Official American Football Thread
- Thread starter Jordan
- Start date
Sadness. Hockey is awesome. Sometime in May/June.
Yeah, I know there's a lockout, and it's the offseason ... but this thread needs a periodic bump so we don't lose it. 
From the New York Times:
BOSTON — The suicide of the former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson became more alarming Monday, when Boston University researchers announced that his brain had developed the same trauma-induced disease recently found in more than 20 deceased players.
The diagnosis adds a new and perhaps pivotal chapter to football’s still-unfolding narrative surrounding concussions. Duerson shot himself Feb. 17 in the chest rather than the head, presumably so that his brain could be examined by Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which announced its diagnosis.
About two dozen retired N.F.L. players have been found to have the disease, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, but none acted upon his suspicion of it like Duerson, 50, who complained to family of his deteriorating mental state during his final months.
His death reminded the football community that for all the reform in the management of concussions and other on-field brain trauma in recent years, the damage to past players remains a vestige of the game’s more brutal times.
“It’s tragic that Dave Duerson took his own life, but it’s very meaningful that he recognized the symptoms of the disorder — it validates this condition,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the neuropathologist who examined Duerson’s brain. She said she found indisputable evidence of C.T.E. in the tissue samples, with “no evidence of any other disorder.”
Although the precise motivations behind Duerson’s suicide remain unknown, he had complained of headaches, blurred vision and a deteriorating memory in the months before his death. His final note to his family finished with a handwritten request: “Please, see that my brain is given to the N.F.L.’s brain bank.”
The N.F.L. does not run the Boston University research group but did donate $1 million to its financing last year, after the league acknowledged long-term effects of football brain trauma.
C.T.E., a condition previously associated mostly with boxers and manifested in behavior more commonly known as dementia pugilistica, is a degenerative and incurable disease that compromises neural activity and is linked to memory loss, depression and dementia. Although groups at Boston University and elsewhere are pursuing tests for living patients, the condition can currently be detected only after death, by brain autopsy.
“We hope these findings will contribute more to the understanding of C.T.E.,” the N.F.L. said in a statement. “Our Head, Neck and Spine Medical Committee will study today’s findings, and as a league, we will continue to support the work of the scientists at the Boston University Center and elsewhere to address this issue in a forthright and effective way.”
DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the players association, said in a telephone interview that Duerson’s having C.T.E. “makes it abundantly clear what the cost of football is for the men who played and the families.”
He added: “It seems to me that any decision or course of action that doesn’t recognize that as the truth is not only perpetuating a lie, but doing a disservice to what Dave feared and what he wanted to result from the donation of his brain to science.”
Duerson’s death rattled players both active and retired, who after years of news media coverage are more aware that the damage done to their brains could be permanent. Pete Kendall, a recently retired offensive lineman, said, “The whole issue of C.T.E. is something that players young and old have no choice but to think about.”
Duerson’s former wife, Alicia, attended the Boston news conference with their four children. Their son Tregg, 25, made a brief statement, saying, “It is our hope that through this research questions that go beyond our interest may be answered — questions that lead to a safer game of football from professionals to Pop Warner.”
He added with regard to his father, “It is my greatest hope that his death will not be in vain and that through this research, his legacy will live on and others won’t have to suffer in the same manner.”
Duerson was an all-American defensive back at Notre Dame before spending most of his 11 N.F.L. seasons with the Bears. He played safety on the famed 46 defense that fueled their Super Bowl championship in the 1985 season, and he won the 1991 Super Bowl with the Giants.
Duerson retired after the 1993 season and became successful in the food-services industry before his businesses collapsed, his marriage failed and he went bankrupt. He began showing symptoms of repetitive brain trauma, including memory loss, poor impulse control and abusive behavior toward loved ones.
Another son, Brock, 22, said that the diagnosis of C.T.E. provided an explanation for his father’s decline and final act.
“I don’t want people to think just because he was in debt and broke he wanted to end it,” he said. “C.T.E. took his life. He changed dramatically, but it was eating at his brain. He didn’t know how to fight it.”
Duerson’s case is unique beyond the circumstances of his suicide. Since 2006, he had served on the six-member panel that considered claims for disability benefits filed by former N.F.L. players. Although individual votes are kept confidential, that board has been sparing in awarding benefits, including those for neurological damage.
Duerson himself told a Senate subcommittee in 2007 that he questioned whether players’ cognitive and emotional struggles were related to football.
However, Duerson’s legacy will almost certainly be how he apparently came to believe he had C.T.E., acted upon it and requested that his brain tissue be examined for confirmation and contribution to science.
Dr. Robert Stern, along with McKee a co-director of the Boston University research group, cautioned that C.T.E. could not explain all of a player’s actions.
“When it comes to suicide and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, it is possible that in some individuals the combination of C.T.E.-related symptoms of poor impulse control, depression and cognitive impairment may indeed lead to suicide,” Stern said. “However, we can never clearly point to any cause-and-effect relationship in any one case.”
From the New York Times:
BOSTON — The suicide of the former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson became more alarming Monday, when Boston University researchers announced that his brain had developed the same trauma-induced disease recently found in more than 20 deceased players.
The diagnosis adds a new and perhaps pivotal chapter to football’s still-unfolding narrative surrounding concussions. Duerson shot himself Feb. 17 in the chest rather than the head, presumably so that his brain could be examined by Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which announced its diagnosis.
About two dozen retired N.F.L. players have been found to have the disease, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, but none acted upon his suspicion of it like Duerson, 50, who complained to family of his deteriorating mental state during his final months.
His death reminded the football community that for all the reform in the management of concussions and other on-field brain trauma in recent years, the damage to past players remains a vestige of the game’s more brutal times.
“It’s tragic that Dave Duerson took his own life, but it’s very meaningful that he recognized the symptoms of the disorder — it validates this condition,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the neuropathologist who examined Duerson’s brain. She said she found indisputable evidence of C.T.E. in the tissue samples, with “no evidence of any other disorder.”
Although the precise motivations behind Duerson’s suicide remain unknown, he had complained of headaches, blurred vision and a deteriorating memory in the months before his death. His final note to his family finished with a handwritten request: “Please, see that my brain is given to the N.F.L.’s brain bank.”
The N.F.L. does not run the Boston University research group but did donate $1 million to its financing last year, after the league acknowledged long-term effects of football brain trauma.
C.T.E., a condition previously associated mostly with boxers and manifested in behavior more commonly known as dementia pugilistica, is a degenerative and incurable disease that compromises neural activity and is linked to memory loss, depression and dementia. Although groups at Boston University and elsewhere are pursuing tests for living patients, the condition can currently be detected only after death, by brain autopsy.
“We hope these findings will contribute more to the understanding of C.T.E.,” the N.F.L. said in a statement. “Our Head, Neck and Spine Medical Committee will study today’s findings, and as a league, we will continue to support the work of the scientists at the Boston University Center and elsewhere to address this issue in a forthright and effective way.”
DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the players association, said in a telephone interview that Duerson’s having C.T.E. “makes it abundantly clear what the cost of football is for the men who played and the families.”
He added: “It seems to me that any decision or course of action that doesn’t recognize that as the truth is not only perpetuating a lie, but doing a disservice to what Dave feared and what he wanted to result from the donation of his brain to science.”
Duerson’s death rattled players both active and retired, who after years of news media coverage are more aware that the damage done to their brains could be permanent. Pete Kendall, a recently retired offensive lineman, said, “The whole issue of C.T.E. is something that players young and old have no choice but to think about.”
Duerson’s former wife, Alicia, attended the Boston news conference with their four children. Their son Tregg, 25, made a brief statement, saying, “It is our hope that through this research questions that go beyond our interest may be answered — questions that lead to a safer game of football from professionals to Pop Warner.”
He added with regard to his father, “It is my greatest hope that his death will not be in vain and that through this research, his legacy will live on and others won’t have to suffer in the same manner.”
Duerson was an all-American defensive back at Notre Dame before spending most of his 11 N.F.L. seasons with the Bears. He played safety on the famed 46 defense that fueled their Super Bowl championship in the 1985 season, and he won the 1991 Super Bowl with the Giants.
Duerson retired after the 1993 season and became successful in the food-services industry before his businesses collapsed, his marriage failed and he went bankrupt. He began showing symptoms of repetitive brain trauma, including memory loss, poor impulse control and abusive behavior toward loved ones.
Another son, Brock, 22, said that the diagnosis of C.T.E. provided an explanation for his father’s decline and final act.
