$30M Donation Brought NFL Another Crisis of Credibility

First, the NFL tried to buy itself a talking point of spin. The cost: $30 million, courtesy of a "no strings attached" donation to the National Institutes of Health, which was conducting a study on the relationship between chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and football. "Hey, look, we care so much we are funding the study." That was 2012.

However, a doctor named Robert Stern, who had been critical of the NFL, was chosen to run it rather than doctors the league preferred. The NFL responded by trying to strong-arm doctors back in, fighting for a system where the conclusions would not face aggressive peer review and eventually pulling $16 million out of the "no strings attached" donation. What the league first claimed was goodwill was actually a way to control the conclusions.