The NFL, concussions, and the importance of Dave Duerson's suicide last Thursday

[eyer]

Words words words

Speaking of which...

Institutionalized Killing: Obama to Approve Drone Assassination Manual

President Obama is about to sign off on a manual that will institutionalize the process by which the White House orders and approves killings by remote-controlled drones, according to a report Sunday.

The so-called counterterrorism “playbook” will define the circumstances under which the CIA and the military’s Special Forces Command, the two agencies that operate drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and other parts of the Middle East and Africa, may use lethal force.

The front-page article in the Washington Post amounts to a semi-official announcement by the White House and is based on statements by unnamed government officials. Its publication, on the same day that Obama officially took the oath of office for his second term as president, demonstrates the role of his administration as an instrument of the military-intelligence apparatus.

The US government is so deeply engaged in assassinations all over the world that top officials believe a manual is required to regularize the process.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/obama-to-approve-drone-assassination-manual/5319888

As the president continues to illegally murder innocent children, women, and men all over the world (even Americans with no Constitutional consideration whatsoever)...

...is it any wonder at all that the baby statists who voted the Progressive-in-Chief into office would rather hear him speak about friggin' football?

No, it is not.

 

[Beco]

By Dan Loumena
January 27, 2013, 2:10 p.m.

"I'm a big football fan, but I have to tell you if I had a son, I'd have to think long and hard before I let him play football," Obama told the New Republic. “I think that those of us who love the sport are going to have to wrestle with the fact that it will probably change gradually to try to reduce some of the violence.

“In some cases, that may make it a little bit less exciting, but it will be a whole lot better for the players, and those of us who are fans maybe won't have to examine our consciences quite as much.”

 

[Kinkedroad]

This was a good thread before it fell off the table, thanks to those that provided all the concussion information. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for contact sports of all kinds.

 

[eyer]

This was a good thread before it fell off the table, thanks to those that provided all the concussion information. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for contact sports of all kinds.

Do you actually mean...

...it will be interesting to see what further political steps will be taken by statist government and its lemmings to prohibit individuals from freely choosing to do what they wish without harming any one else?

 

[RjThoughts]

Do you actually mean...

...it will be interesting to see what further political steps will be taken by statist government and its lemmings to prohibit individuals from freely choosing to do what they wish without harming any one else?

More useless words.

 

[eyer]

More useless words.

Hey, if you ever stumble across any useful "words"...

...feel free to post 'em, dude.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

More useless words.

All. Day. Long.

Guess we can't enjoy threads for their topic while Eyer's on his menstrual cycle, huh?

 

[RjThoughts]

All. Day. Long.

Guess we can't enjoy threads for their topic while Eyer's on his menstrual cycle, huh?

He's on an "Obama is an imperialist" kick. I've finally ignored him. He makes no sense with his rants, especially in here when discussing concussions.

 

[eyer]

All. Day. Long.

Guess we can't enjoy threads for their topic while Eyer's on his menstrual cycle, huh?

If you're too stupid to iggy...

...then just keep licking it up, chump.

All. Day. Long.

And if you ever grow the nads to speak up against the guy you voted for who continues to illegally murder innocent children, women, and men all over the world...

...feel free to peep out on the inhumane atrocity and be a man instead of his slave.

Consider your Chatty Cathy string pulled again, nancyboy...

 

[IrezumiKiss]

Whew.

The pathetic pseudo-cussword pussifying loner desperately in search of people to talk to him on a porn board finally logged off to go to bed and jerk his baloney off to sleep.

Back to football talk, y'all!

 

[hogjack]

President concerned about brain injuries in football

Perhaps there is a way to create a Concussion Tax?

 

[Beco]

The President hates the rich, hates small business, and now.....not a fan of Football, now he's really, really, An-tie, American!

