Die Macht » Weve been doing a good job on turnovers.

The NFL is pledging $100 million to player safety as concerns about concussions shadow the game.NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote a letter announcing the funding and outlining a new initiative called Play Safe, Play Smart on the programs website.Goodell wrote that the goal of the initiative is to drive progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of head injuries, enhance medical protocols and further improve the way the game is taught and played by all who love it.The NFL has a troubled history around the topic of brain research and concussions.For nearly two decades, the league ran a series of scientific experiments, formed its own research arm and published 16 papers about football and head injuries. The central conclusion -- that NFL players dont get brain damage -- led to public criticism, Congressional hearings and, in 2009, the abandonment of the project.More recently, in May, congressional investigators concluded that at least a half-dozen top NFL health officials waged an improper, behind-the-scenes campaign last year to influence a major U.S. government research study on football and brain disease.The 91-page congressional report described how the NFL pressured the National Institutes of Health to strip a $16 million project from a prominent Boston University researcher and tried to redirect the money to members of the leagues committee on brain injuries. The study was to have been funded out of a $30 million unrestricted gift the NFL gave the NIH in 2012.After the NIH rebuffed the NFLs campaign to remove Robert Stern, an expert in neurodegenerative disease who has criticized the league, the NFL backed out of a signed agreement to pay for the study, the report shows. Taxpayers ended up bearing the cost instead.The NFLs actions violated policies that prohibit private donors from interfering in the NIH peer-review process, the report concludes, and were part of a long-standing pattern of attempts by the league to shape concussion research for its own purposes.In the letter posted Wednesday, the commissioner said that the league can and will do better in this area and acknowledged that some might think the leagues motives are not pure.We know there is skepticism about our work in this area, he wrote. Thats why both the process and the results of our work will be shared with the medical community and the public at large.The program will have four pillars, according to the website: protecting players, advanced technology, medical research and sharing progress.The league will take a hard look at any aspect of the rules that can make the game safer for our players, Goodell wrote. But the letter also says that $60 million of the total funding will go toward exploring technological solutions to player safety. That could include new helmets.Another of our goals is to explore the concept of position-specific helmets, Goodell wrote. After all, we know from tracking game and injury data that linemen experience different impacts than a wide receiver or a defensive back. Yet their protective equipment is the same.Goodell wrote that more than $40 million will be allotted to medical research.?The goal is to pursue scientific research to examine the long-term effects of concussion, the incidence and prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and what can be done to improve long-term player health, Goodell wrote.As professional athletes question whether they would allow their own kids to play football, Goodell wrote that the new program plans to share information with sports families.Our goal will be to equip parents with the best available information to make decisions about their childrens participation in football and other contact sports, he wrote, adding that the league will expand its athletic trainer program.Talk of head injuries has become a major topic in the NFL. The NFL and NFLPA said that they will look into hits that league MVP Cam Newton took this weekend to see if correct protocols were followed.?All of the talk takes leads to the question of whether the risk of playing football is worth the reward. Goodell thinks it is.Long ago, before I was NFL Commissioner, I was a high school football player, he wrote. I played safety for the Bronxville High School Broncos. Those were among the happiest days of my life.The values I gained from that experience -- grit, commitment to team, hard work and how to conduct oneself in both victory and defeat -- are values Ive applied throughout my adult life. Custom Ravens Jersey China . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Jonathan Ogden Jersey . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. http://www.customravensjersey.com/custom-vinny-testaverde-jersey-large-1203d.html . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. Hayden Hurst Jersey . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Derrick Mason Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Nick Saban flung his headset to the ground and stomped onto the field, angrily waving his arms in the air as soon as the final second ticked off the clock.No. 1 Alabama had just completed a 49-30 victory over No. 22 Arkansas on Saturday night in which the defense scored two touchdowns and collected six sacks, but the Crimson Tide coach found plenty to be mad about.An attacking defense that has made a habit of big plays had spent too much time on the field in the second half and given up too many plays to Razorbacks quarterback Austin Allen for Sabans liking.I wasnt happy at all, either, said linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton, who had a sack and forced fumble. Actually I felt like we almost lost the game. We didnt play well at all on defense. We gave up 30 points.Alabamas challenges get even bigger Saturday when trying to contain No. 9 Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs and tailbacks Alvin Kamara and, if hes healthy, Jalen Hurd in Knoxville.Whatever the lapses that had Saban scowling, first-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitts group has been attacking opposing offenses relentlessly.The result has been a defense that has given up some passing yards but leads the nation in run defense and is fifth in sacks per game and fumbles recovered. Alabama has scored nine touchdowns courtesy of defense or special teams; nobody else in the nation has more than four.Tennessee has had trouble holding onto the ball, fumbling 21 times in six games, one more than all of last season. The Volunteers have lost eight of them coming into this game.I think this is the best Alabama team weve faced since weve been here, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. Its the best secondary of any Alabama team weve faced since weve been here.But the Tides big plays have come from every level of the defense.Ryan Anderson, Jonathan Allen and Tim Williams lead Alabamas pass rushers, but 12 players have sacks.Williams and cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick both scored on turnovers against the Razorbacks, and `Bama harassed Allen frequently. That part of Alabamas performance, Saban was still pretty happy with two days later.I think there were a lot of other plays that the quarterback was affected on, probably about a dozen, and some of those led to big plays, he said.dddddddddddd A couple of our interceptions were because the quarterback was under duress.I think its a team thing, but I do think that we need to be more difficult to score on.Alabama has only twice allowed more than 10 points this season, but both were Southeastern Conference road games -- against Arkansas and Mississippi, a 48-43 win. The Tide scored five touchdowns combined via either defense or special teams.Alabama produced plenty of non-offensive TDs and big plays under former defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, now Georgias head coach. Pruitt certainly hasnt emphasized it any less.One thing I could say he has brought is he is always on us about attacking the ball and getting the ball out, Hamilton said. Weve been doing a good job on turnovers.Game notes Tennessee announced Monday night that defensive tackle Danny OBrien was dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules. ... Tennessee coach Butch Jones says linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin is still looking at some different options for what avenues he wants to pursue regarding his recovery from a shoulder injury. The injury has caused Reeves-Maybin to miss the entirety of the Vols last two games and the majority of victories over Ohio and Florida. ... Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster and guard Alphonse Taylor are both recovering from concussions, but Saban doesnt expect them to miss much practice time. ... The lone remaining charge against Tennessee defensive lineman Alexis Johnson stemming from a February arrest was dismissed Monday, according to Knox County Assistant District Attorney General Sean McDermott. When one charge against Johnson was dropped and another reduced to misdemeanor domestic assault in April, an agreement was reached to drop the remaining charge if he avoided trouble for the next six months.---AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Knoxville, Tennessee, contributed to this report. ' ' '