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Sad football news

BLUEJAYWAYBLUEJAYWAY Posts: 9,140 ✭✭✭✭✭

Read today that Dwight Clark of the 49ers,he of "The Catch" fame, has ALS. Gale Sayers family has announced at the same time that he,Sayers, is suffering from dementia. He joins Jim McMahon and Tony Dorsett with the same malady.

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Comments

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I also heard that news. Terrible. I fully expect many more to come forward with such news In the future

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Tough game.

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    This is just the tip of the iceberg. Fans mistakenly believe the game is softer now than it was years ago but players are bigger and faster than every before and collide at much higher rates of speed with much more velocity. At least they outlawed the godawful artificial turf that was so popular during Clark's career. That was like playing on concrete.



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Yep. This game has to change. It's only going to get worse

    mark

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • DIMEMANDIMEMAN Posts: 22,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Sorry....but you don't have to play sports to get ALS or dementia. These are per centages of population at work.

  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 30,656 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not sure what else they can change, the scoring is at an all time high because the QB's and WR's are so protected by the rules now, look at the stats that these guys are putting up now, a 5000 yard passing season is not that incredible anymore. The equipment and limitations on how you can hit are pretty much maxed out, that's if players chose to take advantage of all that, most players don't wear thigh pads anymore so they can run faster. Like Tim said the players are just faster and stronger, there is no stopping the violent collisions especially where guys actually try to "Hit" first rather than tackle.

  • perkdogperkdog Posts: 30,656 ✭✭✭✭✭

    One other thing, I think some of these old timers blame football for their medical issues in an attempt to get paid in a lawsuit or some type of settlement. The NFL is a billion dollar industry and with that makes it a target for lawsuits. I'm not saying the players in the OP are guilty of that I'm just throwing it out there.

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @DIMEMAN said:
    Sorry....but you don't have to play sports to get ALS or dementia. These are per centages of population at work.

    It's already been statistically proven that NFL football players are 4x likely to develop ALS vs the general population. You really believe that football players don't suffer brain injuries at a higher rate than the general public? Surely, you're not serious.



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • DIMEMANDIMEMAN Posts: 22,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @grote15 said:

    @DIMEMAN said:
    Sorry....but you don't have to play sports to get ALS or dementia. These are per centages of population at work.

    It's already been statistically proven that NFL football players are 4x likely to develop ALS vs the general population. You really believe that football players don't suffer brain injuries at a higher rate than the general public? Surely, you're not serious.

    Brain injuries yes, but ALS and dementia are not caused by brain injuries.

  • BrickBrick Posts: 4,981 ✭✭✭✭✭

    If they would go back to the leather helmets of the thirties brain injuries would go way down.

    Collecting 1960 Topps Baseball in PSA 8
    http://www.unisquare.com/store/brick/

    Ralph

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 23, 2017 4:23PM

    @DIMEMAN said:

    @grote15 said:

    @DIMEMAN said:
    Sorry....but you don't have to play sports to get ALS or dementia. These are per centages of population at work.

    It's already been statistically proven that NFL football players are 4x likely to develop ALS vs the general population. You really believe that football players don't suffer brain injuries at a higher rate than the general public? Surely, you're not serious.

    Brain injuries yes, but ALS and dementia are not caused by brain injuries.

    That is false. Many former players exhibit premature symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease due to repetitive trauma and concussions suffered while playing football. Just ask Jim McMahon.



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • DIMEMANDIMEMAN Posts: 22,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @grote15 said:

    @DIMEMAN said:

    @grote15 said:

    @DIMEMAN said:
    Sorry....but you don't have to play sports to get ALS or dementia. These are per centages of population at work.

    It's already been statistically proven that NFL football players are 4x likely to develop ALS vs the general population. You really believe that football players don't suffer brain injuries at a higher rate than the general public? Surely, you're not serious.

    Brain injuries yes, but ALS and dementia are not caused by brain injuries.

    That is false. Many former players exhibit premature symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease due to repetitive trauma and concussions suffered while playing football. Just ask Jim McMahon.

    I'm just saying you can get both of those and not have played any sports. Playing sports and boxing put you at greater risk, but they know that going into it.

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @grote15 said:
    This is just the tip of the iceberg. Fans mistakenly believe the game is softer now than it was years ago but players are bigger and faster than every before and collide at much higher rates of speed with much more velocity. At least they outlawed the godawful artificial turf that was so popular during Clark's career. That was like playing on concrete.

    At least they have concussion protocol now. Imagine if they didn't?

    M

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 23, 2017 7:22PM

    @grote15 said:

    @DIMEMAN said:

    @grote15 said:

    @DIMEMAN said:
    Sorry....but you don't have to play sports to get ALS or dementia. These are per centages of population at work.