 

[RoryN]

Court to hear arguments in lawsuits

Updated: January 29, 2013, 7:29 PM ET
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- A federal judge will hear oral arguments in about two months on requests to throw out lawsuits by thousands of former NFL players regarding concussions suffered while playing for the league.

U.S. Eastern District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia on Tuesday scheduled an April 9 hearing on motions to dismiss filed by the NFL Inc., NFL Properties Inc. and All American Sports Corp.

Players say they've developed dementia and Alzheimer's disease, or are worried about developing them.

They argue it's not a labor dispute that's governed by the collective bargaining agreement, but an issue that should be resolved through the courts.

The NFL has argued it didn't intentionally mislead the players and took steps to protect their health.

More than 100 lawsuits against the league are consolidated before Brody. And more than 3,500 former players have sued the NFL, alleging that not enough was done to inform them about the dangers of concussions and not enough is being done today to take care of them.

Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8895233/arguments-nfl-concussion-lawsuits-slated-heard-april

 

[hogjack]

more than 3,500 former players have sued the NFL, alleging that not enough was done to inform them about the dangers of concussions

3,500 dolts. Are there other dangers they are unaware of?

Walking in the middle of heavy traffic. Um, eating glass. Bad. Oh, and standing on the backside of an agitated horse. Probably not good either.

 

[RoryN]

3,500 dolts. Are there other dangers they are unaware of?

Walking in the middle of heavy traffic. Um, eating glass. Bad. Oh, and standing on the backside of an agitated horse. Probably not good either.

The issue is not as clean cut as this response suggests. I wish it were.

Today's headline story on CNN.com:

Former NFL player wants brain studied
By Sarah Hoye, CNN
updated 4:04 PM EST, Sat February 2, 2013

Miami (CNN) -- Relaxing on his couch, Thomas Jones quickly scans the channel guide on the TV, his English bulldog resting at his feet, before landing on a football game.

Weekends were much different for Jones a few years ago.

"My job on Sundays is to find a place inside of me, to be furious, to be angry, to be violent," he said. "I better be ready to go out there and knock somebody's head off."

As a running back in the NFL, Jones did whatever it took to prove himself because he always knew his job was up for grabs. And his hard work paid off.

Jones, now 34, was a standout at the University of Virginia, and he went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL and earn a coveted spot in the league's elite 10,000 Rushing Yards Club.

Despite his love for the gridiron, the coal miner's son knows there's a dark side to the sport.

"In the NFL, yeah, we're making a lot of money. But the reality is, you're taking a chance on your life as well," he said. "People love to see someone get knocked out. But no one's there when they have a concussion."

A tale of two former NFL players and their brains

It's something that weighs on Jones, who retired from the NFL in 2011 after playing 12 seasons for five different teams.

Still nimble, Jones doesn't experience chronic headaches or have memory trouble. He even considers himself less irritable nowadays than when he was playing.

Although his daily life isn't riddled with pain resulting from repeated pummeling, he is concerned about the long-term effects of the sport on his brain.

That concern grew after talking to doctors and players haunted by gnarly hits for a six-part documentary series, "The NFL: The Gift Or The Curse," which he is producing.

He felt his worries were founded when he learned that star NFL linebacker Junior Seau -- who took his own life last May -- suffered from a neurodegenerative brain disease that can develop from concussions known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

At that point, Jones said he decided to donate his own brain to the Sports Legacy Institute -- which studies the link between sports and brain trauma -- for research upon his death.

Jones said he hopes that research will help bring more understanding of the brain disease so future football players are informed when they decide to take the field.

"CTE didn't just pop up. It's been around," he said. "But unfortunately it took a couple of big-name guys to take their own lives to bring attention to it."

Seven months after Seau's death, another NFL player's life came to a violent end, stunning the sports world once again and raising concerns about the mental health of football players.

On December 1, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend in the same home as their 3-month-old daughter before heading to team's practice facility, thanking his coaches, and turning his gun on himself.

