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Post by mikecubs on Sept 28, 2015 23:38:59 GMT -6
Thanks for the links especially the first one. It was very interesting. To be honest I don't know the answer to what will work but it's good they are bouncing around different ideas and that many people just not the big manufacturers are trying to invent something. No one for sure is claiming any of there ideas will 100% work but then again people always think of new stuff and people are VERY smart with technology these days. My guess is short term some of these ideas will reduce concussions but it still won't be at an acceptable rate. Long term maybe there is hope to reduce concussions to an acceptable rate if people keeping improving on the current ideas.
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Post by mikecubs on Oct 2, 2015 20:38:10 GMT -6
A 'real lucky' former NFL player irked by progress on concussions and injuriesSteve Wright is an interesting unofficial spokesman for the current state of professional football, also known as weekend mayhem. Wright is 56. He lives in Manhattan Beach. He played 13 years on various pro teams, including the last seven with the Raiders. He played at 6 feet 7 and 270 pounds, about 20 pounds heavier than he is today. Recent medical studies of football concussions indicate that linemen suffer the majority of them. By the necessity of the game, they are banging heads on every play. Wright was an offensive tackle. In recent years in this column, we have told stories of former players who dawdled off into later life, barely remembering their children's names, and seldom having enough financial means — certainly not enough via NFL pensions — to treat their medical conditions. We have written about a visit to a tavern in Baltimore's Mount Washington area, where John Mackey's daughter used to bring him so he could sit around and smile and nod and pretend to understand while old Colts fans patted him on the back and told him how much they cherished the days when Johnny Unitas was throwing passes to him. Mackey played nine years in the NFL, missed only one game in those nine years, and died of dementia at 69. We've written about the Chicago Bears' Dave Duerson, who committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest so his brain could be studied. He had been suffering from a debilitating condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Same with the Chargers' Junior Seau, who did the same thing and had the same condition. So it is meaningful to see things through the eyes of Wright, who is about the age he might expect to start seeing and feeling the damaging effects of his pro football career. But instead he surfs every day, looks like a white-haired Adonis and is as lucid as a 16-year-old. That does not mean, however, that he wishes to be a poster boy for NFL wonderfulness. "I'm real lucky," he says, adding that he just went through a battery of tests at UCLA that looked for signs of CTE and found none. That doesn't mean he isn't concerned. Far from it. He tells of joining a group of former Raiders for a reunion a few weeks ago at the team's training camp.
"It's always good to see people, and mostly it was great," he says. "But it also got to be concerning, when you are sitting around with a bunch of guys who are all saying the same thing: 'I can't remember anything anymore.' "
He says he tried to strike up a conversation with a famous former Raider, tight end Raymond Chester.
"All he'd say was, '87'… '87,'" Wright says, concluding later that what had been Chester's jersey number most of his career was now his way of identifying himself.Wright isn't a paid advocate, but he carries around a stack of papers that show numbers of football injuries, by team, by game and by body part. He overflows with ideas about equipment changes and attitude changes needed to make the game better, and safer. "I love the game," he says. "I'm also concerned." He bristles at what he characterizes as the cop-out stance taken all too often by people in positions to do something. "They say all this stuff — concussions, knee injuries — are just part of the game," Wright says. "They don't have to be." He says he is all for tough hits and rugged physical contact. He just thinks most of the injuries could be eliminated. "Look at the Ben Roethlisberger injury the other day," Wright says. "Here is an $8-million quarterback who gets taken down on a fairly routine play and, because he isn't wearing a proper knee brace, gets hurt. "Wouldn't you think these owners, with all they have invested, would demand changes to protect their investments? But they don't. They say it is part of the game." Wright says that technology could create that protection — better helmets and knee braces, higher shoes for ankle bracing — if only the NFL would get serious and mandate their creation and use. Currently, you see half the players wearing little or no leg padding, and often nothing at all on their knees. The NFL eliminated rules for mandatory equipment years ago. Wright says that players foolishly discard pads, trying to gain a split second of speed. "They need to stop and think how much that is not worth it," he says. Wright says the sport he loves is at a crossroads. He says he read in a recent report that football participation rates in Orange County high schools were down 20%.
"Think of that as the NFL draft class of 2025," he says. Mostly, Wright wants action and innovation from a league that seems, at least on the issue of player safety, to be a huge Titanic, unable to turn with any speed in a crisis. "In 1990," Wright says, "I wore a shield on my helmet to protect my eyes. Everybody laughed at me. "A few years later, a teammate, Don Mosebar, got hit through his facemask and lost his eye." Also his career. Wright wants fixing the injury problem to be the league's top priority. If it doesn't happen, he says all those millions of fans who love the violent hits and play in fantasy leagues could suddenly have nothing to see or wager on.
