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

[wickedpanda]

He will soon.

Around 150 former athletes, including 40 retired NFL players, are already donating their brains to the study of long-term effects by concussions. (Source: AP) Some active players, like Matt Birk & Lofa Tatupu, are also part of this list. (It should be noted that some NHL players are, too.)

The list of retired NFL players and other athletes who are showing symptoms is, well, large to say the least. I didn't have time to comprise a list, but players like Ted Johnson, Wayne Chrebet, and Al Toon are good examples. Others who have recently started talking about their own concussions & long-term effects include Steve Young, Troy Aikman, and Jim McMahon.

A short list of deceased NFL players who apparently suffered "chronic traumatic encephalopathy":

Tom McHale (drug OD)
Mike Webster
Justin Strzelczyk (fleeing from police, crashed. No drugs / alcohol. But his brain = toast.)
Terry Long (suicide)
Andre Waters (suicide)
John Grimsley (self-inflicted gunshot wound to chest, but not called a suicide)

On Thursday, Dave Duerson, an important part of the `85 Bears championship team, committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Right beforehand, he sent multiple text messages indicating that he wanted his brain donated for concussion research, specifically for the same chronic traumatic encephalopathy study.

I can understand the school of thought being "occupational hazard", especially given the money they make. But there's been pie-in-the-sky talk of eliminating things like the 3 and 4-point stance on the line, which would change the game significantly forever. And, if Duerson is shown to have the exact same brain damage that these other players are showing, his death - and specifically the manner in which he took his life, and his request to be studied - is gonna be bigtime fuel to the fire...

What say you?

So you still using the anti football brain damage date to cover up that some people just kill themselves , well relax football has killed itself with all the cop hate, the Trump hate and the Flag hating by the rich thug football players.

Care to explain how soccer has higher brain injuries and deaths than American football or is your hate only for football ?

 

[RjThoughts]

So you still using the anti football brain damage date to cover up that some people just kill themselves , well relax football has killed itself with all the cop hate, the Trump hate and the Flag hating by the rich thug football players.

Care to explain how soccer has higher brain injuries and deaths than American football or is your hate only for football ?

Data please.

 

[OldJourno]

A few years back I stopped watching the NFL because of the pointless violence directed at receivers going over the middle. They were getting clobbered when the ball was off target or when it wasn't even thrown at them.
The league addressed that.
I think the new tackling rules, which stress tackling the way I was taught to tackle a long, long time ago, take a whole lot of danger out of the game, both immediate and long term. If you keep your head up and don't use it as a weapon, the game is a lot safer.

I'm not going to argue that NFL players don't do a lot of head-banging, but has any study of player suicides gone beyond brain trauma to look at outside circumstances? For example, I've heard a number of stories of players who cashed $40M, $60M, $80M in NFL checks who were broke after being out of the league a few years.

 

[Rightguide]

Crosswalks make it safer.
Lights make it safer.

We get it, we can't talk about making a game safer, because Neanderthals and knuckle-draggers like seeing their players be handicapped in the future. Gotcha!

Nobody is Shanghai'd off the street and made to play in the NFL.

 

[nowisthetime]

Nobody is Shanghai'd off the street and made to play in the NFL.

You are so daft...and racist.

Nobody is forced to drive, yet they mandate safety belts.


You just have an issue with the NFL because you are a petty fool.

 

[RjThoughts]

Nobody is Shanghai'd off the street and made to play in the NFL.

Making it safer is against your core values?
Is this your feeling?
It appears that you're making shit up as you try to support your feelings.

Bye!

 

[nowisthetime]

Making it safer is against your core values?
Is this your feeling?
It appears that you're making shit up as you try to support your feelings.

Bye!

He is a sociopath, and doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself.

Such an evil entity.

 

[RjThoughts]

He is a sociopath, and doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself.

Such an evil entity.

I placed him on ignore. He's not worth the typing effort.

 

[nowisthetime]

I placed him on ignore. He's not worth the typing effort.

I don't like placing folks on Iggy because I like to see how the enemy thinks, but I can understand pushing that button.

Dump has got these fools wilding out these days and they are bolder online. Offline they are betas.

 

[RjThoughts]

I don't like placing folks on Iggy because I like to see how the enemy thinks, but I can understand pushing that button.

Dump has got these fools wilding out these days and they are bolder online. Offline they are betas.

The study that began all this alpha/beta in wolves has been disowned by the scientists himself - he confused males with actual family members within the pack - so alpha/beta males is bullshit as well.

Call it what it actually is: he's a man who's hiding behind his monitor because he's fearful.

 

[nowisthetime]

The study that began all this alpha/beta in wolves has been disowned by the scientists himself - he confused males with actual family members within the pack - so alpha/beta males is bullshit as well.

Call it what it actually is: he's a man who's hiding behind his monitor because he's fearful.

I fully agree! I can see beyond that phony persona, he is an insecure little man. I know he is reading this post.