Yet, in the wake of Belcher's murder-suicide, the nationwide discussion turned away from mental health and toward guns. NBC sportscaster Bob Costas fueled the firestorm with his comments just one day after the incident.

During his NFL career, Thomas Jones earned a coveted spot in the league's elite 10,000 Rushing Yards Club. Referencing a piece written by Fox Sports' Jason Whitlock, Costas said, "'Handguns do not enhance our safety, they exacerbate our flaws, tempt us to escalate arguments and bait us into embracing confrontation rather than avoiding it.'

"'If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.'"

Weeks later, the gun debate would grow even louder after the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre.

Jones -- who played with Belcher and owns a handgun -- said there's a much bigger picture to consider.

"I loved Jovan like a brother, but he did something terrible, horrible, and we can't take that back," Jones said. "But to segue into (saying there is) a gun culture in the NFL ... makes me sick to my stomach."

Jones started playing football at age 7 in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. The oldest of seven kids, he describes his childhood as a simple country life. He said his family was so big they had to make two trips to church on Sundays -- half the family at a time. And, sometimes the family went without basic necessities, including heat.

Jones stepped into a different world as a professional athlete after graduating from the University of Virginia, he said, a world that has brought good fortune but one that also leaves him contemplating the future.

In the NFL, yeah, we're making a lot of money. But the reality is, you're taking a chance on your life as well.

Thomas Jones, retired NFL running backSince retiring from the Chiefs last season, Jones turned his attention to letting people know that life after football also has risks.

He's hopeful that the NFL will create new ways to make the sport safer, but, he said, "Football is football, it's a gladiator sport. Unfortunately, that's part of the game."

Jones said he is creating his documentary series to give viewers an insider look at NFL players' lives without the helmet. In one scene, former NFL defensive end Adewale Ogunleye laments about his memory loss.

"I know my memory's screwed up at times, I know I be forgetting things," Ogunleye says. "I kind of laugh it off now, but ... I hope these concussions don't come back to haunt us in the end."

Through this documentary, Jones hopes he can shed light on the human side of professional football.

"Even though we can do superhuman things, it seems, on the football field, it doesn't make us superhuman off the field," he said.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/02/health/nfl-concussion-concerns/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

 

[XXplorher]

I was completely unable that last post to properly… enunciate? my thoughts on a guy like Jr Seau taking him SELF out.

But I might can do it better now…

I understand the pain of surviving sometimes. I’m not ignorant. But when you actually BUILD a career on correcting that fear, challenging it, surpassing odds… you ACHIEVE a great example of that belief we’d all like to try and use for ourselves (or others). It’s a very rare circumstance when you even KNOW you’ve done that as Seau did…

He wasn’t a ‘regular’ football player. He was the guy that went beyond. The guy that found a way. The guy you can point to and go… see? It can be done.

And if you KNOW you’re that. You KNOW you ARE that.

How can you throw all that away with a self-inflicted bullet?

It’s not Kurt Cobain. It’s an entirely different kill and… sensibility. (Not that Kobain has an ‘out’.)


Seau made no sense with that move.

And I’ll never forgive him for it.

Not ever.


He shot… all his prior effort in the face. And it’s entirely disgusting to those that really struggle to make a day. It’s appalling.

I don’t understand how he let that occur – let along CHOOSE it. Ridiculous. Forever unacceptable.


As far as the topic goes?

These are FOOTBALL PLAYERS. Okay?

Suck it up.

Be what you got paid for if you can't find a way to be man enough otherwise.


Dave Duerson can suck it. He knows what he signed on for. And I have no pity.

I know his name. Does he know yours?


It's a GREAT game.

You can try to be Ronnie Lott... Or you can be a less good safety than that.

Choose.

 

[RoryN]

http://www.greatermedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/brian-westbrook.jpg

Ex-Eagle Brian Westbrook, 33, experiencing memory loss

Updated 15 hours ago | By DAN GELSTON, Associated Press

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Only 33, Brian Westbrook already suffers from short-term memory loss. He can't remember names, recall facts or retain new material moments after he's told them. Westbrook can trace his health problems to at least a pair of concussions suffered during a shortened nine-year career.