“I don’t want people to think just because he was in debt and broke he wanted to end it,” he said. “C.T.E. took his life. He changed dramatically, but it was eating at his brain. He didn’t know how to fight it.”
Duerson’s case is unique beyond the circumstances of his suicide. Since 2006, he had served on the six-member panel that considered claims for disability benefits filed by former N.F.L. players. Although individual votes are kept confidential, that board has been sparing in awarding benefits, including those for neurological damage.
Duerson himself told a Senate subcommittee in 2007 that he questioned whether players’ cognitive and emotional struggles were related to football.
However, Duerson’s legacy will almost certainly be how he apparently came to believe he had C.T.E., acted upon it and requested that his brain tissue be examined for confirmation and contribution to science.
Dr. Robert Stern, along with McKee a co-director of the Boston University research group, cautioned that C.T.E. could not explain all of a player’s actions.
“When it comes to suicide and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, it is possible that in some individuals the combination of C.T.E.-related symptoms of poor impulse control, depression and cognitive impairment may indeed lead to suicide,” Stern said. “However, we can never clearly point to any cause-and-effect relationship in any one case.”
I actually didn't remember him at first, until the article mentioned the 86 Bears ... then it all came back.
I'd bet money Favre is gonna have this problem. (The disease, hopefully not the suicide.) If he didn't have it before, the last season surely did it.
bearfan said:
I'd bet money Favre is gonna have this problem. (The disease, hopefully not the suicide.) If he didn't have it before, the last season surely did it.
I'd agree. He took some massive hits.
There are some other QB's (Warner) and wide receivers that will face that as well.
There are some other QB's (Warner) and wide receivers that will face that as well.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
Stallion Duck said:
Get hit in the head repeatedly=brain damage, specifically, "a degenerative and incurable disease that compromises neural activity and is linked to memory loss, depression and dementia."
A lot of great safeties are like that. The first thing you think of is how hard they hit. It's a position that lends itself to big hits, because the hitter often has truckloads of time to see the guy coming.
I'd also guess linemen are least vulnerable to hits on the head. Before a lineman hits his opposite number on the head, they only travel a yard and from a dead stop. Also, linemen grapple with their bodies and (hehe) don't use their heads.
I'd also guess linemen are least vulnerable to hits on the head. Before a lineman hits his opposite number on the head, they only travel a yard and from a dead stop. Also, linemen grapple with their bodies and (hehe) don't use their heads.
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
SinisterMinisterX said:
But, remember the tragic case of Mike Webster, arguably the greatest center in NFL history. He had major brain damage.
And so it ends, and begins anew.
Finally, the NFL season is officially on.
Thoughts? Concerns? No cares at all?
First thought: with a short 'pre season/off season' I think its going to be a buyers market for all the free agents out there. I think some of the big names will get snapped up quickly, but I bet there are a ton of bargains out there for teams that are patient. I'm hoping KC picks up a little extra talent in the Secondary.
Second thought: You have to think there are going to be some injuries early on, due to a lack of very much preseason activity.
Finally, the NFL season is officially on.
Thoughts? Concerns? No cares at all?
First thought: with a short 'pre season/off season' I think its going to be a buyers market for all the free agents out there. I think some of the big names will get snapped up quickly, but I bet there are a ton of bargains out there for teams that are patient. I'm hoping KC picks up a little extra talent in the Secondary.
Second thought: You have to think there are going to be some injuries early on, due to a lack of very much preseason activity.
Well I'm glad because it would be weird not having a football season this year. I also look forward to seeing the Bronco's new quarterback Tim Tebow play. We didn't see too much of him last year, so we'll see how he does. I'm glad they picked him because the Gators are my favorite college team.
I think Tebow is a pretty stand-up guy, which is good for the Broncos. I don't know how he is going to fare in a full NFL season. You know how some of those college guys don't translate to the pros as well as others.
Denver is in serious hurt after that last coach gutted the team-- I'll be curious to see how that plays out. (tho, good for KC!
)
Denver is in serious hurt after that last coach gutted the team-- I'll be curious to see how that plays out. (tho, good for KC!
)
Cornfed Hick
Ancient Mariner
Have you seen the Chiefs' schedule this year? Their nondivision games include the Colts, Vikings, Patriots, Steelers, Jets and Packers. I mean ... good lord ... that's just murder.