KollegeStudnet Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 (edited) I've had several discussions over the years with former players about CTE. My favorite was from a player who explained that 'playing football is a decision' and that the decision involves 'putting your whole body on the line to play.' Do I see the game changing? Yes. I can see further precautions and more concussion protocols put in place. Majorly, I do see the NFL righting the course by providing health insurance for veterans. However, I don't see this coming in the Roger era. The NFL, a 4 billion dollar industry, of which could project close to 5 billion by 2020. Edited September 18, 2015 by KollegeStudnet
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Being a Bills fan is a lot like banging your head against a wall. Should we get tested?
KD in CA Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 just outlaw football already Hooray for Big Brother telling us how to live!
bbb Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Recently, I've been trying to think of any quarterbacks who seem to have these problems, and can't come up with any. Wait, I actually just thought of one - Erik Kramer. He just recently shot himself in a suicide attempt. But, there have been a number who had to retire from too many concussions who seem to have done really well in post football life - Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Steve Young. Even Jim Kelly seemed to have a lot during his career, though that's not what he retired from.
DC Tom Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Recently, I've been trying to think of any quarterbacks who seem to have these problems, and can't come up with any. Wait, I actually just thought of one - Erik Kramer. He just recently shot himself in a suicide attempt. But, there have been a number who had to retire from too many concussions who seem to have done really well in post football life - Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Steve Young. Even Jim Kelly seemed to have a lot during his career, though that's not what he retired from. Kelly was carted off the field with a concussion ih his last game. There's certainly a good argument to be made that it contributed to his retirement.
Chef Jim Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Except only one of us had our hand up a cow's ass today. What did you do that for?
bbb Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Kelly was carted off the field with a concussion ih his last game. There's certainly a good argument to be made that it contributed to his retirement. Then add him to the list. Why is it the QBs who had to retire from concussions seem to be fine?
fergie's ire Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Recently, I've been trying to think of any quarterbacks who seem to have these problems, and can't come up with any. Wait, I actually just thought of one - Erik Kramer. He just recently shot himself in a suicide attempt. But, there have been a number who had to retire from too many concussions who seem to have done really well in post football life - Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Steve Young. Even Jim Kelly seemed to have a lot during his career, though that's not what he retired from. Jim McMahon has talked about having symptoms. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-17/sports/chi-jim-mcmahon-dementia-20140617_1_suicidal-thoughts-former-nfl-players-early-onset-dementia
DC Tom Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Why is it the QBs who had to retire from concussions seem to be fine? Maybe because a handful of instances of acute trauma are actually less severe than constant sub-concussive trauma. Who knows? There's a hell of a lot of research that still needs doing.
bbb Posted September 18, 2015 Posted September 18, 2015 Jim McMahon has talked about having symptoms. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-17/sports/chi-jim-mcmahon-dementia-20140617_1_suicidal-thoughts-former-nfl-players-early-onset-dementia Oh yeah, I did forget about him. Maybe because a handful of instances of acute trauma are actually less severe than constant sub-concussive trauma. Who knows? There's a hell of a lot of research that still needs doing. I thought about that, and I think that has a good chance of being the reason.
sodbuster Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 Recently, I've been trying to think of any quarterbacks who seem to have these problems, and can't come up with any. Wait, I actually just thought of one - Erik Kramer. He just recently shot himself in a suicide attempt. But, there have been a number who had to retire from too many concussions who seem to have done really well in post football life - Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Steve Young. Even Jim Kelly seemed to have a lot during his career, though that's not what he retired from. Kevin Kolb has talked about having serious problems since playing.
Captain Caveman Posted September 19, 2015 Author Posted September 19, 2015 Recently, I've been trying to think of any quarterbacks who seem to have these problems, and can't come up with any. Wait, I actually just thought of one - Erik Kramer. He just recently shot himself in a suicide attempt. But, there have been a number who had to retire from too many concussions who seem to have done really well in post football life - Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Steve Young. Even Jim Kelly seemed to have a lot during his career, though that's not what he retired from. Kosar seems a likely candidate.
Observer Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) Hooray for Big Brother telling us how to live! Most of us don't care what adults do with their heads--but I certainly care about kids who bash their skulls around. This study has a lot of problems but I don't think anyone will be shocked when a better study concludes that football players are more prone to CTE than non-players...and football players who only played to age 18 are also more prone. And it's going to be that later study that would spell an end to football. We're counting down the days until kids won't be playing football, and likely with good reason. Edited September 19, 2015 by Observer
Mr. WEO Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 As a pathologic diagnosis, finding evidence of brain trauma ("CTE") in guys who spent decades playing football isn't newsworthy. The only interesting question to answer is what degree of barin pathology causes clinical CTE. It should be safe to assume that the overwhelming majority of NFL players would have findings of trauma in their post mortem bain sections, yet it seems pretty clear relatively very few of them go on to suffer from this constellation of symptoms and psych diseases. In other words, what it the significance of these path findings and what good is this information ("they all have it")? Maybe it helps guys decide whether they will continue to play? Parents to keep kids from playing?
Hapless Bills Fan Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 Maybe because a handful of instances of acute trauma are actually less severe than constant sub-concussive trauma. Who knows? There's a hell of a lot of research that still needs doing. Yes, exactly. CTE is not about number of known, diagnosed concussions. It's about repeated, relatively small trauma. But it's not so simple as "everyone who played OL or DL will get this". It may have a lot to do with an individual players style of play and also with how long they played and whether there are confounding factors (genetics, steroids, alcohol or drug use)
Mr. WEO Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 Oh yeah, I did forget about him. I thought about that, and I think that has a good chance of being the reason. Experts so far agree that it is not identifyable concussions, but more like death from a thousand blows to the brain which have a cumulative, not abupt effect. This makes the NFL's "concussion protocol" a bit of a show.
flomoe Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 What's the rate of incidence they found in non-players? (They DO have a control for this study, right?) The study definitely seems to portray a pre-conceived agenda.
Mr. WEO Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 (edited) The study definitely seems to portray a pre-conceived agenda. It's not a study, just a report of specifically selected brains. It was looking only at players' brains. It found what it was looking for. Edited September 19, 2015 by Mr. WEO
Kemp Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 Football is a violent game. It's not surprising to hear that older players are having issues with CTE. Hopefully more players get access to various levels of treatment and they get out of the game without playing those last couple of years where extensive damage can occur. I remember listening to an interview with Kyle Turley talking about medical Marijuana helping out a lot of former players dealing with the pain of playing and with CTE symptoms. They also said other methods of treatment are becoming more available which is good, however the funding for former players treatments aren't at the levels where they should be. The problem is that the damage is done way before the end of their careers.
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