Legal - Football Wiretap

Ben Roethlisberger Will Factor CTE Into Retirement Decision

Jul 29, 2017 11:39 AM

Ben Roethlisberger will factor the growing knowledge of CTE into his decision on whether to extend his career beyond the 2017 season.

Roethlisberger also considered retiring after the 2016 season.

"I've been blessed to do this a long time," Roethlisberger, 35, told the Post-Gazette. He starts each training camp with a series of interviews with long-standing local media. "I think it's just seeing my kids growing up, and in the offseason I love getting to spend time with them, and then I come here and football season just has to take up so much of your time. Even when you get home, I try my best to turn it off when I walk in the front door. I think I do a pretty good job of that, but it still consumes you in a way.

"Just all those things combined -- being healthy, being able to play catch with my kids. I feel good mentally, I know this new study that came out that 90 percent [of NFL] players' brains who were studied had CTE.

"There's a lot of scary things, and I think my wife would be OK if I hung it up, too. But I still love the guys, I still love the game, so it was right for me to come back and give it everything I have this year."

Jeremy Fowler/ESPN

Tags: Pittsburgh Steelers, Legal, Misc Rumor

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Lucky Whitehead Was Victim Of Mistaken Identity

Jul 25, 2017 12:38 PM

Prince William County (Virginia) Police Department has announced they mistakenly charged Lucky Whitehead with shoplifting on June 22nd.

Whitehead and his agent, David Rich, said Monday that this was a case of mistaken identity. Rich cited flight records to prove that Whitehead wasn't in Virginia at the time of the incident.

The Dallas Cowboys released Whitehead on Monday following the erroneous report.

ESPN

Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Free Agent Rumor, Legal, Misc Rumor

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CTE Found In 110 Of 111 Brains Of Former NFL Players

Jul 26, 2017 12:34 PM

An updated study published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association on football players and the degenerative brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) reveals a striking result among NFL players.

The study examined the brains of deceased former football players (CTE can only be diagnosed after death) and found that 110 out of 111 brains of those who played in the NFL had CTE.

In the study, researchers examined the brains of 202 deceased former football players at all levels. Nearly 88 percent of all the brains, 177, had CTE. Three of 14 who'd played only in high school had CTE; 48 of 53 college players; 9 of 14 semiprofessional players; 7 of 8 Canadian Football League players.

The problems can arise years after the blows to the head have stopped.

The NFL's top health and safety official has acknowledged a link between football and CTE, and the league has begun to steer children away from playing the sport in its regular form.

Tom Goldman/NPR

Tags: Legal

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Lucky Whitehead Charged, Skips Arraignment

Jul 24, 2017 3:58 PM

Lucky Whitehead had a warant out for his arrest after a shoplifting arrest June 22 in Virginia and his failure to appear in court July 6.

Whitehead, 25, was arrested in Prince William County, Virginia, on June 22 for shoplifting/petit larceny under $200.

Whitehead is the third Dallas Cowboys player to be arrested since the end of last season. 

Clarence Hill/Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Legal

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Ravens Partner With Tech Firm To Practice Against Holographic Players

Jul 20, 2017 12:40 PM

The Baltimore Ravens have partnered with a tech company to practice against holographic players.

“Right now, what you are seeing is a holographic football team coming at you and getting into their formation,” says Jim Pietila, CEO of Mixed River.

Founded late last year, Mixed River offers not virtual reality but “mixed reality,” which means the real world intersects with images or data.

Virtual reality also could help reduce head trauma injuries, which are under increasing scrutiny by former players and the league.

“One of the attractions to the technology is the ability to get those mental reps that don’t involve contact,” said Damani Leech, the NFL’s vice president for football strategy and business development. “I think you see it with other technology — with the robotic tackling dummies to allow you to improve your tackling form without hitting another person.”

