University of North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora is under fire.  During an interview at the ACC media day in Charlotte, he questioned the relationship between chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and football.

I don’t think it’s been proven that the game of football causes CTE.  We don’t really know that. Are there chances for concussions? Of course. There are collisions. But the game is safer than it’s ever been.

I guess Coach Fedora did not read the article in the Journal of the American Medical Association in which the Boston University CTE Center reported 99 percent of brains obtained from NFL players, 91 percent from college football players and 21 percent of high school players showed effects of CTE.  Or that the NFL has already made over $100 million in payments to affected players in a settlement that may eventually exceed one billion dollars and acknowledges the link between football and CTE.

Despite the public and media backlash, UNC athletic director Bubba (you were expecting something else) Cunningham defended Fedora.  Admitting Fedora’s comments were “poorly communicated,” Cunningham believes the Tar Heels coach has the health and safety of his players at heart saying, “…he’s passionate about protecting these students, he’s passionate about the game of football, it just didn’t come off all that well.”

Yes, Fedora is passionate about football.  In fact, he believes the national security of the United States depends on the sport.  During the Charlotte interview, Fedora shared this concern.

Our game is under attack. I fear the game will be pushed so far from what we know that we won’t recognize it in 10 years. And if it does, our country will go down, too.

Without providing evidence, Fedora claimed,  “The success of the United States military was due, in part, to the number of football player who went on to join the armed forces.”  (Source: ESPN.com, July 18, 2018)

Giving Fedora the benefit of the doubt, I decided to do my own research.  I Googled a number of phrases around the theme “former college football players join armed forces.”  Not one hit.  The first page of on-line related articles suggest the opposite.  Consider the following headlines.

• Military veterans find a home in college football/ESPN.com
• Playing college sports after the military/Athletes of Valor
• Military members find challenge in college football as walk-on players/USA Today
• From military vet to college football rookie/thestate.com

It is unclear whether Fedora’s job is in jeopardy.  But just in case, surely there is an institution of higher learning that would welcome a coach who doesn’t believe in science and makes up his own facts.  Too bad for Fedora Trump University did not have an athletic program.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP