Horse Tracks 11/25/09 - Brian Dawkins and Ryan Harris limited participants in Tuesday's practice

hope everyone has a great thanksgiving holiday!

If were going to turn this ship around, this is the week we need to do it.

That DP article by Jeff Legwold was actually worth reading.

Thanks as usual

I can’t help but be excited that BDawk called the players only meeting. That is a veteran move that shows class and hopefully results in a win tomorrow. I’ve said it before “These guys are in a funk”. Dawkins saw that and decided there is no better way to motivate these guys than to have a players only meeting to talk it out.

I can’t wait to see the fire that these guys show on thanksgiving day.

On a side note, will there be a MHR Radio show this week?

McD said today that Harris will not play tomorrow, Dawkins looks “good” but didn’t say he would/wouldn’t play.

NYT – N.F.L. Head Injury Study Leaders Quit – Alan Schwarz
THIS IS STELLAR NEWS. WAY TO GO, NFL!

This issue was first broached here in Horse Tracks by Doug in late September.

It’s extremely rare for me to say something negative about someone although I’m hardly shy about attacking conclusions based on sloppy logic. Casson (M.D.) and Viano (PH.D.) are two people that — apparently — decided that covering up the problem of brain injuries in the NFL was a good idea.

As a medical issue, the existence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy is well-known, so the only serious question would be to what extent the problem exists in the NFL rather than whether it exists at all.

Casson’s comments here led me to seriously question his motives on this issue, and I also question his ethics or lack thereof. I didn’t state my beliefs concerning Casson, et al, in my postings in the original Horse Tracks but instead focused on the scientific issues. However, it wasn’t particularly hard to figure out where Casson stood after he issued his ‘analysis by paralysis’ “it needs more study” comment.

Some of Casson’s other comments illustrate why I hold him in utter contempt, and my comment above about his lacking ethics isn’t hyperbolic, as is demonstrated in the excerpt below.

Viano, along with Casson, was at one point publicly criticized by his own colleagues. The two changed the conclusion of one of the papers they submitted to the journal Neurosurgery without alerting its other co-authors. In the altered section, Viano and Casson wrote that "it might be safe" for high schools to consider the N.F.L.’s practice of allowing players who sustain concussions to return to the same game.

That practice is known to court dangerous consequences in teenagers.

When informed of the change two years later and hearing how the paper had been said to impede proper care of players at the youth level, two of the co-authors were furious.

Casson and Viano stood by their decision. Casson responded: "This paper was aimed at scientists and physicians. If people who are not scientists or physicians are misunderstanding it, then that is not the responsibility of those of us who wrote it."

Casson’s statements while representing the N.F.L. ultimately raised eyebrows in Congress. When Sanchez learned in September that Casson was overseeing the N.F.L.’s retired player study — and conducting all patient exams personally — she accused the league of conducting research like the tobacco industry.

Casson replied: "I assume that the Congresswoman was not a scientist and not a physician. She is not an expert."

The issue here isn’t substantive but procedural — oddly. Rewriting a paper without telling the co-authors is about as honest as rewriting the amount on a check that you’ve been given. Casson’s defense of himself with allusions to how only “experts” can understand the research is merely fallacious deception. Casson and Viano were merely hiding behind a scientific facade in order to insert their personal political beliefs under the guise of science.

Casson and Viano were brought on board to replace Dr. Elliot Pellman, who resigned in 2007 after strong criticism of his work and indications that he had exaggerated several aspects of his medical education and professional status in official biographical sketches and a resume prepared for Congress. Since the NFL let him go to bring in two more doctors whose professional ethics seem less than optimal, you can understand if the players don’t embrace the next new hires with open arms.