Ex-Football Exec Sounds the Alarm re: Head Trauma

I know we get caught up in demanding so much from our Birds, but we rarely reflect on where the Todd Weiners (i.e., retired NFLers who played for your favorite team) of the world find themselves 20 years down the road.

An interesting read to say the least ...

over 2 years ago FrankyWren 3 comments 2 recs |

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I think the correlation is an obvious one, but the NFL is slow or unwilling to catch on. I hope that changes….

by Dave Choate on Oct 27, 2009 5:34 PM EDT reply actions

The NFL's own study showed much higher dementia rates for ex-players

I’d bet the mortgage that the NFL is afraid that taking TOO much responsibility for player welfare will lead to financial Armageddon.

You could outlaw all direct contact with the head, and there would still be a big problem. The brain injuries are predominantly from the cumulative effects of normal play, and not from direct blows to the head. Perhaps the core issue is how much risk you can ask a player to accept in exchange for the ungodly salaries they command.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not unsympathetic. My mom had dementia in her old age, and it was heartbreaking. I can only imagine what the families of ex-players go through when they start experiencing symptoms in their 40s and 50s.

Another good argument in favor of accelerated stem cell research.

by tom slick on Oct 27, 2009 9:44 PM EDT reply actions

No

I feel you, and you don’t sound unsympathetic at all. I mean, we pay (or try to pay) cops, soldiers, ice truck drivers hazard pay, but why not former NFLers.

It’s a definite gray area …

Reporter: How will you address all of the dropped passes?

Mike Smith: I don’t think that we were as sharp as we have been catching the football. It’s something that is very fixable. It’s VERY fixable.

by FrankyWren on Oct 27, 2009 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions