Jerry Jones Says It's Absurd to Think Current Data Shows Link Between CTE and Football
By Kyle Koster
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn’t quite sold on the idea that there’s a definitive link between football and CTE.
Speaking at the annual league meeting, Jones said more data is needed before declarative statements should be made.
“We want to continue to be safer and want to continue to support any type of research that would let us know what [the] consequences really are,” he said. “In no way should we be basically making assumptions with no more data than we’ve got about the consequences of a head injury.”
Jones comments came a week after Jeff Miller, the league’s senior vice president for health and safety, acknowledged such a link. The outspoken billionaire said he wasn’t disagreeing with Miller’s statements.
"Jones was asked by a reporter to clarify whether there is, in his view, enough data to establish such a link. “No, that’s absurd,” Jones said. “There’s no data that in any way creates a knowledge. There’s no way that you could have made a comment that there is an association and some type of assertion. In most things, you have to back it up by studies. And in this particular case, we all know how medicine is. Medicine is evolving. I grew up being told that aspirin was not good. I’m told that one a day it is good for you…. I’m saying that changed over the years as we’ve had more research and knowledge."
It’s in Jones’ best financial interest to keep the words “football” as far away as possible from “CTE.” As such, his bar of evidence is going to be positioned much higher than usual.
It’s certainly not a surprise to hear his stance, but one wonders how bad this opinion will look retroactively.
Jones, of course, has a long track record of not being overly concerned with his public perception so he’s likely not losing any sleep over it.