A former All-Pro running back for the Philadelphia Eagles, Westbrook fears more debilitating symptoms are ahead.

"Hopefully, they won't continue to progress," he said.

Westbrook might be winding down his NFL career had it not been for a series of punishing blows to his head. Instead, he's the latest in a list of former athletes who have become advocates for head injury education and prevention, leaning on the mistakes of his career to help everyone from kids to professional athletes understand the dangers of trying to play through a concussion.

Westbrook, former Philadelphia Flyers captain Keith Primeau, five-time MLS All-Star Taylor Twellman, former NFL linebacker Jim Nelson, former Green Bay Packers VP Andrew Brandt and other head safety advocates took part in a panel discussion of the "Concussion Conundrum" Friday at Villanova University. The program was part of the Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal Symposium.

They hope to bring greater awareness to concussions and the lingering effects that ruin the quality of life.

"I know we can't see the injury," Primeau said. "But trust me, people suffer."

Primeau said he had four documented concussions over his 15-year NHL career but had no idea how many others he may have suffered since he started playing as a 5-year-old. His first diagnosed concussion came in 1997, while playing for the Hartford Whalers. Team doctors simply ordered him to rest for one week - no physical contact, practice or games.

After a lengthy layoff following his fourth concussion in 2005, the Flyers' training staff refused to clear him. When even the most mundane skating drills causing him headaches and fuzziness, Primeau retired at 34.

'The demise of me'

He's since co-founded the website stopconcussions.com that aims to reduce, research and manage concussions. Primeau hopes to prevent athletes from making some of the mistakes he did. Primeau was carried off the ice on a stretcher after he was knocked out of a playoff game in 2000. He returned five nights later for the Flyers for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, and even got into a fight.

"I reflect on that as probably the beginning of the demise of me," he said.

Primeau said it took until only recently for his health to regain some sense of normalcy.

After the panel, Primeau credited his improved health to prolotherapy, often a series of pinpoint injections that can spark the body's immune system, regenerate damaged tissue and strengthen joints.

While his symptoms aren't as severe as other former NFL players, Westbrook now says he returned too soon from a concussion that knocked him out cold against Washington in 2009. He returned only three weeks later and was quickly hurt again.

"I thought I took enough time off to rest and recuperate. I thought I was healed completely," Westbrook said. "But I got hit, I got my bell rung. I was out for another few weeks with another concussion."

Like Primeau, Westbrook wants to change the culture in a sports world where wins come at any cost, even at the expense of brain injuries. Westbrook started the process in a familiar spot - Philadelphia. Eagles running back LeSean McCoy missed four games last season because of a severe concussion. He refused to sit out the final two games of the season for further rest because he called himself a "competitor."

McCoy told Westbrook how he wanted to play only a couple of weeks after he was hurt. Westbrook asked him, "Can you run? Can you practice? Can you think without having a headache." McCoy answered no to all.

"He said, 'But we're losing and I've got to get back out there,' " Westbrook said.

Westbrook said the Eagles were smart not to clear McCoy until he was ready. And he credited doctors and the training staff for the way they treated his head injuries. But the athletes wondered if independent physicians - without undue pressure or assumed favoritism by teams - are the best option.

The panelists were unanimous that no one - from the youth soccer player to the hardened pro veteran - should ever rush back from a concussion.

The panelists also debated whether players suing the NFL for concussion-related damages will win the right to pursue their claims in federal court, or if a judge will conclude they belong in arbitration under terms of their labor contract.

Senior U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody will hear arguments on the question next month in Philadelphia. If the players win and she keeps the case in court, lawyers for the 4,000 former players who have sued the league can seek discovery, and potentially get their hands on internal NFL documents to see what the league knew when about concussions.

