WHAT:

House Judiciary Committee chairman field hearing in Detroit, Michigan on "Legal Issues Relating to Football Head Injuries, Part II."

WHEN:

Monday, January 4, 2010, 1:00 p.m.

WHERE:

Wayne State University School of Medicine, Margherio Family Conference Center, Room 1460, 540 E. Canfield St., Detroit, MI

WHO:

Witnesses List:

Panel One

• DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director, NFL Players Association
• Dr. Joseph Maroon, Vice Chair, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburgh
• Dr. David Klossner, Director of Health and Safety, NCAA
• Bob Colgate, Assistant Director, National Federation of State High School Associations
• Scott Hallenbeck, Executive Director, USA Football
• Lem Barney, Detroit Lions Hall of Fame Player
• Thomas Hearns, Eight-Time World Champion Professional Boxer
• Dr. Bennet I. Omalu, Co-Director, Brain Injury Research Institute, West Virginia University
• Dr. Ira Casson, Former Co-Chairman, NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee
• Vincent R. Ferrara, Founder and CEO, Xenith, LLC
• David Halstead, Technical Director, Southern Impact Research Center

• Dr. Randall Benson, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Wayne State University
• Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, Director, Michigan Neurosport
• Christopher Nowinski, President and CEO, Sports Legacy Institute
• Kyle Turley, Retired NFL Player
• Ted Johnson, Retired NFL Player
• Robert Schmidt, Chairman, Vincent T. Lombardi Foundation
• George Martin, Executive Director, NFL Alumni Association
• Luther "Big Lu" Campbell, Trainer of Professional Athletes
• Bernie Parrish, Retired NFL Player

WHY:

The hearing, which will be a follow up to the committee’s Washington, D.C. October 28^th hearing on Legal Issues Relating to Football Head Injuries, will consider recent steps taken at the professional, college, and high school levels to deal with brain injuries.

"Clearly, we have reached a tipping point in our understanding of the causes and treatment of brain injuries in football," said Conyers. "Since our last hearing, the NFL has made a series of important announcements, including enhancing the protocol for concussions by players; helping insure that independent brain-injury experts clear players before they can return to play; encouraging current and former players to agree to donate their brains to study; shaking up the membership of their concussion committee; and suspending the concussion committee’s work while proposing to support independent research into the study of brain injuries. It is my hope that our hearing on January 4^th can help provide further education on the subject and allow parties at all levels of football, from the high school to professional level, to identify remaining issues and work towards resolution."