, Sept. 23, 2011.
10 Line up consultants: Luckasevic interview, 2012; contract with Nowinski.
11 Questions lingered: “Researchers Consulted with Law Firms,” ESPN.com, April 6, 2013.
12 Fearing it could compromise their independence: Guskiewicz interview, 2012.
13 A viable case: Luckasevic interview, 2012.
14 Goldberg, Persky & White: www.gpwlaw.com.
15 Time to fish around: Luckasevic interview, 2012.
16 Houston-based firm: “Vioxx Jury Awards $253 Million in Damages,” Houston Chronicle, Aug. 20, 2005.
17 Lanier’s lawyers ultimately pulled out: Luckasevic interview, 2012.
18 A big win: “Former Dolphins Receiver O.J. McDuffie Wins $11.5 Million in Malpractice Lawsuit,” Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale), May 5, 2010.
19 Tierney was right: Luckasevic interview, 2012.
20 A big gun in Los Angeles: Tom Girardi interview, 2012; www.girardikeese.com; “Erin Brockovich: The Real Story,” Salon, April 14, 2000.
21 NFL Paper Number 16: Anders Hamburger et al., “Concussion in Professional Football, Part 16,” Neurosurgery, June 2009.
22 Another confounding story: “Dementia Risk Seen in N.F.L. Players Study,” New York Times, Sept. 29, 2009.
23 Announced that it would hold hearings: “Congress to Hold Hearing on N.F.L. Head Injuries,” New York Times, Oct. 2, 2009.
24 Democratic committee staffers: Details of the setup for the hearing and the NFL’s reactions are derived primarily from a 2012 interview with Eric Tamarkin, who at the time was counsel to the committee.
25 “Will’s Bill”: Dick Benson testimony.
26 “Rebel with a cause”: “N.F.L. Players with Head Injuries Find a Voice,” New York Times, Oct. 28, 2009.
27 The packed hearing: Transcripts from written and oral testimony before the committee.
28 Linda Sanchez: Biography from www.lindasanchez.house.gov; and “Sanchez Sisters to Make History in the House,” womensenews.org, Nov. 19, 2002.
29 On a shelf in his office at BU: Nowinski interview, 2012.
30 400 law firms: Dan Zegart, Civil Warriors (Delacorte Press, 2000), p. 202.
31 180,000 research papers: Dan Zegart, Civil Warriors, p. 296.
32 Tobacco fight’s version of Omalu: Dan Zegart, Civil Warriors, p. 37.
33 Started in the morgue: Ernst Wynder biography: cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4843bx.htm.
34 Among the 62 mice still alive: Ernst Wynder et al., “Experimental Production of Carcinoma with Cigarette Tar,” Cancer Research, 1953.
35 Research group: Dan Zegart, Civil Warriors, p. 37.
36 “Savage the other side”: Dan Zegart, Civil Warriors, p. 38.
37 “A front”: Victor DeNoble interview, 2012.
38 A “metaphysical quarrel”: Dan Zegart, Civil Warriors, p. 38.
39 “NFL equals Tobacco”: Stern interview, 2012.
40 “Graciously” resigned: “Co-Chairmen of NFL Concussion Panel Resign,” Associated Press, Nov. 25, 2009.
41 Several changes to its concussion policy: “NFL Changes Return to Play Rules for Concussions,” Associated Press, Dec. 3, 2009; “New N.F.L. Rule on Concussions Benches Injured,” New York Times, Dec. 3, 2009.
42 The headline that the NFL never wanted to see: “Is Tackle Football Too Dangerous for Kids to Play?” New York Times blog, Nov. 30, 2009.
43 A guest column: “Listening to Wisdom from a 10-Year-Old Son about His Head Injury,” New York Times, Nov. 28, 2009.
44 A wire report: “NFL to Ask Its Players to Donate Brains for Study,” Associated Press, Dec. 20, 2009.
45 Schwarz was surprised: Details of Schwarz’s reaction and his call to Aiello derived from 2012 interview with Schwarz.
46 Nowinski on the phone: Schwarz and Nowinski interviews, 2012.
47 The timing of the NFL’s announcement: Nowinski interview, 2012.
48 The following headline: “N.F.L. Acknowledges Long-Term Concussion Effects,” New York Times, Dec. 21, 2009.
49 Sent a bottle of champagne to BU: Nowinski interview, 2012.
CHAPTER 15
1 “Started from zero”: Dr. Mitchel Berger interview, 2012.