They can also depose NFL executives, team doctors and people who served on the league's Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee in the 1990s, which long disputed any connection between concussions and later cognitive problems.

"The pawns have been the players," said Philadelphia lawyer Sol Weiss, whose firm filed the first class-action lawsuit, leading the cases to be consolidated before Brody.

Their lead plaintiff, former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, died last year at age 62 after battling undiagnosed dementia, depression and financial problems.

"We talked to Ray a lot. He couldn't take it. He killed himself," said Weiss, who also noted the suicides of former players Dave Duerson and Junior Seau.

Given the steady supply of players eager to play no matter the risks, several panelists said efforts should be made in youth sports, to protect the next generation.

"The players may not win (the lawsuit), ... but we as a society will benefit, because the young kids are going to be protected, while these old guys pay the price," Weiss said.

The NFL had initially planned to participate in the session on the concussion litigation, but ultimately declined to send a representative, event organizers said.

Associated Press writer Maryclaire Dale contributed to this report.

http://m.pressofatlanticcity.com/sp...d-a0b5-e38d81d2ef59.html#.UUSA4FYGqdM.twitter

 

[lovecraft68]

In general my opinion is they assume the risk when they put the helmet on. People are not forcing them into this career. They love the game, they can make millions and its worth it at the time.

Going beyond the point of the thread here is what upsets me.

Goodel is a lying hypocrite when he says he cares. All of his rule changes are done under the guise of "safety" for the players, but what they are really geared towards is more and more offense.

This guy wants pitch and catch football, he wants every game to be 49-42. Polian started this with the pass interference rules because the Pats and other teams were mauling his precious receivers and poor Peyton couldn't throw 5 td passes in the playoffs.

But the concussion issue has given a great excuse to all but eradicate defense.

The defenseless receiver rule is a joke. Think about it, when you would watch games in the past receivers would take hits that would make you cringe in your seat.

Then they would pop up-and it was a matter of pride for them to pop up- and look at the defender like "That what you got man?"

Now every hit they lay on the ground and everyone around them makes the throw the flag motion.

Seriously think back to prior seasons did you ever recall so many receivers laying there "stunned" this is becoming the NFL's version of the NBA "flopping call"

Every sack on the QB I wait for the flag, Every broken up pass I wait for it, now every tackle on a receiver I wait for it.

Know what the commissioner wants? He wants this rule "The player is allowed to catch the ball unmolested, secure it and be allowed to take three steps before he can be gently brought to the ground.

And his hypocrisy cannot be better proven than his comment that players should play hard at the pro bowl.

So let me get this straight, he is concerned about concussions and injuries, but you best bust your butt and risk your career in a meaningless game no one cares about?

Of course because he is thinking the money the pro bowl can make.

Guy is killing the sport.

 

[RjThoughts]

In general my opinion is they assume the risk when they put the helmet on. People are not forcing them into this career. They love the game, they can make millions and its worth it at the time.

Going beyond the point of the thread here is what upsets me.

Goodel is a lying hypocrite when he says he cares. All of his rule changes are done under the guise of "safety" for the players, but what they are really geared towards is more and more offense.

This guy wants pitch and catch football, he wants every game to be 49-42. Polian started this with the pass interference rules because the Pats and other teams were mauling his precious receivers and poor Peyton couldn't throw 5 td passes in the playoffs.

But the concussion issue has given a great excuse to all but eradicate defense.

The defenseless receiver rule is a joke. Think about it, when you would watch games in the past receivers would take hits that would make you cringe in your seat.

Then they would pop up-and it was a matter of pride for them to pop up- and look at the defender like "That what you got man?"

Now every hit they lay on the ground and everyone around them makes the throw the flag motion.

Seriously think back to prior seasons did you ever recall so many receivers laying there "stunned" this is becoming the NFL's version of the NBA "flopping call"

Every sack on the QB I wait for the flag, Every broken up pass I wait for it, now every tackle on a receiver I wait for it.

Know what the commissioner wants? He wants this rule "The player is allowed to catch the ball unmolested, secure it and be allowed to take three steps before he can be gently brought to the ground.

And his hypocrisy cannot be better proven than his comment that players should play hard at the pro bowl.

So let me get this straight, he is concerned about concussions and injuries, but you best bust your butt and risk your career in a meaningless game no one cares about?

Of course because he is thinking the money the pro bowl can make.

Guy is killing the sport.

Most of the retired NFL players suing the league are not for the risk they placed themselves in, but because the LEAGUE LIED, withheld pertinent health information from them. Yes, there is always a risk anytime an athlete goes onto the field or pitch, court or rink. But, the NFL did not feel they were obligated to inform their players the further risks they would endure if they returned quickly from a head injury.

I was fortunate to have suffered only one concussion in all the seasons I played organized collision sports - baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, lacrosse, and auto racing. Mine was at the end of a season so I had no need to rush back, but I do feel I would have pushed myself to return to the field quickly.

 

[RoryN]

Two concussion plaintiffs have signed since suing

Posted by Mike Florio on April 3, 2013, 8:40 PM EDT

Dolphins quarterback Pat White wisely dismissed his concussion lawsuit (actually, he filed two of them) before returning to the NFL, signing with the Redskins. But maybe he didn’t need to do that. After all, two other players made comebacks without scrapping their own lawsuits against the league.

A league source advises that former Jaguars, Rams, and Falcons center Brett Romberg, a plaintiff in one of the original concussion lawsuits filed in July 2011, re-signed with the Falcons the following month, after a year out of football.

Cut in early September 2011, Romberg again re-signed with the Falcons later that month, remaining with the team for the balance of the year and appearing in two games.

We’ve also confirmed, as first reported by Nathan Fenno of the Washington Times, that defensive end Patrick Chukwurah signed with the Seahawks last season after filing suit for concussions suffered earlier in his career.

While not binding on the many other former players who have sued, this dynamic supports the notion that plenty of the concussion plaintiffs view the litigation as a lawyer-driven strategy for finagling a little extra money from a former employer, and that many of the players would welcome the chance to make more money playing football despite the brain damage they’ve supposedly sustained.

As Ross Tucker aptly put it earlier today on Twitter, “Pat White situation makes me wonder how many guys on concussion lawsuit would bail if a team offered them contract?” We know Pat White would, because Pat White did. Despite allegedly permanent injuries, White was perfectly fine when he had to be.

Even though that’s only one out of 4,000 plaintiffs, it does far more damage to the concussion lawsuits than any permanent harm White ever suffered in the NFL.

Especially since we now know that he actually suffered none.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/category/rumor-mill/

 

[RoryN]

Jesus, has this become a thing since the thread started.

Announced this week that Frank Gifford had CTE as well.

Also, there's a movie on the way...

 

[Hard_Rom]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/spor...d-to-reduce-nhl-head-injuries/article4180946/

Elbow, shoulder pads under scrutiny in bid to reduce NHL head injuries



**Unfortunately to protect against concussions, you would have to wear a helmet larger than a motorcycle helmet designed to take hard out blows and slow down the deceleration of the brain sloshing about. And replace helmet after every game.

Hockey players bitch over eye protection, visors and cages now. Hard to QB with a full face motorcycle helmet on.**

 

[RoryN]

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/12/26/concussion-movie-will-smith-nfl-players-share-reactions

Some reactions to the film...

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

American football needs to change or it will be gone.

 

[Aquagal]

I'm just not sure what the NFL can realistically do about it. The game is so violent, and that's what the people love. It's not like they're going to start playing touch-football.

Roger Goodell has quite the quandary on his hands.

I'm guessing he'll do nothing. And I can't really blame him.

Well that name is a blast from the past.

What a Grade A asshole he was!