    It's already been statistically proven that NFL football players are 4x likely to develop ALS vs the general population. You really believe that football players don't suffer brain injuries at a higher rate than the general public? Surely, you're not serious.

    Brain injuries yes, but ALS and dementia are not caused by brain injuries.

    That is false. Many former players exhibit premature symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease due to repetitive trauma and concussions suffered while playing football. Just ask Jim McMahon.

    If he could answer the question coherently

    mark

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Perhaps the brain damage begins earlier than thought. Many attend top notch colleges yet when interviewed have limited command of the language.

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:
    Perhaps the brain damage begins earlier than thought. Many attend top notch colleges yet when interviewed have limited command of the language.

    Not sure if your comment is serious or meant to be snarky (probably the latter seeing it's coming from you, Mglicker), but I would say that head trauma is certainly an issue in tackle football before the professional level.



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Undoubtedly. The pro game is bigger and faster but real hits are absorbed at the earlier levels.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @grote15 said:

    @Coinstartled said:
    Perhaps the brain damage begins earlier than thought. Many attend top notch colleges yet when interviewed have limited command of the language.

    Not sure if your comment is serious or meant to be snarky (probably the latter seeing it's coming from you, Mglicker), but I would say that head trauma is certainly an issue in tackle football before the professional level.

    Who is Mglicker? Is this an obvious reference I should be getting?

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    He was a prospect for the Mets in the late 60's. Mean curve and smoking fastball. Got beaned a time too many though and faded into obscurity......

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    He was also known as "The Great Pontificator," LOL..

    The beaning part is true...though it hasn't slowed down his wifi connections, apparently..we can safely add a "0" to that post count within the next 90 days, lol..



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • TheMickTheMick Posts: 217 ✭✭✭

    Mike Adamle (Northwestern, Chiefs, Jets, and Bears), who was up until recently, a sports anchor in Chicago, can no longer do his job. He finally came out to tell the public that he is suffering from dementia. He is 67 years old.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    One wonders if the concussions from prior athletic competition has become a blanket excuse.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Are you kidding? Seriously guy.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @craig44 said:
    Are you kidding? Seriously guy.

    Sadly, he is not.



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @grote15 said:

    @craig44 said:
    Are you kidding? Seriously guy.

    Sadly, he is not.

    So Titus Young is not responsible for assaulting a neighbor. The judge sentenced him to a 4 year term. I am in no way minimizing the fact that many players have suffered serious brain impairment from playing in the NFL (and perhaps college). Problem is it is not a catch all for every bad character. Separating the two though is not easy.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Well, when you follow a post about a man forced to give up his job because of dementia with your own post about this issue being a "blanket excuse," it certainly seems that you are "minimizing the fact that many players have suffered serious brain impairment from playing in the nfl (and perhaps college)" you just don't have a clue do you. Kind of sad.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Not my fault. I took a lot of hits in Spring Badminton at Cambridge....

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    You bring very, very little to the discussion coinstartled.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    ....and bringing a lot to the discussion seems to be agreeing with you. Other thoughts are dismissed as blasphemy.

    Take a look at the Titus Young case. Ex NFL'er involved in several bouts of assault. He apparently spend time in a mental health facility and was sentenced to four years in prison. His father claimed that his behavior was a result of early concussions.

    Was the father correct or were the prosecutors and sentencing judges?

    I don't know.....do you?

    If the man was truly rendered incapable of logical thought due to brain damage, he should have been institutionalized rather than incarcerated. Perhaps the NFL should have picked up the tab for the hospitalization.

    Discuss that Craig, it is better than taking errant potshots at my responses.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I believe you are the only one here that brought up cte as a blanket excuse. I would not make excuses for illegal activity other than in the case of mental illness or other mental incapacity. And in those cases, the perpetrator should be institutionalised. I sincerely hope you or anyone close to you ever have to deal with dementia, brought on by cte or otherwise. It is a terrible disability. Maybe you should have a bit more compassion for those nflers who are increasingly becoming stricken with dementia.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Oh good grief.

    Should every NFL'er get a pass now for assault on elevators or killing dogs as Vick did or shooting their damn leg in a New York nightclub because they played football.

    Seems that that is now the blanket claim by the defense attorneys.

    If your answer is yes.....than the game should be dismantled immediately.

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    What in the world are you talking about. How did you get any of that out of my post. In fact, I said people with mental illness or incapacity for whatever reason should not have this as an excuse.
    What do Vick or Rice have to do with this discussion? Neither one has been diagnosed with CTE to my knowledge.

    Reading comprehension friend.

    You really, really don't get it.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • keetskeets Posts: 25,351 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Craig, don't you know it is not wise to feed trolls??

