NFL negligent in prevalence of Dementia in retired NFLers?

NFL spokesman, Greg Aiello, said in an e-mail message that the study did not formally diagnose dementia, that it was subject to shortcomings of telephone surveys and that “there are thousands of retired players who do not have memory problems.”
“Memory disorders affect many people who never played football or other sports,” Mr. Aiello said. “We are trying to understand it as it relates to our retired players.”

Yeah yeah, but are you really?

More and more retired National Football League players are speaking out about the dangers of concussions.  Cleveland Browns' great Jim Brown, who has guested several times on the FAN 590 radio show Primetime Sports with host Bob McCown, has come out and said that the league and current players need to do more not only financially, but publicly to raise awareness about the dangers of brain trauma as a result of collisions on the playing field.  Dizzy spells are no longer just dizzy spells, and passing out can no longer be ruled a straight forward case of dehydration.  The New York Times is reporting that Early On-set Alzheimer's (when the disease manifests itself before the age of 65) or other memory related illnesses are diagnosed in NFLers at "a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49."

This is scary stuff, especially considering the NFL in the last round of labour negotiations managed to wrestle guaranteed contracts away from its players.  That means any player who begins to show signs that his cognitive abilities-  as a result of various hits to the head - are deteriorating, can be outright released from his contract. The highest rate of workplace injury occurs in the arena of professional sports. So I ask, if you were a fireman, how would you feel if the city you worked for did not believe in the inherent risks of smoke inhalation and sent you into a burning building; a few months later, you begin to develop asthma and your contract is eventually terminated.   Fortunately, our Canadian firemen and women are well taken care of, so why wouldn't a multibillion dollar industry like the NFL do more to protect its most coveted assets?

Defender Telegraph, page 7, No. 001