Nov 02, 2009 — See The New York Times and The Associated Press
... As a House Judiciary Committee hearing examined football brain injuries Wednesday and strongly criticized the N.F.L. and its concussion committee for their research and approach, lawmakers, players and (Gene) Upshaw’s successor, DeMaurice Smith, accused the union of lethargy while others sounded alarms. ...Upshaw authorized $172,000 in union grants to finance research by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, according to the center’s records. But as the published survey studies from 2004 to 2007 crossed his desk and indicated a substantial link between N.F.L. concussions and later-life risk for depression, Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment, Upshaw consistently played down the findings and did not push the league to act.