 

[RoryN]

Changes In Brain Scans Seen After A Single Season Of Football For Young Players

In the youths who played football, the researchers found that nerve fibers in their corpus callosum — the band that connects the two halves of brain — changed over the season, says lead study author Jeongchul Kim, a research associate in the Radiology Informatics and Imaging Laboratory at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...a-single-season-of-football-for-young-players

 

[OldJourno]

I don't know if anyone has ever responded to this thread as a player, but I'll bet I'm not the only guy here who played organized tackle football at the high school level and really enjoyed the experience.
I also lived to tell about it.
I'm not saying I was a great player. I wasn't. I didn't enjoy blocking, and tackling wasn't high on my list of priorities, but I could catch the ball and occasionally score a touchdown.
I loved the scrimmages and I loved the games. I loved being on a team, being with my friends, catching the ball, trying to make tacklers miss me, the bus trips.
There are risks with every rough and tumble sport. A boy on a team we played against suffered a severe brain injury trying to block a punt. He never recovered. A few years later another boy from a nearby town had a great high school season, then died while having his tonsils removed.
The bleeding hearts and pussies can whine about the dangers of a whole world of stuff. But they don't understand a lot of things.
Football is just one of them.

 

[RoryN]

I don't know if anyone has ever responded to this thread as a player

I played from Grade 5 through Grade 11, full pads. My dad and stepbrother did, too. My family and I love football, and always will.

*pLoNk*

 

[Luk]

That was the most anti-climatic humble-brag ever.

 

[RoryN]

New report says, since 2015, participation in high-school football has steadily dropped 3% each year in California.

These trends are consistent in almost every state.

 

[RjThoughts]

New report says, since 2015, participation in high-school football has steadily dropped 3% each year in California.

These trends are consistent in almost every state.

The telling numbers will come from Texas and Florida, where the sport is religion in those states.

 

[RoryN]

The telling numbers will come from Texas and Florida, where the sport is religion in those states.

Texaa data already in: they're losing players. See an article from Texas I posted earlier.

 

[RoryN]

Ex-Falcons LB Tommy Nobis ("Mr. Falcon") Had Most Severe Form of CTE, Per Researchers

Jackoniski noted that Nobis was "aggressive" and "intense," and she added his volatility was most obvious at home: "We were pretty uneasy growing up. Although my dad had just some beautiful moments of being a wonderful man, emotionally he was so unstable it was just hard to get close to him."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles...om&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 

[colddiesel]

Other sports provide some interesting comparisons. Soccer players who headed the ball a lot, Jeff Astle and Frank Kopel for examples, developed early dementia and died. However, the introduction of lighter waterproof balls helped a lot.

In Rugby League where continuous head on tackling is the norm - forwards average 40 hits a match; a major brain injury problem has emerged. However, in Rugby Union where no protective equipment of any kind is allowed (except for ears) they don't seem to have the same issues. That may change with increased emphasis on aggressive defence but for the time being Rugby Union's problem is catastrophic neck injuries. Union scrums are almost designed to break necks!

 

[RoryN]

Other sports provide some interesting comparisons. Soccer players who headed the ball a lot, Jeff Astle and Frank Kopel for examples, developed early dementia and died. However, the introduction of lighter waterproof balls helped a lot.

In Rugby League where continuous head on tackling is the norm - forwards average 40 hits a match; a major brain injury problem has emerged. However, in Rugby Union where no protective equipment of any kind is allowed (except for ears) they don't seem to have the same issues. That may change with increased emphasis on aggressive defence but for the time being Rugby Union's problem is catastrophic neck injuries. Union scrums are almost designed to break necks!

Thanks for the info. I was definitely wondering about rugby...the soccer "header" info was new for me too.

 

[nowisthetime]

So you still using the anti football brain damage date to cover up that some people just kill themselves , well relax football has killed itself with all the cop hate, the Trump hate and the Flag hating by the rich thug football players.

Care to explain how soccer has higher brain injuries and deaths than American football or is your hate only for football ?

Nope, people are sick of seeing the Pats winning and their coddling by silly refs.

Trump makes himself hated.

What flag hate, dumb fuck? Their ancestors died for the flag, too. It's their country, too.


Cop hate? Protesting against unfair treatment by police means you hate cops?


Dumb Deplorable.

This is why most people hate you Deplorables. You are the real thugs of our nation!

 

[RjThoughts]

Nope, people are sick of seeing the Pats winning and their coddling by silly refs.

Trump makes himself hated.

What flag hate, dumb fuck? Their ancestors died for the flag, too. It's their country, too.


Cop hate? Protesting against unfair treatment by police means you hate cops?


Dumb fucking Deplorable.

This is why most people hate you Deplorables. You are the real thugs of our nation!

I'll add an answer to his soccer question:

MORE kids play soccer than American football. The damage caused by repetitive header practice is being reduced by the United States Soccer Federation, which is not allowing heading to happen until children hit 10 or 12, can't remember which age.

Also, soccer is better at reporting concussions than American football, where coaches still tell players "Rub some dirt on it," "You're a pussy if you don't get back out there," and "You just got your bell rung, you'll be fine."

 

[RoryN]

The damage caused by repetitive header practice is being reduced by the United States Soccer Federation, which is not allowing heading to happen until children hit 10 or 12, can't remember which age.

That's a good step, but research is showing waiting until teen years to allow the hits won't help. (I wish it did.)

 

[RjThoughts]

That's a good step, but research is showing waiting until teen years to allow the hits won't help. (I wish it did.)

The balls are also lighter than when I was playing in the 1980s. Much lighter. Most youth teams, at least in my area, haven't been practicing as much heading as they did once. They're bringing back the foot into football.