OT: Sad news for Dorsett, others - CTE diagnosed

[VAMike23]

One can't help but wonder if the slow, steady climb in CTE diagnoses amongst ex-NFL players in recent years isn't poised to explode at some point soon.

The latest news comes as the great Tony Dorsett, one of my childhood favorites, has been diagnosed with CTE symptoms at age 59, one of 9 ex-players to be so diagnosed with a new form of testing. He often forgets where he's going when traveling through airports and gets lost taking his kids to soccer. He is also now clinically depressed; increasingly he is prone to outbursts directed at friends and family members.

"It's painful, man, for my daughters to say they're scared of me. It's painful."

Of course he is not the only one.

I just have a really, really bad feeling about where all this is headed in the next decade or two.

LINK

 

[Vowelguy]

The Frontline report from a few weeks ago was chilling.

 

[Alydar]

For decades the football establishment has turned a blind eye, first to the overuse of painkillers and amphetamines among both college and Pro players, and then use of steroids that turned 260 pound freshman linemen into 320 pound 1st round draft picks. How long did Lyle Alzedo deny steroid use. Only when he was dying did he own up. That must have been 20 years ago. It has gotten much worse since then. We now find out that what Jack Tatum was famous for, vicious head shots that we all cheered and loved, and which the NFL promoted, is causing early dementia, and that the steroids that made players HOF material are killing them. And, in addition, we learn that the NFL knew all this and not only considered it an acceptable risk but actively squashed any attempts at letting the the truth be made public. All in the name of money.

And this is the money machine driving colleges to football?

 

[Replicant]

Very sad, a childhood favorite of mine as well. The only player to win an NCAA Championship (Pittsburgh), the Heisman, the NFL Rookie of the Year and Super Bowl Championship (Dallas) in the same year (1977)!

 

[VAMike23]

Very sad, a childhood favorite of mine as well. The only player to win an NCAA Championship (Pittsburgh), the Heisman, the NFL Rookie of the Year and Super Bowl Championship (Dallas) in the same year (1977)!

I had no idea (recollection) that Pitt won the national championship that year. What a year for Tony D!

I still remember him being interviewed after his last game (a bowl game I presume) and telling the viewing audience at home that his name was actually pronounced door-SET, not DOOR-sut.

 

[Replicant]

I had no idea (recollection) that Pitt won the national championship that year. What a year for Tony D!

I still remember him being interviewed after his last game (a bowl game I presume) and telling the viewing audience at home that his name was actually pronounced door-SET, not DOOR-sut.

"Touchdown Tony"!

 

[psconn]

If anyone wants to view the entire "League of Denial" Frontline episode it is available at:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/league-of-denial/

I haven't looked at football the same since I saw this excellent investigative report.

 

[msf22b]

A slow, inexorable path towards reality has actually started.

Denver lineman John Moffitt has actually quit and given up a possible super bowl ring

The reason: Future health concerns… widely reported.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/...ineman-john-moffitt-decides-to-quit-football/

 

[Samanthabrown3]

Former Buffalo Bill Joe DeLamielleure just announced that he has CTE.

And former Bill Mark Kelso, who had a special helmet made towards the end of his career to decrease concussions, didn't sign on to the lawsuit against the NFL because he said the Bills medical and training staff made no bones about the dangers of concussions. He said he was never misled, so how could he join a lawsuit saying he was?

So far no signs of damage in Kelso, as far as I know.

 

[msf22b]

Today's players are bigger, faster and more lehal than those of a decade or two ago from which the injuries are now being reported.

Are we watching the early onset of the demise of this great but hazardous game?

 

[VAMike23]

Today's players are bigger, faster and more lehal than those of a decade or two ago from which the injuries are now being reported.

Are we watching the early onset of the demise of this great but hazardous game?

I love football, but my feeling is that we may indeed be watching the early onset of a catastrophic health crisis for the players. Writ large.

 

[EricLA]

Today's players are bigger, faster and more lehal than those of a decade or two ago from which the injuries are now being reported.

Are we watching the early onset of the demise of this great but hazardous game?

I think that's a fair question. The NFL has already instituted in-game penalties for helmet to helmet hits - both on the field and monetarily in the form of fines. I bet as we speak, scientists are working hard on ways to improve the safety provided by helmets, but the reality is, even if helmets were twice the size with tons more padding, i'm not sure it would protect the brains from the daily hits.