Jeff Barker/Baltimore Sun

Tags: Baltimore Ravens, Legal

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Out-Of-Home TV Ratings Could Reverse Signs Of NFL's Decline

Jul 17, 2017 2:03 PM

ESPN and Fox Sports have signed up for Nielsen's out-of-home viewership ratings that tracks what people watch when they're watching television outside of their homes. 

People in the Nielsen sample carry a device the size of a pager that picks up audio encoding from a nearby television and that tracks when they're watching at a bar, restaurant, hotel, work or a second home.

Fox Sports averaged 35.1 million viewers for last Thanksgiving's game between Dallas and Washington but the out-of-home viewership elevated the total to 48.7 million viewers. That represents a 40 percent increase from its traditional number.

According to ESPN execs, they have seen similar increases when out-of-home audiences were added to its Christmas Day schedule for the NBA.

CBS and NBC are also in discussions for adding the service.

“We are currently working with Nielsen to ensure that its out-of-home methodology accurately reflects the full audience picture,” an NBCUniversal spokesperson said via email.

NFL Network likely will participate in Nielsen’s out-of-home measurement, according to an NFL source.

While NFL ratings fell by 10 percent last season, the increase from out-of-home ratings could change the trajectory of their numbers.

John Ourand/Sports Business Journal

Tags: Legal

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Jerry Jones Led Insurrection In 1990s To Grow NFL's TV Revenues

Jul 16, 2017 6:30 PM

In the early 1990s, Jerry Jones helped lead an insurrection against the NFL's old-guard owners in how they approach their television deals.

The NFL signed a three-year with the networks in 1987 for a total of $1.4 billion. In 1991, the NFL agreed to a deal that kept network money flat.

Jones and his group invited FOX to bid and that triggered the first of many bidding wars.

In 1994, the NFL's deals with networks for four seasons was $4.4 billion.

The NFL is now making $7 billion per season. 

Barry Horn/Dallas Morning News

Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Legal

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Richard Sherman: NFL Players Need To Be Willing To Go On Strike

Jul 13, 2017 2:28 PM

Richard Sherman suggests NFL players need to be prepared to strike in order to receive the same type of guaranteed salaries NBA players routinely agree upon.

"Oh, 100 percent," Sherman said. "If we want as the NFL, as a union, to get anything done, players have to be willing to strike. That's the thing that guys need to 100 percent realize.

"You're going to have to miss games, you're going to have to lose some money if you're willing to make the point, because that's how MLB and NBA got it done. They missed games, they struck, they flexed every bit of power they had, and it was awesome. It worked out for them."

Sherman also said NFL players need re-evaluate how they perceive their own market as Kevin Durant and LeBron James have in the NBA.

"NBA players like KD and LeBron are sitting there taking two-year deals like it's nothing," Sherman said. "They figure, 'I'll take a two-year deal because I'm going to wait for the salary cap to increase and get another bite at the apple.' In our sport, they won't do it."

ESPN

Tags: Seattle Seahawks, Legal

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Marketers Attempting To Keep Super Bowl Ads From Climbing Over $5M

Jul 10, 2017 2:33 PM

The cost of an average 30-second spot for the Super Bowl has rocketed more than 100% between 2007 and 2016, according to Kantar data – rising to $4.8 million from $2.39 million.

Marketers are attempting to hold the line at $5 million per spot.

“We get concerned whenever we see prices going up,” says Marcel Marcondes, chief marketing officer for Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. operations, in an interview. With more people watching sports via streaming video, “the context has changed,” he suggested. “People’s behavior has changed, and therefore the negotiations about the price should change as well.”

This year's game will be televised on NBC.

Advertiser demand is “holding up to our plan,” said Dan Lovinger, executive vice president of ad sales for NBC Sports Group. “I imagine you would understand that, traditionally, we don’t plan for decreases.” The company is seeking “north of $5 million” for a 30-second ad berth in the game, he added.

Brian Steinberg/Variety

Tags: Legal

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