"We need to wake up people now," he says. "Otherwise, it's gonna happen. The game will die."All this, remember, comes from a healthy survivor. www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-concussions-dwyre-20151003-column.html
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Post by mikecubs on Oct 5, 2015 23:48:01 GMT -6
Seattle high school football player dies 3 days after game injuryA Seattle high school football player who was injured during a game last week has died. Highline Public Schools spokeswoman Catherine Carbone Rogers says Kenney Bui died late Monday morning. Bui was injured during the fourth quarter on Friday. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he underwent surgery and had been in critical condition over the weekend. Rogers says students and others at Evergreen High School are grieving and the school district is working to support them. District superintendent Susan Enfield says it's a devastating loss for everyone. Bui's death follows the death of another high school player, 17-year-old Evan Murray, in New Jersey last month. Murray collapsed after taking a hit and later died from massive internal bleeding caused by a lacerated spleen. espn.go.com/high-school/football/story/_/id/13817759/seattle-high-school-football-player-dies-game-injury
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Post by mikecubs on Nov 26, 2015 10:10:20 GMT -6
Hall of Fame player Frank Gifford suffered from CTE, family saysThe family of Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford says signs of the degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy were found in his brain after his death. In a statement released through NBC News on Wednesday, the family said he had "experienced firsthand" symptoms associated with CTE but did not offer specifics. Gifford died of natural causes at his Connecticut home in August at age 84. His widow, Kathie Lee Gifford, is a host for NBC's "Today." The statement said the family "made the difficult decision to have his brain studied in hopes of contributing to the advancement of medical research concerning the link between football and traumatic brain injury." " Our suspicions that he was suffering from the debilitating effects of head trauma were confirmed," the Giffords added. CTE, which can be diagnosed only after death, has been found in the brains of dozens of former players. Linked to repeated brain trauma, it is associated with symptoms such as memory loss, impaired judgment, depression and, eventually, progressive dementia. The statement said the family found "comfort in knowing that by disclosing his condition we might contribute positively to the ongoing conversation that needs to be had; that he might be an inspiration for others suffering with this disease that needs to be addressed in the present; and that we might be a small part of the solution to an urgent problem concerning anyone involved with football, at any level." A running back, defensive back, wide receiver and special teams player, Gifford was the NFL MVP in 1956 when his New York Giants won the league championship. A crushing hit by Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik in November 1960 flattened Gifford and likely shortened his football career. Bednarik was pictured standing over the unconscious Gifford, pumping his fist in celebration. Gifford was in the hospital for 10 days and sidelined until 1962. "We have great respect and sympathy for the Gifford family," the Giants said in a statement. "We all miss Frank dearly. We support the family's decision to contribute to the discussion and research of an issue we take very seriously." NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called Gifford "a beloved member of the NFL family." "He exemplified everything good about our game throughout his ... years of extraordinary accomplishments, both on and off the field," Goodell said in a statement Wednesday night. "We appreciate the Gifford family's desire to help the medical community understand more about CTE, and we are grateful for their support of the league's efforts to improve safety in our game. At the NFL, we are supporting grants to NIH and Boston University as well as other independent efforts to research the effects of repetitive head trauma. "But we are not waiting until science provides all of the answers. We are working now to improve the safety of our game. The NFL has made numerous rules changes to the game, all to enhance player health and safety at all levels of football. These include 39 rule changes and better training and practice protocols that are yielding measurable results. "This work will continue as the health and safety of our players remains our highest priority. We have more work to do -- work that honors great men like Frank Gifford." Gifford later had a successful second career in broadcasting, most notably on ABC's "Monday Night Football," where he famously served as a buffer between fellow announcers Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14222869/frank-gifford-suffered-cte-according-family
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Post by mikecubs on Nov 26, 2015 10:12:50 GMT -6
Rashean Mathis opens up about concussions, hopes son avoids footballRashean Mathis Jr. is 3 years old. This year, for the first time, he understands his father’s profession. Daddy is a football player. Daddy hits people for a living. Daddy is Rashean Mathis, the 35-year-old Detroit Lions cornerback. When Mathis heard his son say "I want to play football" this year, those five words concerned Mathis more than any hit he has taken or delivered.Mathis has pictures of his son on the field with his helmet following a big win against New Orleans in 2014; "moments that will last forever." His wife, Ebony, wanted Rashean Jr. to remember his dad as a football player. But Mathis wants his son to do anything -- anything -- other than football. This is one of the lines Mathis walks as someone who understands the impact of brain injuries on football players. It’s something he understands with more clarity after suffering his first diagnosed concussion in the NFL in mid-October. The concussion wasn’t diagnosed for a week after the hit and landed him on injured reserve. Rashean Jr. looks up to his father, and observes more of his habits than he did before. M athis worries about his son's health and his own future. During offseasons in Jacksonville, Florida, he will try every sport with Rashean Jr. in an effort to keep him from the game that made Mathis rich.
