Wednesday’s health and safety news around sports:

* A columnist in Forbes asked if the NFL has reached “peak” value for owners in light of the health and safety issues that have come to the forefront of the game.

I had a conversation with Rick Gentile, a former CBS Sports executive who now runs the Seton Hall Sports Poll. We were talking about golf, but we ventured into the NFL and a discussion of its future. Gentile brought up the seeming inevitability of the Roman Empire.

Two questions:

When, if ever, does consumer sentiment about the NFL show up in the marketplace and start to affect TV ratings, the lifeblood of the sport?

And if you were an owner of an NFL team, do you consider selling now, at peak value?

* AL.com reported that the controversial company that Sports Illustrated alleged Tuesday to give Alabama players various supplements has twice been told by the university to sever any ties with its athletes.

“We further request that you refrain from any future contact with any of our current student-athletes,” Alabama compliance director Matt Self wrote in an Oct. 31, 2012, letter to Christopher Key, a co-founder of S.W.A.T.S.

“Any future contact should be directed to the coaching staff, the athletics training staff, or the compliance office. Additionally, we ask that you not give or sell any product to our student-athletes. If they wish to use your product, they should obtain them through the athletic training staff and under the supervision of the athletic training staff.”

The letters were released this evening to a handful of media outlets in response to a Sports Illustrated article that examined the controversial company. Leading the story were details about a meeting between Key and at least three Alabama players two nights before the 2012 BCS National Championship in New Orleans. It was filmed with a pen camera and shown to Sports Illustrated’s George Dohrmann and David Epstein.

* KDVR-TV in Denver reported on a former Colorado State player Jake Pender, who has become an advocate for youth concussion awareness.

* Dallas Mavericks center Chris Kaman has been placed in the NBA’s concussion program, according to the Dallas Morning News. He suffered the concussion during practice on Monday.

* The Vancouver Province wrote in its parental advice column that coaching both genders requires a ‘split personality.’

* And a syndicated sports talk show host wrote on MLive.com that the NFL can lead the charge in making football safer.

– Bill Bradley, contributing editor