NFL Acknowledges Link Between Football And Brain Disorders

For the first time ever a senior NFL official has acknowledged there's a direct link between playing American football and developing degenerative brain disease.

The admission has come during a roundtable discussion on concussions convened by the US House of Representatives' committee on energy and commerce.

Jeff Miller, the NFL's executive vice president for health and safety policy, was asked if there's a link between American football and degenerative brain disorders like CTE.

"Well certainly... research shows that a number of retired NFL players were diagnosed with CTE, so the answer to that question is certainly yes."

NFL officials have only acknowledged in the past that American football can cause concussions and that concussions are dangerous.

In 2013, the league settled a lawsuit brought by thousands of former players and their families, agreeing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation and to do research on concussions.

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