"He’s a kid, and I have time to brainwash him in the offseason with golf," Mathis said. "So it balances out."Mathis said recently that the injury is making him consider his future in a different way. He said he was unsure whether he would play next season, though he’s under contract with the Lions through 2016. "Something like this happens, yeah, as a professional, I’ll be naïve to not think about those types of things," he said. "There’s life after football and you’ve got to think about those things." He said he and the Lions decided to put him on injured reserve because they didn’t want him to return this season and potentially suffer another concussion -- or something worse. Mathis played football as a way to improve his life and said he would do it again. Despite reading countless stories about what playing football potentially does to the brain, prior to suffering the concussion he said he would let Rashean Jr. play high school football if he really wants to compete. But not until then. By that time, Mathis will have introduced his son to other sports, including golf, baseball, basketball and soccer. It’s similar to the message from NBA star LeBron James, who told ESPN last year he wouldn’t let his kids play football until high school, when they could fully understand "how demanding the game is."
"As a father I would have to take that stance," Mathis said. "If I’m protecting him from everything, then he’s not going to learn and grow in anything. But my stance on it, from the youngest age that I can, I would try to hinder him from playing it."But when it’s his time to make a decision, I would think I would have laid a solid enough foundation to say you have other options. Your choice to choose." Mathis hopes his son chooses against football. Mathis' research about football and brain injuries started after an National Football League Players Association meeting years ago. Now, he thinks everyone involved in the NFL can do better with player education. Not enough NFL players, he said, really know about the dangers of their sport.
"Probably not so much as people would think, and that’s us as players, us as the PA, us as owners, us as organizations dropping the ball on it," Mathis said. "It has to be taken personally as well, and the player has to take more responsibility than anyone else to heighten his awareness on what, exactly, is going on and what might be going on and what’s really going on."Mathis watched "League of Denial," the PBS-broadcast documentary on brain injuries in the NFL. He read published studies, including September’s "Frontline" report that revealed 87 of 91 deceased NFL players' brains came back positive for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). That number rises to 131 of 165 brains of football players studied by Boston University. He watched the "Real Sports" story on what CTE has done to former football players, and that’s when it hit home. "You see guys that it’s affected, that CTE has affected and has affected tremendously, and the thought that this could be a reality is almost like ... this can’t be a reality for me," Mathis said. "It’s a double-edged sword because you think that, 'OK, this can’t be my reality.' "But at the same time you couldn’t be naïve and say that, 'OK, how can’t this be your reality when this same person did exactly what you’re doing.'" Mathis said until studies prove differently, until the rest of the world has CTE at the same rate as football players, he will relate football to CTE. He can’t not think so. Despite his knowledge, Mathis said he rarely discusses it in the Lions locker room. He will remind cornerback Darius Slay to keep his head up when tackling to prevent possible head and neck injuries, but he said brain injuries are not discussed among players. "How can you, in a world where this is your job and this is how you feed your family?" he said. "How can something that could stop you from playing this game, how could it be talked about without having an effect on how you treat your job. That’s reality." The average NFL career lasts fewer than four seasons. Players are cut daily or given injury settlements. The adage of "the best ability is sometimes availability" fits. For all the NFL has done to diagnose concussions during games, players need to report a potential injury if they are noticing symptoms and haven’t been flagged. Sometimes players lie or ignore symptoms in key games, like former Lions tight end Dorin Dickerson did against the Giants in 2013.
