Let's Talk About CTE

[Choctaw_fan]

Right now we only hear about former athletes being tested for CTE after their death. Has anyone heard of a non-athlete having this disease? I could imagine motor vehicle accidents could give the same trauma although it would not have been repetitive. Do we know for sure it only occurs in athletes playing contact sports? Some tennis players make very violent motions while hitting a stroke. What about golfers? Both their back and head turns very quickly during their swing.

By the way, there are many different ways children can be injured school activities. How many cheerleaders have had life-altering injuries long before FHSAA determined it was a sport. My 28 year-old son is complaining about tinnitus. He has played the drums for 16 years and now teaches music to marching bands. Should he sue the school system because they never told him the damage he may incur by participating in band? That's what families of former NFL players are trying to do. Plus, there is no way to determine when the damage occurred. Should they sue all the teams the athlete played for?

I love sports and feel the competition builds character. I would hate to see this disease cause parents to not let their children compete. And, I would not want frivolous law suits to bankrupt amateur sports programs. For many kids, sports is their path to a better life!

 

[Pipe Dreams]

I got epilepsy in my early-mid 20's - most likely from football. To me I wouldn't take any of it back. However I was near the line where practices started becoming less hit-intensive. Up until my senior year (2005-06) we hit all practice. KP was the first coach I had who had us in "shells". Was better that way - hybrid 7 on 7 with live linemen.

 

[Silver King]

Choc, the NFL is the money sport and it's getting the attention, but as you point out; it's only one arena. Heck I probably had some CTE before I started playing football; collisions with sides of pools, terrazzo floors, baseballs, etc., but ten years straight, during the era when you led with your head and there was no such thing as "spearing," damn sure took its toll.

Pipe Dreams echoes what most if us, particularly those of us who played and frequent this board, feel: It's a trade off to me for the lifelong relationships, I have. My three boys feel the same way (Two had concussions).

The era of the disclaimer is coming: risk/reward, benefit cost.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I noticed it the 2nd semester my soph year after getting knocked out for a minute and playing the rest of a small college bowl game. I had a bitch of a time focusing and studying. It got better, but I had two more good ones after that (That I'm aware of). I'm thinking about gifting my distorted brain to CTE research...

 

[blackpopsicle]

What was it we were going to talk about?

 

[Choctaw_fan]

The deceased, not the former athletes, will make the claims or file the lawsuits. To lose a love one so young is difficult but it's also very hard to quantify in dollars. Many of them die by suicide which can be attributed to many other factors. Many people who've never played contact sports have suffered through depression. The military also has a suicide problem only the deceased are much younger and their earning potential was much lower.

At this point in time, I don't think anyone will win a lawsuit against the NFL. There are just too many other factors that could have caused the player's death. For all we know, the excessive eating involved in "bulking up" to play pro sports could have contributed. And then there's questions about the effects of steroid use.

I hate that the NFL might win because they lied to the players for years. But, that just may be the reality!

 

[Silver King]

Well, if lawsuites start flying over suicides, it might just stop being cost effective sending our kids all over the world to fight wars that benifit the Military Industrial Complex.

 

[Pipe Dreams]

Helmet technology is critical. The NFL and the NCAA need to take the charge for yourh football all the way up.

 

[Choctaw_fan]

Pipe Dreams, I agree. Since the NFL has all the money, everyone will come at them. The faster they improve helmets, the better it will be for them.

 

[Bartow..Billy]

Helmet tech can only help so much. As long as you have athletes traveling at a rate of speed and then coming to a complete stop due to a collision, the brain is still going to be moving inside the skull. It's possible that the answer is, football isn't a good idea.

 

[Pipe Dreams]

Humans are really good at figuring thinks out, but only when they really, really have to.

 

[Milquetoast]

Bartow nailed it. Doesn't matter if you fit everyone's head with a beach ball. It's the speed and the impact that moves the unprotected brain inside the skull. While you're protecting the outer shell handsomely, there is zero, none, nada protection for the brain inside no matter how many layers you add.

And the more you lead players to believe their head is protected with this new space-age fitting, the more reckless and ignorant they will play thus increasing concussions and likely, more cases of CTE.

 

[blackpopsicle]

Helmet tech can only help so much. As long as you have athletes traveling at a rate of speed and then coming to a complete stop due to a collision, the brain is still going to be moving inside the skull. It's possible that the answer is, football isn't a good idea.

Helmets OFF, Nancy boys!

 

[Silver King]

 

[blackpopsicle]

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KILLING ME!

 

[Bartow..Billy]

I have jokingly said that if you want to help the concussion epidemic, put them back in leather helmets. I think the targeting thing would go away too.

 

[Choctaw_fan]

Do they have concussions in Rugby> No helmets worn for that sport!