BC High MUN 29 NFL CTE Chair: Alex Pinarchick Co- Chair: Luc St. Mary BC High MUN 29 Table of Contents I. Message from Chairs II. Why Have a Committee? III. History of CTE IV. Current Issue V. Profiles VI. Questions to Consider I) Message from Chairs Alex Pinarchick: Hello delegates and welcome to BC High Model UN Conference XXIX. We are very happy to be hosting committees during this strange year and would like to thank you for giving this online thing a shot. I am very excited to be a chair for this specific committee because a few years ago I did a similar committee which was at my first Model UN conference. I have been a part of Model UN for 3 years and have gone to a few high school conferences and two college conferences which includes NAIMUN and WMHSMUN (Georgetown and William & Mary). It was very interesting to hear different things from people across the country instead of the state. I know that we can have a very good discussion on the topic today as NFL CTE. Please send me your position papers at my email address below so that I may consider them for awards. [email protected] Luc St. Mary: 2 BC High MUN 29 Hello delegates welcome all to this BC High Model United Nations. I would like to say we are happy to have you here in this committee to discuss the problems with CTE. I will be the co-chair to this committee and my name is Luc St. Mary. I have been involved in model UN for the past three years. My greatest experience through Model UN is last year's trip to Virginia for a conference. Through this experience I was able to discuss and come up with solutions with the topic. This conference was so great because I was able to work and discuss with people from all over the country. I am thrilled to be the co-chair for this topic of CTE. I am a big fan of the NFL and think that this is an important discussion to have for the future of the NFL in being able for the players to be safe. [email protected] II) Why have a committee? This committee is called upon to discuss players' brain injuries including CTE protocols. In this meeting, NFL owners, former players, and doctors will discuss further action to take to limit the risk of head injuries on players for both their health and safety. There are numerous solutions and ways to combat head injuries, but only the owners can make change happen in the league. Use your time wisely as this is a one day committee as players and fans demand change. Remember, there have been many lawsuits against the NFL from retired players and their injuries such as aneurysms and strokes. III) History of CTE 3 BC High MUN 29 The first case of CTE was in 1928 and was located in the brain of a boxer. At the time this was not considered to be CTE or no one had ever seen anything like it, DR. Harrison MArtland has described boxers having “punch drunk syndrome”. Through the following years many other boxers were noticed to have the same symptoms and brain trauma. There were fewer than 50 cases confirmed, but all came from boxers. CTE is formally known as Chronic Traumatic encephalopathy and was first used that name by Dr. Macdonald Critchley in 1949 and was referring to the boxers that were seen with this brain trauma. It wasn’t until 2005 when the first case of CTE was ofícialos published with evidence by Bennet Omalu. This CTE was found in the brain of a former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster. The legend Mike Webster was one of the best centers to play in the NFL. This hall of famer had four super bowl rings along with attending nine pro bowls. Webster played in 220 games which is the most games played in Steeler history. Most NFL players have a hard time adjusting to a new lifestyle after the NFL, but this legend had an especially hard time. After Webster retired he became lethargic, he forgot how to eat, one day peed in the oven, and would often wander around Pittsburgh with guns threatening people. Physically he lost teeth and would have to zap himself with a taser just to become unconscious and get some sleep. Due to all this strange behavior and being so sick, he unfortunately died at age 50. Pathologist Bennet Omalu noticed this strange behavior and questioned if it could be the “punch-drunk syndrome” that had been called in boxers. He had thought how if a boxer can get this from many blows to the brain, this could also very easily happen to an NFL player getting hit in the head. Most would think that helmets would protect one from CTE, but is not the case because how easy it is for the brain to be shook around and cause damage and Omalu knew that. 4 BC High MUN 29 And sure enough he was right and noticed black spots in his brain. This was the first diagnosis of CTE being in the NFL and currently not the last leading to the current issue. IV) Current Issue Even to this day there is no cure for this disease. Today’s issue is that they are seeing signs and cases of CTE in many former NFL players that are now retired. And this may seem like the case of CTE only being visible and occurring to people that are older, but not necessarily the case. There have been many cases of CTE being most prevalent in players that play the most games not necessarily by age. Today there are many cases of people dying young due to CTE like former safety Tyler Sash died at 27. Or many are familiar with Aaron Hernandez who after getting an autopsy saw that he had suffered from severe state 3 CTE and died at 27. Today’s problem with the NFL is that they like to hide this information. There is clearly a problem with CTE existing in football and now it is up to the organization to fix this problem not keep a blind eye to it. The NFL player safety standards are not what they should be able to protect players' brains. Until 2012 the NFL would not share the data on player concussions. Concussion protocols are also not what they should be and mediocre at best. During a game a player can get a helmet to helmet and can get a “concussion protocol” just on the sideline. Then after they are not safely cleared on the sideline, they are free to get back in the game and only cause more damage to their brain. This is no surprise that the NFL chooses to hide this information about CTE. For CTE is a serious threat to the whole organization. The NFL brings in some serious revenue, so they are not interested in anything that harms the future of the organization, therefore leaving to hide it 5 BC High MUN 29 and get around it. For example the commissioner, Roger Gooddell, is aiming for 25 billion dollars of annual revenue by 2027. This amount of money drives Goodwell to do all he can to keep the organization out of shutting down. The league donates millions of dollars to brain research organizations, but hasn’t stopped the amount of concussions occurring in the league. Although all this research, from 2018-2019 there has been a 44% increase in concussion in the preseason. This clearly indicates the problem of although the NFL is dumping millions of dollars into research, that is just for show and not actually doing anything to help this problem. Since 2012 where the NFL started releasing the amount of concussions that occur in the NFL the year to year concussions have remained relatively constant. Due to all these concussions it questions what the NFL is really doing for the players to help them from concussions and head trauma like CTE. Some that the NFL has already started doing is new technology for the helmets. The NFL is also putting in new rules that are all towards the right directions. The more awareness of CTE and how dangerous it is to play football long lasting. This has encouraged many to retire early, Andrew Luck for example. Retired at the age of 29 and retired early while still being debatibily in his prime. This is encouraged by the dangers of CTE. No one is looking for players to retire early for fear in their brain, but should be able to play this great sport safety. Not many want this great organization or the sport to go away, but there needs to be some more precocious put into place to keep this sport great. Some problems or obstacles that could be at stake during this topic is each delegate will have to dig deep to find information about CTE. The NFL likes to hide this information because they don't want the organization to be exposed. Each delegate is going to have to find this 6 BC High MUN 29 information and put away biased information. I understand that delegates in this conference are going to have biased information based on each team they are assigned to but it is important to stay clear from those and speak to the best for the players and the future of the game not just money purposes.