The NFL thought it had headed off the "concussion problem" in the sport when it made a $765m settlement with former players – without admitting liability. But the PBS Frontline documentary "League of Denial: the NFL's concussions crisis" broadcast on Tuesday tried to put the issues back at the top of the agenda.
The documentary showed scientists linking the sport to Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and presented a picture of the NFL consistently denying the scientific evidence. The league was basically accused of turning a blind eye to – and quashing – evidence that players were sustaining head traumas on the field that could lead to serious, long-term cognitive disability.
The documentary had originally been a co-production with ESPN until the sports broadcaster pulled out – allegedly under pressure from the NFL – and lost a huge audience as a result. But plenty of people still saw the programme. You can watch it in full here.
Here is just a small selection of reactions to the broadcast – in which no NFL executives commented:
Not entirely surprisingly the NFL Twitter feed made no mention of the documentary. And NFL commissioner Roger Goodell hasn't tweeted for a month.
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