Bettman says hockey different from football on concussions

BOCA RATON, Fla. – After the NHL’s Board of Governors meetings, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about recent comments from NFL senior vice president for health and safety Jeff Miller, who noted that there is a link between football and CTE, the degenerative brain disease associated with concussions. 

Bettman sidestepped the question to a degree, but tried to point out that hockey and football are different sports.

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“I don’t think it’s even necessary or appropriate for me to comment on what the NFL either says or does,” Bettman said. “Secondly I think it’s fairly clear that playing hockey isn’t the same as playing football and as we’ve said all along we’re not going to get into a public debate on this.”

Last May, Bettman said there was “no evidence yet” that concussions and CTE are linked. 

This led to a harsh response from Chris Nowinski, the co-founder and executive director of the Sports Legacy Institute.

CTE, which can only be diagnosed posthumously, has been found in the brains of former NHLers Steve Montador and Derek Boogaard amongst others. It was not found in the brain of recently deceased enforcer Todd Ewen.

The league is facing a lawsuit from several former players about how the NHL did not sufficiently inform them about the long-term impact of head injuries.

In the past, the NHL has said to leave head injury studies to the NFL. The NFL settled their lawsuit with their players for $1 billion. 

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper