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

[Que]

That's for you to decide.

That, what?

You tend to misplace antecedents a lot.

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

That, what?

You tend to misplace antecedents a lot.

Then you'll have figured out what you wrote.

 

[RoryN]

Here's a list of athletes who I think should probably be checked for CTE (the "while you're alive" test is controversial, but seems to work) if they're still alive, and others whose brains should be tested. These choices are based on behaviors and previous injuries. Please feel free to add names:

...
...
Dave Mirra (BMX legend, died today - suicide by gunshot)

Dave Mirra and Bubba Smith are the latest athletes diagnosed with CTE after their deaths

Chuck Schilken

BMX legend Dave Mirra and football star Bubba Smith suffered from the brain disease CTE before their deaths, according to separate reports on Tuesday.

Mirra died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 41 earlier this year. He is thought to be the first action sports athlete to be diagnosed with CTE, which can be determined only after a person's death. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a degenerative brain disease found in dozens of deceased athletes.
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"This is the beginning of bringing awareness," Mirra's widow, Lauren Mirra, told ESPN the Magazine. "It would be amazing if this is something we can detect in life one day. If we can detect it, prevent it, stop it, let's do all of the above."

ESPN the Magazine reported the findings of University of Toronto neuropathologist Lili-Naz Hazrati, who determined that the tau protein deposits found in the frontal and temporal lobes of Mirra's brain were no different from those that have been found in the brains of former football and hockey players with CTE.

"It validates what we have been thinking about brain injuries in boxers and football players," said Hazrati, who had her findings confirmed by multiple neuropathologists. "The key is brain injury. Regardless of how you get it, through BMX or hockey, you are at risk for this."

Mirra suffered numerous concussions as a BMX rider but also fractured his skull after being hit by a car at age 19 and did some boxing later in life.

Smith was 66 when he died of acute drug intoxication in 2011. He is the 90th former NFL player since 2008 to be diagnosed with the disease. The discovery was made at a brain bank affiliated with Veterans Affairs, Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which announced the finding Tuesday morning.

The two-time Pro Bowler played for three teams during his nine-year NFL career and went on to achieve notoriety as Moses Hightower in multiple "Police Academy" movies during the 1980s.

Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-dave-mirra-cte-bubba-smith-20160524-snap-story.html

 

[OldJourno]

Man, saw this thread on the front page and thought Duerson had committed suicide again.
Come on, man, your family has suffered enough.

 

[RoryN]

Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam drove to a park close to where he earned the trophy playing football, and shot himself. He left a note.

Could be any number of reasons why, but wouldn't be surprised if a CTE test happens. Already being discussed.

 

[Hard_Rom]

See the little round holes in the brain. Not supposed to be there. A couple of autopsies of hockey players with fighting histories revealed some even larger 'holes' in their brains.

Helmets would have be monstrously huge to prevent concussions in athletes. And try get WWE wrestlers to wear them!

http://braininjuryhelp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SWI-MRI-image.jpg

https://images.sciencedaily.com/2015/12/151215091344_1_540x360.jpg

 

[irksomesauce]

Rashaan Salaam was a legendary pothead. Here's what he said about it after failing with the Bears and signing with the Raiders as a free agent in 1999:

http://a.espncdn.com/nfl/s/1999/0802/30747.html

The Raiders cut Salaam before the regular season began, then he signed with the Browns and played two 1999 games for them before they let him go, too.

He never suited up for another regular or post season NFL game.

Drafted in the first round as the 21st overall pick, Salaam played in 33 NFL games for Chicago and Cleveland, starting 20 of them. He scored 13 TDs on 471 attempts for 1,684 yards, with 1,074 of those total career yards and 10 of those 13 career TD's coming in his rookie year. In his final, troubled two years with the Bears, he could only manage 608 combined yards total.

Perhaps his best claim to fame is he lasted a season plus longer in the NFL than his fellow Heisman winning pothead, Johnny Manziel, did.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Pot is a depressant just like alcohol. Not to be used if your life/career is going not as planned and you are bummed out.

 

[Hypoxia]

If one is dumb or desperate enough to take up a sport involving massive head trauma, does one deserve the consequences?

 

[Hard_Rom]

If one is dumb or desperate enough to take up a sport involving massive head trauma, does one deserve the consequences?

It's a gamble. Avoid any serious injury and you get paid millions and can retire in mid-thirties. NHL rookie gets 575K a year. Plus a nice pension. Plus you are viewed as a national hero.

 

[JohnnySavage]

Asinine issue to be spending time on. If you get your head banged for years, its going to leave a mark.

Hockey players loose teeth.
Coal miners get black lung
Truck drivers have bad backs
Whores get VD


Oh boo hoo... someone chooses an occupation that pays, on average, 10 times what the average person makes and has some health effects from it.

 

[RoryN]

Blah blah been said 1000x times already in here waste-of-energy post

But, you know...good effort.

 

[pointless]

If one is dumb or desperate enough to take up a sport involving massive head trauma, does one deserve the consequences?

yeah, fuck desperate people. the underprivileged are such pieces of shit. exploiting them from cradle to grave is just good, clean fun.

 

[LadyFunkenstein]

Asinine issue to be spending time on. If you get your head banged for years, its going to leave a mark.

Hockey players loose teeth.
Coal miners get black lung
Truck drivers have bad backs
Whores get VD


Oh boo hoo... someone chooses an occupation that pays, on average, 10 times what the average person makes and has some health effects from it.

What an embarrassing post. Children and teens play football & hockey and earn NO money while also having no understanding of the physical dangers. The awareness about the long term severity of head trauma is a very very important issue. I find it bizarre how easily you dismiss it as "asinine".

 

[Hard_Rom]

Asinine issue to be spending time on. If you get your head banged for years, its going to leave a mark.

Hockey players loose teeth.
Coal miners get black lung
Truck drivers have bad backs
Whores get VD


Oh boo hoo... someone chooses an occupation that pays, on average, 10 times what the average person makes and has some health effects from it.

But these are avoidable. Coal miners don't ask for black lung! With proper safety equipment and rules organizations, companies and individuals can operate in a manner that is safe for their employees.

Do you watch sports? Are you willing to pay to see folk get hurt? Their choice or not, you are enabling the injuries. You really think that the public will allow the NFL and NHL to fold up and disappear? How about we invite 3rd world country citizens in to supply our need for blood sports?

Using coal miners, truckers and whores as examples was not your best idea. Everybody including whores and football players has a right to workplace safety.

Wear massive helmets and full cages, get rid of fighting, eliminate hard elbow pads, make headshots a reason to kicked out of league, don't send players back out within a few days of suffering a concussion. It is possible to eliminate a vast majority of these kinds of injuries.

Yeah they choose to potentially suffer debilitating injuries for the love of the game, the pay cheque and to entertain us. Should we allow crack to be legal because folk choose to smoke it and chance becoming addicts?

 

[SgtSpiderMan]

The NFL's days are numbered. Hockey is still entertaining without fighting & checking.

 

[pointless]

The NFL's days are numbered. Hockey is still incredibly fucking boring without fighting & checking.

there. all better.

because hockey sucks.

 

[RoryN]

Hockey is still entertaining without fighting & checking.

On first thought, I'd agree.

On second thought, it'd actually be a fair degree more boring without either.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Olympic international hockey is quite good. Good skills hockey.

But I will admit watching London Knights OHL hockey were the kids are trying to show they got the right stiff for the NHL is fantastic to watch live. Lots of hits and punches thrown! Quite gladiatorial!

I enjoy a good football/soccer match too.

I read an article which said hockey and American football don't have the spectator violence because the tension is released by watching the players commit the violent acts.

 

[Hypoxia]

Admit it; organized sports are all about gambling.

Pro and college sports are the display function of mafiosi.

Your fave team is working for the mob.

 

[RoryN]

Heisman winner Rashaan Salaam drove to a park close to where he earned the trophy playing football, and shot himself. He left a note.

Could be any number of reasons why, but wouldn't be surprised if a CTE test happens. Already being discussed.

Never mind. Religion.

Heisman Winner Rashaan Salaam's Death Ruled Suicide; CTE Tests Refused

DENVER — Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam killed himself after struggling with depression, an autopsy report confirmed Thursday, but investigators will never know whether the one-time running back suffered chronic head trauma from playing football because his family did not consent to those tests.

Salaam was found dead Dec. 5 in a park near the University of Colorado, where he played from 1992 to 1994, becoming one of the greatest players in the program's history. He was 42.

Salaam died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, an autopsy by the Boulder County Coroner's Office confirmed. Investigators found a note at the scene. They also noted in the report that Salaam's family said he had a history of depression and "recent life stressors."

Salaam was Muslim, and Islam prohibits bodies from being defiled after death. His family did not allow the coroner's office to perform tests that would have revealed whether he suffered chronic head trauma from playing the game.

Although the report notes significant damage to Salaam's brain as a result of the gunshot, investigators said testing even a small part of it would have allowed them to see evidence of traumatic injury. Repeated blows have been linked with a degenerative brain disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. CTE first made headlines several years ago when it was found in the brains of retired NFL players who had killed themselves.

Salaam had been drinking heavily and using marijuana before his death. The report said Salaam had a blood-alcohol content of 0.25, more than three times the legal limit to drive.

Salaam won the Heisman in a runaway in 1994. He led the Buffaloes to a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl that season and a No. 3 finish in the final polls.

The Chicago Bears made him a first-round draft pick in 1995, and he rushed for 1,074 yards and 10 touchdowns in winning NFC Rookie of the Year honors.

Injuries cut short his career. He only scored three rushing TDs in the next two years in Chicago and played his last NFL game with the Cleveland Browns in 1999. Salaam played for the Memphis Maniax of the defunct XFL and attempted one last comeback with the NFL before retiring.

Colorado players plan to honor Salaam by wearing his initials and number on their helmets Thursday night when they play Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/...alaam-s-death-ruled-suicide-cte-tests-n701361

 

[ifrtbttrflys]

Virtually everyone who has played football for any significant time through high school, and most definitely into college and then the NFL, suffers from some degree of head trauma - it's what naturally happens when the brain jello inside your skull is jostled around so radically so much for so long.

Rashaan Salaam was a chronic pothead and other drug and alcohol abuser, and publicly admitted his unending pot use was the cause of his shocking NFL failure. Did he also suffer from some degree of head trauma? Considering his position - running back, the most often head-hitting position outside of lineman - there is no doubt whatsoever his football playing life was filled with head trauma.

Johnny Manziel has most likely suffered a somewhat comparable amount of standard head trauma as Salaam did, but he cannot offer head trauma as an excuse for his NFL failure, either. Manziel's own father has stated his son is not long for this world if he keeps his own Salaam-like drug and alcohol abuse behavior up. Would a CTE reveal Manziel's head trauma? No doubt about it.

Salaam killed himself because he never could overcome his drug and alcohol addictions and decided to finally and fully surrender to them. Game over.

Drug and alcohol addiction will always claim manifold more lives than head trauma could ever hope to - Salaam's is simply the latest one.

 

[Hard_Rom]

Admit it; organized sports are all about gambling.

Pro and college sports are the display function of mafiosi.

Your fave team is working for the mob.

There was pro sports long before the current sports lotto craze. Hockey was very much an amateur sport for decades before birth of NHL.

Pro sports is about the money though. A team doesn't need to win to exist. It just has to fill seats and sell merchandise.

In hockey head trauma can be avoided. Not so sure about American football.

 

[RoryN]

Salaam killed himself because he never could overcome his drug and alcohol addictions and decided to finally and fully surrender to them...

...and/or possibly because of CTE. We won't know in his case.

We do in others, though.

 

[RjThoughts]

There was pro sports long before the current sports lotto craze. Hockey was very much an amateur sport for decades before birth of NHL.

Pro sports is about the money though. A team doesn't need to win to exist. It just has to fill seats and sell merchandise.

In hockey head trauma can be avoided. Not so sure about American football.

Check with 19th century baseball history and 20th century college football and basketball: It's full of gambling, gamblers, and other miscreants. Then there's the sheets and newspapers publishing game odds and team injury reports. C'mon, you can't really believe gambling is something new?


American football is full of coaches who teach poor techniques, tackling, blocking, etc. It's still full of Neanderthal thinking of "oh it's just a ding. Put some dirt on it and you'll be better."