2 Head, Neck and Spine Committee: “NFL Picks Two New Co-Chairs of Concussion Committee,” Associated Press, March 18, 2010.
3 A two-page letter: The framed letter is posted on the wall at the offices of the BU Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, 2012.
4 A full-fledged member: Guskiewicz interview, 2012.
5 Appointing brain surgeons: “NFL Picks Two New Co-Chairs of Concussion Committee,” Associated Press, March 18, 2010.
6 Ellenbogen: Dr. Rich Ellenbogen interview, 2012; “Taking Brain Injuries out of Sports,” Seattle Magazine, Fall/Winter 2012.
7 Batjer: Dr. Hunt Batjer interview, 2012.
8 Batjer and Ellenbogen professed to know very little: Batjer and Ellenbogen interviews, 2012.
9 At odds with Ellenbogen’s review: Anders Hamburger et al., “Concussions in Professional Football, Part 16,” Neurosurgery, Aug. 2007 (comments).
10 “Like the same old NFL”: “House Panel Criticizes New N.F.L. Doctors,” New York Times, May 24, 2010; “Panel Criticizes NFL on Safety Research,” Associated Press, May 24, 2010.
11 A man in exile: Omalu interview, 2012.
12 BU’s researchers literally kept a file: Stern interview, 2012.
13 Omalu’s exaggerations: Cantu interview, 2012.
14 Nowinski was no more charitable: Transcripts, Dennis & Callahan Radio Show, Oct. 14, 2010.
15 A writer for GQ: Jeanne Marie Laskas interview, 2012.
16 Never recognizing the need to filter: Lovell and Guskiewicz interviews, 2012.
17 Ban on tackle football: Cantu interview, 2012; “Preventing Sports Concussions Among Children,” New York Times, Oct. 7, 2012.
18 “He got steamrolled”: Collins interview, 2012.
19 The league’s biggest threat: Bailes interview, 2012.
20 Omalu’s marginalization: Carson interview, 2012.
21 On February 17, 2011: Details of Duerson’s death and the scene at the condo from Sunny Isles Beach Police Department Incident/Investigation Report, Feb. 17, 2011; Tregg and Alicia Duerson interviews, 2012; excerpts of texts to Alicia Duerson; excerpts of letter left by Duerson.
22 Cast a proxy vote: Mike Webster disability lawsuit court records.
23 Copy of Sports Illustrated: “Concussions: The Hits That Are Changing Football,” Sports Illustrated, Nov. 1, 2010.
24 A DVD case: “Trapped: Haitian Nights,” The Movie Database.
25 “Football’s First Martyr”: “Dave Duerson: Football’s First Martyr Can’t Die in Vain,” Time, Feb. 25, 2011.
26 A star scholar-athlete: Duerson biography, both rise and fall, derived from Alicia Duerson, Tregg Duerson, and Harold Rice interviews, 2012; “You Have to Accept My Pain: An Interview with Dave Duerson Three Months before His Suicide,” Deadspin, Feb. 23, 2011; “Dave Duerson: The Ferocious Life and Tragic Death of a Super Bowl Star,” Men’s Journal, May 2011; ProFootballReference.com; bankruptcy records.
27 Duerson had a radio show: Double Time with Double D radio show, VoiceAmerica, Oct. 21, 2010.
28 Donating his father’s brain: Details of Duerson family efforts to donate his brain are from 2012 interviews with Tregg Duerson, Alicia Duerson, Kelly Woods, and David Krichavsky.
29 NFL wasn’t nearly as unified: Berger, Ellenbogen, Batjer, and Guskiewicz interviews, 2012.
30 BU’s rock star: “The Woman Who Would Save Football,” Grantland, Aug. 17, 2012.
31 Conference in Las Vegas: “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,” conference in Las Vegas, Sept. 30–Oct. 1, 2012.
