Peer-Reviewed Articles

Perry, J., Kras, K., & Vann, B. Jr. (2026). Headstrong, Flagged Later: Concussions and Arrest Risk Among NFL Players. Deviant Behavior.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2026.2673400

• This article examines whether documented NFL concussions are associated with booking-based arrest outcomes among 6,201 players from the 2010–2020 seasons. The study finds that players with documented concussions had higher odds of arrest in unadjusted models, while violent arrest results were similar in direction but not statistically significant. The findings are preliminary, sensitive to temporal ordering.

Topics

NFL concussions; traumatic brain injury; TBI; arrest risk; criminal justice contact; CTE; biosocial criminology; sports criminology; head injury; behavioral regulation