In perhaps its clearest admission that football can cause degenerative brain disease, the N.F.L.’s top health and safety official admitted Monday that there was a link between the sport and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease found in dozens of retired players.
In a round table on Capitol Hill, Jeff Miller, the N.F.L.’s senior vice president of health and safety policy, was asked by Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat of Illinois, whether “there is a link between football and degenerative brain disorders like C.T.E.”
“The answer to that is certainly, yes,” Miller said.
Miller went on to say that Dr.