Last September, the NFL announced it would spend $100 million on concussion research. Since then, the league has funded just one study on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) - and it's researching jockeys, not NFL players, according to ESPN's Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru.
The study aims to examine why jockeys aren't experiencing "deteriorating brain function in later life" despite the high concussion rates in horse racing. Leading the study are "an Australian researcher who once described American coverage of CTE as 'carry-on and hoo-hah' and a British doctor whose concussion presentations sometimes have included flippant jokes," Fainaru-Wada and Fainaru write.
The NFL said its $100-million Play Smart, Play Safe commitment will address the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of head injuries. Of that share, the league will spend $60 million on technological research - likely research that could contribute to better helmets - and the other $40 million on scientific research. However, the league is mostly opting for in-house studies rather than funding external work, as was its approach in previous years.
"I would view it just as if any giant corporation was doing internal research," said concussion researcher Stefan Duma, interim director for Virginia Tech's Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science. "This is internal research that the NFL controls."
The jockey project is being conducted by a nonprofit organization called the International Concussion & Head Injury Research Foundation. After its first year, the study has apparently broadened its scope and will look at athletes from other impact sports. Several league advisers are on the ICHIRF's Scientific Committee, including the NFL's chief medical officer, Dr. Allen Sills.
NFL was hit with controversy last year after backing out of a significant contribution to research by the National Institutes of Health. One of the NIH studies was going to be headed by Robert Stern, a researcher who's been critical of the league. The NFL announced Play Smart, Play Safe not long after, promising to share what the league learns about concussions.
So far, the NFL has announced funding for two Play Smart, Play Safe projects, totaling $210,000. It's not clear whether the league intends to sponsor any research on CTE or other neurodegenerative diseases.
In July, a study published in the medical journal JAMA found CTE was present in 99 percent of the brains of deceased NFL players.
According to ESPN, the NFL declined to make any of its health officials available for comment.