32 Their most ominous assertions: McKee, Cantu, Stern, and Nowinski interviews, 2012.
33 If CTE was occurring at a deep level: McKee interview, 2012; Ann C. McKee et al., “The Spectrum of Disease in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,” Brain, 2012.
34 One of BU’s main critics: Berger interview, 2012; http://neurosurgery.ucsf.edu/index.php/about_us_faculty_berger.html.
35 Wasn’t a single recorded case: Ann C. McKee et al., “The Spectrum of Disease in Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy,” Brain, 2012.
36 Self-selecting quality: McKee, Cantu, Berger, and Ellenbogen interviews, 2012.
37 “With all due respect”: Cantu interview, 2012.
38 “The facts are the facts”: Nowinski interview, 2012.
39 Steer Duerson’s brain: Batjer interview, 2012.
40 From the new committee’s inception: Ellenbogen, Guskiewicz, and Berger interviews, 2012.
41 A press conference: “Duerson’s Brain Trauma Diagnosed,” New York Times, May 2, 2011.
42 “Drove him to suicide”: McKee interview, 2012.
43 “I just can’t even believe this”: McKee interview, 2012.
CHAPTER 16
1 Two dozen clients: Ron Feenberg interview, 2011.
2 A new front: “Former Pro Athletes Battle against Bill Limiting Workers’ Comp,” Sacramento Bee, April 16, 2013.
3 A fierce lobbying campaign: The NFL, with support from the other major sports leagues and 16 California teams, rallied around AB 1309, a bill that would close the loophole. On April 24, 2013, the bill passed out of the California State Assembly’s Insurance Committee by a unanimous 11–0 vote and was headed to the full assembly for debate.
4 Brady and … Brees: “Injured Pro Athletes Deserve Workers’ Comp,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 24, 2013.
5 Luckasevic had found: Jason Luckasevic interview, 2012.
6 One of the first … cases: Jeanne Marie Laskas, “The People V. Football,” GQ, March 2011.
7 On July 19, 2011: See Vernon Maxwell, et al. v. National Football League, et al., Superior Court of the State of California, July 19, 2011.
8 “We thought maybe”: Tom Girardi interview, 2012.
9 The next month: Charles Ray Easterling and his wife, Mary Ann Easterling; et al. v. National Football League, Inc., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Aug. 17, 2011. Later, the Easterling suit would be described in some accounts as the first brain injury case to be filed against the NFL. It was the first to be filed in federal court, where all the cases were later consolidated.
10 “I won’t remember”: “Taking Its Toll,” Outside the Lines, March 16, 2012.
11 Painfully familiar: “Death Isn’t the End,” New York Times, May 4, 2012.
12 Riddled with CTE: “Football Player Who Killed Himself Had Brain Disease,” New York Times, July 27, 2012.
13 By the time the results were released: Nathan Fenno and Luke Rosiak of the Washington Times compiled the most comprehensive database on the lawsuits, a working online document that allows users to explore the plaintiffs by team, position, and number of seasons played. The database can be found at: washingtontimes.com/footballinjuries/; the website NFLConcussionLitigation.com has maintained the most current information about the lawsuits and the plaintiffs.
14 50 military service members: G. Wolf et al., “The Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen on Symptoms after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury,” Journal of Neurotrauma, 2012.
15 Medieval-sounding device: Julian Bailes interview, 2012.
16 Pilot study: Gary W. Small et al., “PET Scanning of Brain Tau in Retired National Football League Players: Preliminary Findings,” American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2013.
17 Nearly every NFL team: The ImPACT website lists many of the company’s clients. See ImpactTest.com.
18 Two heart attacks: Mark Lovell interview, 2012.
19 His own research: Maroon coauthored a study on the use of natural plant extracts to neutralize the chemical reaction that leads to brain disease. See Russell L. Blaylock and Joseph Maroon, “Natural Plant Products and Extracts That Reduce Immunoexcitotoxicity-Associated Neurodegeneration and Promote Repair within the Central Nervous System,” Surgical Neurology International, 2012.