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I know, I know. It's so hard not to, I really should know by now.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • Dave99BDave99B Posts: 8,533 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very sad news about Dwight Clark. Such a class act. Depressing news. :(

    Dave

    Always looking for original, better date VF20-VF35 Barber quarters and halves, and a quality beer.
  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 13, 2017 9:55PM

    @craig44 said:
    What in the world are you talking about. How did you get any of that out of my post. In fact, I said people with mental illness or incapacity for whatever reason should not have this as an excuse.
    What do Vick or Rice have to do with this discussion? Neither one has been diagnosed with CTE to my knowledge.

    Reading comprehension friend.

    You really, really don't get it.

    It is easy to feel sad for the 67 year old Adamle or any number of beloved former athletes that are losing their minds prematurely. To consider though that the brain damage goes further and perhaps as far as bringing about murder forces us to take our heads out of the sandbox of fandom and consider whether we really want to continue supporting the sport that we have loved most of our lives. On the other side of the equation are the congenital thugs that will use the shield of repeat concussions to keep them out of jail.

    On a jury, would you be able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt in the Aaron Hernandez case if the defense presented any plausible evidence of NFL related brain damage? Accurate diagnoses is difficult and is not like imaging a broken collar bone.

  • CoinstartledCoinstartled Posts: 10,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited April 13, 2017 9:57PM

    Story from the Philadelphia Magazine. 2013


    Here’s a question that nobody’s going to like, but that we should probably try to get answered at some point: Did football drive Aaron Hernandez to murder?

    Let’s stipulate a couple of things before we delve too deeply into the question: First, the (now-former) Patriots tight end faces charges, but he hasn’t been convicted of anything yet. Second, there are lots and lots and lots of football players — high school, college, pro — who deliver and take big hits on the field and never show the slightest propensity for violence off the field.

    But it’s also impossible not to notice that the NFL seems to be piling up bodies — and near-misses — at a seemingly high rate. Lost in the hubub over Hernandez this week has been the fact that the Cleveland Browns released linebacker Ausar Walcott after he was charged with attempted murder — this after punching a man in New Jersey. And who can forget last season, when the Chiefs’ Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend — the mother of his child — then committed suicide? And that’s just the worst of the worst: Check out this San Diego newspaper database of NFL arrests and see how often the terms “battery” and “assault” pop up, just in the last year or two.

    It’s also impossible not to notice that these incidents take place in the shadow of a larger wave of violence — in recent years, former NFL players Junior Seau, Dave Duerson, Andre Waters and Ray Easterling have all killed themselves. Apart from their NFL service, those men had one thing in common: chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

    Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/news/2013/06/28/football-drive-aaron-hernandez-murder/#dkz5ho2xgAfHIqud.99

  • craig44craig44 Posts: 11,255 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Coinstartled said:

    @craig44 said:
    What in the world are you talking about. How did you get any of that out of my post. In fact, I said people with mental illness or incapacity for whatever reason should not have this as an excuse.
    What do Vick or Rice have to do with this discussion? Neither one has been diagnosed with CTE to my knowledge.

    Reading comprehension friend.

    You really, really don't get it.

    It is easy to feel sad for the 67 year old Adamle or any number of beloved former athletes that are losing their minds prematurely. To consider though that the brain damage goes further and perhaps as far as bringing about murder forces us to take our heads out of the sandbox of fandom and consider whether we really want to continue supporting the sport that we have loved most of our lives. On the other side of the equation are the congenital thugs that will use the shield of repeat concussions to keep them out of jail.

    On a jury, would you be able to convict beyond a reasonable doubt in the Aaron Hernandez case if the defense presented any plausible evidence of NFL related brain damage? Accurate diagnoses is difficult and is not like imaging a broken collar bone.

    Your entire argument seems to rest on a hypothetical that has never happened as far as I know. Of the 10's of thousands of people who have played college or pro football, I don't recall any who have used cte as an excuse for committing a crime. You cite one instance where a perps FATHER used repeated concussions as an excuse. But as bad as you want it to be an issue, it just absent proven to be one. Not for Ray rice, Mike Vick or Aaron Hernandez.

    Your seeming loathing of fandom or people who like sports shines bright in your posts and is a bit puzzling for a person who posts on a sports related message board. I don't think anyone has their head buried in the sands of fandom for this issue. You do, however, seem to have an agenda and incapable of showing any sympathy at all to these folks who are suffering. I could care less if they are former nfl, they are human beings who are at the beginning of a long, hard road.

    George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Good grief Glicker. Your reach knows no bounds.

    mark

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • stevekstevek Posts: 29,029 ✭✭✭✭✭

    61 years old is way too young.

    RIP

  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Very very sad

    m

    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • grote15grote15 Posts: 29,694 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The Catch with be forever emblazoned into the lexicon of sports history. It was truly a watershed moment in NFL history. RIP Dwight.



    Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
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