In DC, Deron Snyder noted it "took a while," but the NFL "finally has come clean" in its acknowledgement that there is a link between football and CTE. Snyder: "Now football must brace for impact" (WASHINGTONTIMES.com, 3/16). NFL Senior VP/Health & Safety Policy Jeff Miller on Monday acknowledged the link. A Newark STAR-LEDGER editorial states it hopes Miller's admission "is enough" for U.S. District Judge Anita Brody "to rethink" the league's proposed $1B plan to settle concussion claims by former players. The editorial: "The league paid a relatively small price for the lives it sacrificed in the name of entertainment, and time for deception is over. It's time to pay up" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 3/17).
RECORD HIGH: In Jacksonville, Garry Smits noted the PGA Tour yesterday announced that its events "resulted in a record" $160M donated to charity in '15. The Tour "raised slightly more than" $140M in '14. That "brings the all-time total" to $2.3B since the first donation by a Tour event, the '38 Palm Beach Invitational. The Players Championship "contributed a record" $8M to the total. Smits noted it was one of six Tour events that raised $8M or more in '15 (JACKSONVILLE.com, 3/16).
BACK AT THE WALL: MLB yesterday said that a Junior Home Run Derby will "be conducted for players under 14 and under 12." The final will be at Petco Park on July 9, "three days before the All-Star Game." The competition will "be conducted in partnership with youth organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and other baseball and softball organizations," and it will "be sponsored by T-Mobile" (AP, 3/16).
