Last week we heard about the NFL's attempts to influence government research into the long-term effects of football-related concussions. But this isn't the only thing the NFL has done recently to try to tilt the playing field in its favor. 

The league has given $292,000 to members of the congressional committee that's investigating the long-term impacts of concussions, according to an analysis by MapLight. Of the 54 members of the committee, the NFL has given money to 41 of of them.

It's not hard to imagine why the league is making these contributions. When you try to pay off the ref, you're clearly expecting the calls to go your way. If a team got caught shoveling cash into the refs' pockets, fans would be furious. This is basically the same thing, just on a larger scale — and with players' health and safety hanging in the balance.

So we know the NFL will do whatever it takes to deny the link between football and long-term damage from concussions. They rigged their own research, and got caught trying to influence the NIH. The real question now is, how can Congress stay objective while it's taking NFL campaign contributions?

Don't let the NFL buy their way out of concussion scrutiny. Sign our petition to tell Congress to stop taking NFL money while investigating concussions.