The Silence That Echoes: What Roger Goodell and the NFL Still Won’t Say About CTE
After a tragic shooting near NFL Headquarters, the league had a chance to speak truth. Instead, it chose silence. It's time for new leadership—and honest reckoning.
Last night I tuned in to watch my friend, Jim Harbaugh, lead his Los Angeles Chargers onto the field in Canton, Ohio. It was the Hall of Fame Game—technically a pre-season affair, one that doesn't count toward regular season records. But if you know Jim, you know that every game counts. He coaches to win—every snap, every series. Winning, after all, is a habit. So is leadership.
But what stayed with me most from last night wasn’t the game—it was what wasn’t said in the broadcast booth.
Mike Tirico interviewed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the topic, understandably, was the tragic shooting this past Monday at the NFL Headquarters Park Avenue building in New York City. A deeply disturbed former high school American football player—a man whose life had unraveled long after his playing days ended—chose violence, heartbreak, and finality. He took lives, including his own.
It was a moment for Tirico and Goodell that demanded courage, truth, and empathy. And yet, they never once mentioned CTE.
Not once.
The omission wasn’t just glaring—it was gut-wrenching.
I’ve been in the football trenches since 1972, when I first strapped on a helmet for Pop Warner in Sacramento, California. I know the violence of this game. I’ve seen teammates break down—mentally, physically, spiritually. I’ve mourned friends who ended their lives with the same intensity they once brought to the field. I’ve sat with grieving families who asked the same question we’re still afraid to answer: Could this have been prevented?
Yes, we’ve made some progress in acknowledging the long-term neurological damage caused by repeated head trauma. But let’s be honest—acknowledgment isn’t enough. Awareness without accountability is just theater. And when the league’s top spokesman sits in front of millions and avoids even uttering the word CTE, it tells us all we need to know.
That silence speaks louder than pregame anthems, sideline slogans, or multimillion-dollar mental health campaigns. It says: We still care more about protecting the brand than protecting the players—and the people who built this league.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
A few years ago, Troy Vincent—former NFL All-Pro and now one of the league’s most respected executives—made a bold and necessary statement: “The future of American football is flag football.” He wasn’t undermining the game. He was preserving its soul. He understands that true leadership is about protecting people—not just profits.
Today, I cast my vote—publicly and proudly—to replace Roger Goodell with Troy Vincent.
Not out of spite. Out of necessity.
Vincent has the heart, the vision, and the lived experience. He understands what’s at stake. He’s not trying to preserve a corporation. He’s trying to save a culture.
Football is more than a game. It’s a mirror. And right now, it reflects too many broken lives, too many avoidable deaths, and too much institutional silence.
We can still reclaim this game.
But only if we have the courage to tell the truth.
Let’s start now—by breaking the silence.