20 A letter to the FTC: Letter from Tom Udall to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Jan. 4, 2011.
21 One mouth guard: Letter from Tom Udall to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Jan. 4, 2011.
22 An endorsement: Letter from Tom Udall to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Jan. 4, 2011.
23 “No significant data”: Testimony of Jeffrey S. Kutcher, Senate Commerce Committee, Oct. 19, 2011.
24 “Don’t forget to take your fish oil!”: Peter Davies e-mail correspondence.
25 FTC ordered: Letter from Mary K. Engle, the FTC’s associate director for advertising practices, to John M. Shanahan, CEO, Newport Nutritionals, Inc., Nov. 7, 2012.
26 Closed its investigation: Letter from Engle to John E. Villafranco, representing Riddell Sports Group, Inc., April 24, 2013.
27 A coffee table book: The First 50 Years.
28 Their own words: The First 50 Years, pp. 39–83.
29 “Propaganda organ”: “Steve Sabol, Cinematic Force for N.F.L., Dies at 69,” New York Times, Sept. 18, 2012.
30 Origin story: Michael Oriard, Brand NFL, pp. 14–18.
31 “NFL football is real”: Oriard, Brand NFL, p. 14.
32 Swallowed his tongue: Andy Russell, A Steeler Odyssey, p. 15.
33 Summer
of 2012: E-mail from Clare Graff, NFL Communications, to Lorraine Esposito.
34 “He really wanted to know”: Lorraine Esposito interview, 2013.
35 Dumb Mom: Amanda Rodriguez interview, 2013.
36 Two helmets crashing: “N.F.L.’s Policy on Helmet-to-Helmet Hits Makes Highlights Distasteful,” New York Times, Oct. 21, 2010.
37 Pull a commercial: “Unhappy NFL Prods Toyota to Edit TV Ad,” Reuters, Jan. 19, 2011.
38 Pointed out: On Feb. 4, 2013, Crossman tweeted: “So far I have found three players in the NFL’s safety evolution commercial from last night who are suing the league over concussions.”
CHAPTER 17
1 Hunched over a microscope: Bennet Omalu interview, 2012.
2 Raised in a violent ghetto: Award-winning sportswriter Jill Lieber Steeg wrote one of the first lengthy profiles on Seau’s unlikely rise to NFL stardom for Sports Illustrated in 1993. After Seau’s suicide, she produced an exhaustive two-part series on the events leading up to his death. See Jill Lieber, “Hard Charger,” Sports Illustrated, Sept. 6, 1993, and “Junior Seau: Song of Sorrow,” San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 14, 2012.
3 12 yards deep: Gary Plummer interview, 2013.
4 Seau was loud: The account of Seau’s personality changes and the final years of his life is drawn primarily from interviews with members of Seau’s family, including three of his four children and Gina Seau, his ex-wife; Bette Hoffman, former director of the Junior Seau Foundation and the executor of his will; and Lieber’s Union-Tribune articles.
5 When police arrived: Junior Seau autopsy report, Aug. 20, 2012.
6 Placed on a gurney: The account of the events in Seau’s house after his death and Tyler Seau’s phone call with Bennet Omalu and Julian Bailes is from interviews with Tyler Seau, Bette Hoffman, Joe Davis, Bennet Omalu, and Julian Bailes.
7 At 8:38 that night: E-mail correspondence between Tyler Seau and Bennet Omalu.
8 Chargers’ doctor: E-mail correspondence between Tyler Seau and Bennet Omalu.
9 Chao had his own issues: The Medical Board of California website contains detailed records of the allegations against Chao and issues surrounding his drinking. See: mbc.ca.gov. For additional details of Chao’s checkered history, see “The Chargers’ Doctor Is a Drunk Quack. Why Haven’t They Fired Him?” Deadspin, April 24, 2013. On June 13, 2013, Chao stepped down after 17 years as the Chargers’ doctor. “I talked to the Chargers about my back problems in March and my desire to spend more time with my newborn twins and young daughter,” Chao said in a statement released by the team.
League of Denial Page 45