Here's a controversial thought - at what point do people going forward say "football is a high risk sport. You risk permanent damage to your brain should you play the game. Play at your own risk". They also could make a rule - no tackles above the waist, or something similar. Ultimately, maybe the only other option years from now might be to make football a low contact sport by turning it into flag football.

 

[wire chief]

There has been periodic scuttlebutt to ban boxing, but never happened. Football is too engrained in our culture to be stopped. Why, such a prohibition would cause the South to rise again!

 

[msf22b]

. I bet as we speak, scientists are working hard on ways to improve the safety provided by helmets, but the reality is, even if helmets were twice the size with tons more padding, i'm not sure it would protect the brains from the daily hits.

For a completely counted-intuitive approach that might bring us closer to a solution I refer to my two-years living in New Zealand and our adopted fanship of International Rugby
(for lack of other choices).

Rugby and football surely come from a common heritage; the former being a tough, mean, nasty game with plenty of fan support, when played by 2 crack teams.

But a major difference between the two is the virtual absence of protective body gear of any kind in Rugby.

Take away helmets and pads and folks, no matter how big and strong, will re-think their techniques.

I wonder if earlier generations of football players, with their limited protection found themselves as seriously disabled in later life…I bet not.

Gerald Ford played college football in the 30's (often on offense and defense) and seeming (according to some) kept his stuff together.

And the last of the two-way, vicious hitters, Chuck Bednarik seems to have his facilities largely intact at 88.

Those guys performed with far less body armor and protection.

Going backwards rather than forward might be the answer.

 

[Ozzie Nelson]

I played and loved it. Hopefully my athletic grandsons will not.

 

[HGN]

Its a vicious sport and bound to have serious injuries........It use to be years ago that linemen were considered huge when weighing 260lbs....(Alan Page was an All-Pro DT at about 250lbs.). The Redskins famous Hogs offensive line at one time had its biggest lineman at 280lbs (Mark May). Center Jeff Bostic was 255lbs. But now they couldn't play or hold up at those weights. Because of diets and weight training , players are bigger , faster and stronger. When you are now 320 lbs and running a 4.6sec 40 , and tackle somebody its going to hurt and cause damage....... And that's the reality. And its getting worse.

 

[easttexastrash]

This is very sad for Dorsett and his family. I have been a Cowboys fan since childhood, having grown up in NE Texas, and he has always been such a respectable figure. I wish him and his family all of the best.

 

[meyers7]

For a completely counted-intuitive approach that might bring us closer to a solution I refer to my two-years living in New Zealand and our adopted fanship of International Rugby
(for lack of other choices).

Well they ARE the All Blacks. It doesn't get any better than that.

Rugby and football surely come from a common heritage;

Surely? Yes Rugby (Union, League), Gridiron football (American, Canadian, flag, Arena) , Association Football (soccer, beach, Futsol), Australian rules football, Calcio, and Gaelic football, all come from a common heritage.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I'll stick with helmets. While there "may" be less of the concussion / brain injury situations in Rugby, one can find an impressive list of those that died outright. I saw it the other day, don't remember where. Some footballers have died too, but I suspect less so of head injury and more so heat stroke, medical conditions and the like.

 

[MilfordHusky]

I love football, but my feeling is that we may indeed be watching the early onset of a catastrophic health crisis for the players. Writ large.

It was my favorite sport as a player and fan. Now I think it's crazy. The NFL is huge, so I'm not going to predict it's demise, but I do wonder when reality will hit everyone. And what the league will do about it.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Like the tobacco industry and many, many others, they are paying a price for, to be blunt, not wanting to know (or the public to know) what was happening to their players.

That said, they are trying to clean up the game; I don't always agree with individual penalties (and individual non-calls), but conceptually I get it. I also would assume that equipment advances, for example with helmets, are possible.

It will always be a dangerous game. Is there any doubt that boxing and MMA and all of that are not also dangerous to the brain?

 

[Icebear]

The only thing that can be done is managing the laws of physics and discovering ways to minimize energy transfer to the brain so that it does not rattle around in the skull, absorption as transfer into heat energy by crushing and redirection and dispersion being the available options I am aware of.