and James Harden and Serge Ibaka. Then he was the Han Solo to Durants Luke Skywalker. Now, hes flag-bearer, assuming the full weight of a franchise on his back. He now takes on the r

The NFL is pledging $100 million to player safety as concerns about concussions shadow the game. Mats Naslund Jersey .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. Guy Lapointe Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. Andrew Shaw Jersey . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. http://www.canadiensauthority.com/authen...nadiens-jersey/ . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. OKLAHOMA CITY -- The sky blue carpet was laid out, and fans equipped with handmade signs and smart phones lined the decaled barricades, waiting for a car to arrive and drop off Russell Westbrook.Local businesses downtown let employees off work early, encouraging them to head to Chesapeake Energy Arena. Drummers pounded on their snares and cymbals, scattered chants of Rus-sell! broke out organically and team employees bounced around, handing out bottles of water and snow cones.More than a thousand people were gathered, sweating in unison on a steamy August day -- one in which the mayor of Oklahoma City, Mick Cornett, had declared to be Russell Westbrook Day.One month ago to the day, Kevin Durant had signed with the Golden State Warriors, bringing the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise to its knees. A truck just ran through us, is how one person within the team phrased it.Now, a celebration was happening. Westbrook had signed an extension, stabilizing the organization and allowing it to finally begin to move forward. Durants departure was the darkest day in franchise history; Westbrooks commitment might be the brightest.The suddenness of Westbrooks renegotiated deal was jarring, going from dead silence for the past month to news breaking late on Wednesday that it was close, and then done. But in reality, Westbrook and the Thunder have been in agreement on an extension for more than two weeks. The signal was Dion Waiters qualifying offer being rescinded, a move done with only the goal of freeing necessary cap space to extend Westbrook. The moment the Thunder pulled that offer, they knew they had a commitment from Westbrook.In the wake of Durants departure, the Thunder focused on patience and level-headed choices. They quickly turned to Westbrook to try and steady the franchise and to do it with something tangible. A contract extension that, in essence, plants a flag in the ground with the Thunder. A declaration that in forgoing his own free agency a year from now, Westbrook was going to pick up the mantle Durant willingly laid down.Yes, Westbrook now maximizes his earning potential. His contract is a renegotiation and it only goes up, adding an extra $8.7 million this season. Then its another guaranteed year with the Thunder, and then Westbrook hits the coveted 10-year veteran max qualifier and could ink a five-year, $204 million contract, making him the highest-paid player in the NBA.But first, he had to commit to the Thunder now.Theres no denying Westbrook made the most pragmatic, sensible decision. Hes making the most money he possibly can and keeping options open for the future. Hes also making the most brash and bold one. Hes assuming the burden of filling the crater Durant left behind. Its a perfect Westbrookian paradox, fitting for the kind of player he is. None of it makes any sense, except it all makes perfect sense.Westbrook, 27, can re-enter the free agent market in two years, and many look at this situation as him giving the Thunder a timetable. A deadline of two years to convince him to stay again. But to judge the length of the contract and assume hes plotting for future free agency would be, like many do with Westbrook already, misreading the situation. Westbrook has made a clear commitment to the Thunder. Hes under contract longer with them than Durant is with the Warriors.The Thunder are under no illusion this is a lifetime contract, though. Theres work to be done. The roster has holes, and Westbrook wants to win. But he also isnt in desperate search for approval because of it. Westbrook doesnt tend to care much about what people think. That should be pretty obvious with the way he dresses himself.Its one of the reasons Westbrook is perpetually misunderstood. Many conflate his on-court persona withh his off-court personality. Dickie Moore Jersey. Hes unapologetic. Hes fiery. Hes emotional. Hes arguably the most competitive player in professional sports. And hes really not as complicated as it might seem. With Westbrook, what you see is what you get. Hes not one to mince words with the media -- no matter how short those words might be -- and it wont take a decoder to figure him out.Im a straightforward type of guy. I shoot you straight, he said. No need to go back and forth and try to figure out any other options, create this hoopla, rumors and all this stuff. This is where I want to be, and thats what I made the decision based on.Almost instantly after Durant left, Westbrook understood the gravity of the situation he was cast into. It was time for him to make a decision now, a year earlier than expected, and give the Thunder a course to plot. As one person close to Westbrook said: He operates in the light of day. There would be no backroom angling. He was going to give the Thunder an answer, one way or the other.All the times weve been together, OKC general manager Sam Presti said, I dont think Ive ever walked out a conversation with him thinking, I dont know where he stands, I dont know what he thinks, I dont know what he means. It was right down the middle. Direct.But following Durants announcement, as he said Thursday, Westbrook quickly shifted into thinking ahead for the Thunder. He asked Presti, Whats next?I said, Here is one thing that could be next, Presti said. Id really like it to happen, by the way.The Thunder made it their primary objective to lock up Westbrook. They maneuvered to be in the position to do it, and once they formally presented the option, it didnt take long for him to commit.It might have seemed as if it was a toss-up, that the Russell Westbrook many perceive wouldnt stay in little ol Oklahoma City. Hes got his fashion interests. Hes from Los Angeles. Hes got to crave the big-city spotlight.Durant always appeared to be the perfect fit with Oklahoma City, with his humble nature and down-home demeanor. But he also was drawn to a bigger city, not necessarily for the brighter lights, but for the ability to blend. In Oklahoma City, Durant carried a larger-than-life burden everywhere he went. Hed privately lamented to friends an inability to be in public. Westbrooks ideal night off the floor, though? At home with his wife, Nina, watching anything other than basketball. Thats a fit with Oklahoma City.While Durant often had issues with the roster -- not enough veterans, not the right mix, not enough spending -- Westbrook has always been a believer in Presti. Westbrooks mentality has consistently been this: Give me the 14 guys you want me to play with, and well go after it. And as the Thunder now reconfigure around him, Presti has the responsibility of sorting through the best way to complement a Westbrook-led roster.Westbrooks world is forever different now. He was once a part of a core, with Durant and James Harden and Serge Ibaka. Then he was the Han Solo to Durants Luke Skywalker. Now, hes flag-bearer, assuming the full weight of a franchise on his back. He now takes on the responsibility of being the franchise player, alone. He didnt ask for it. But he has embraced it.Westbrook has always has been an overcomer. He didnt care he was barely recruited out of high school. He didnt flinch at critics saying hes not a point guard. Hes not one to shy away from a challenge. He runs into them headfirst, full steam ahead, for better or worse. Picking up the pieces after Durants exit is as much a challenge as there is.Exactly the kind of thing Russell Westbrook lives for. 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