NFL, General Electric Ally to Fund Concussion Research

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had just delivered a speech to employees of General Electric last fall in Columbus, Ohio, when he and GE chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt began discussing what could be done to make football safer, particularly the treatment of concussions.

Both played high school football, so Goodell and Immelt felt particularly engaged.

"Jeff and I share a love of football, and we've spent a lot of time talking about what it's meant to both of us in building our character, our values and how we use a lot of the things we've learned on the football field in our jobs today," Goodell said Monday. "We were talking about our challenges, and player health and safety is No. 1 for us. Jeff reached out and said, 'I want to help. I want to make a difference.' "

The conversation led to a $40-million joint investment by the NFL and GE toward concussion research. Goodell and Immelt announced the venture Monday at GE headquarters in Manhattan. The Under Armour Corp. also is involved in the partnership and will launch an initiative to attract entrepreneurs to find new ways of dealing with brain injuries.

Read more about the research by GE and the NFL at Newsday.