Most guys are playing with their careers in tenuous positions, and that makes it difficult."It’s impossible right now," Mathis said. "Like I said, it has a lot to do with parents letting a kid know how important their health is, their brain is. But as of this day and age, being we weren’t taught that, it’s like, 'OK, this is my livelihood. This is how I feed my family. If I don’t play, I might not stay on this team.'" Mathis believes this will eventually change. Locker rooms 10, 15 years from now could discuss CTE because the available knowledge should increase -- much like it has from Mathis’ rookie year in 2003 to now. That’s the key. He thinks NFL players speaking about the realities of playing in the league could help future generations -- even if few do right now. "It starts with more players being knowledgeable about it first or wanting the knowledge first. We should speak out about it, because it’s going to affect our kids. It’s going to affect other people’s kids," Mathis said. "It might affect your way of life one day to be like, 'OK, I was aware of it and these are the things that I was aware of and knew could have an impact on my life.'" He said he learned more by going through it firsthand over the past month, adding that there is so much out there yet to be discovered about the brain, brain injuries and concussions. This, he said, makes the subject hard for players to research since so much of the information is evolving. "We do know that it is affecting us," Mathis said in a text message. "How bad, how much, that's the kicker. And being that we know it does have an impact on guys' futures, there shouldn't be any limit of money or research dumped into this." Mathis said he doesn't believe anyone is hiding anything, but he thinks everyone should be more up front and vocal about the impact concussions have on the lives of players and their families. Give them the research available and then allow them to make their own decisions. The accountability for knowledge has to be on everyone: the NFL, individual franchises, coaching staffs, youth football and players themselves. This is why he’s speaking up. He doesn’t react to big hits when he sees them. He pays attention to what happens after. He said players should take the lead in learning and understanding for themselves. "[Are] the right precautions being taken after it happens? Because you can’t stop it. It’s impossible to stop. The thing about it, how does it affect the person and how long does it affect the person, is the concern and where I think we need to go," Mathis said. "We don’t need to go, 'Is it affecting them?' Of course it’s going to affect someone. "How it’s affecting them and how long it’s affecting this person, that’s where we need to start shedding more light ... instead of saying, 'Oh, it doesn’t, our game is not, our game is concussion-free,' you know what I’m saying? But how much damage is it actually doing? That’s where it needs to go." And that’s what more players, Mathis said, need to know. Mathis has a vision. He’s 70, potentially finishing his second career as a professional golfer. He’s on the course, hopefully with his son. And he’s walking it. No limp. No golf cart. Golf the way it was meant to be played, walking from shot to shot. This is still the future he envisions for himself and his son. But he also realizes he can do something to help protect and inform future generations. When Mathis dies, he will donate his brain to research to see how football might have affected it. "It’s not in my will yet, but I’m sure it will be," Mathis said. "If you can do anything after, it’s kind of like donating your organs after death. Why wouldn’t you if they are healthy enough to help someone else live or make life better? "I don’t understand why you wouldn’t do something that could possibly actually make someone’s life better. That’s just me ... that’s just how I think mentally." espn.go.com/blog/detroit-lions/post/_/id/20623/rashean-mathis-opens-up-about-concussions-cte-and-football
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Post by mikecubs on Dec 13, 2015 16:47:01 GMT -6
‘Paid to Give Concussions’ The MMQB screened Will Smith’s upcoming drama Concussion with 70 former NFL players. For some, it was a panic-inducing horror flickCramped in his seat, the man in the back row of the movie theater cut a hulking silhouette. His knees pressed against the row in front of him, and every time he dug into his bag of popcorn, his leather jacket brushed against the adjacent chairs. He was otherwise quiet, at least for the first 90 minutes. Then panic set in. First, he breathed heavily. Then he rubbed his thighs. “I can’t do this,” he said, huffing. “I can’t do this.” He gulped for air. The woman accompanying him rubbed his back, trying to soothe him. The movie, in its own way a horror flick, had just become very personal. “I can’t do this,” the man said as the screen showed tight-angle shots of former NFL star Dave Duerson climbing into bed with a revolver. “I know that guy!” The hulking man was screening Concussion, the Will Smith drama based on the true story of head trauma in football. As soon as the final credits rolled, the man in the back of the theater—one of 70 former players who saw the film last week—bolted for the exit. His reaction was as chilling as any line delivered by Smith’s character, Dr. Bennet Omalu, the pathologist who discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and became embroiled in a drawn-out battle with the NFL. For two hours and three minutes, The MMQB watched Concussion with these former players at a viewing arranged by the NFL Players’ Association. (The movie opens nationwide on Christmas Day.) Ken Parker, treasurer of the NFLPA Atlanta chapter, told the group beforehand, “We don’t endorse the film; we just knew it would be of interest to former players. So here it is. But as you watch, remember, knowledge is power.” Many of the former players have participated in lawsuits alleging that the NFL concealed the risks of concussions. Audible gasps swept through the theater anytime Omalu mentioned the ages of Mike Webster, Terry Long, Justin Strzelczyk, Andre Waters and Duerson, who all died before the age of 51. One former player booed Roger Goodell (played by Luke Wilson) the first time he appeared on screen. A few men buried their heads each time Omalu approached an autopsy table. “It was difficult to watch, but a good difficult,” said Danny Buggs, a Giants and Redskins wideout from 1975 to ’79. Keith McCants, the fourth overall pick in the 1990 draft, drove six hours from Tampa to see the movie. When he exited the theater, he retreated to a bench in the lobby. Tear-soaked, the 47-year-old former linebacker hovered over his cane. “This touched my soul,” he said. “It was outstanding, but I can’t process it all, not right now. I watch this movie and I know we were paid to hurt people. We were paid to give concussions. If we knew that we were killing people, I would have never put on the jersey.” “ When you watch that movie,” said Terry Bolar, who played three seasons before becoming an agent in 1992, “you see how much the NFL resembles tobacco companies.”“During the time we were playing, there were a lot of things we didn’t know,” said Chris Goode, a Colts cornerback from 1987 to ’93. “Now a lot of the information is out there. So if you’re playing the game, you know things. The information is out there, with or without this movie. What the movie might do is open the public’s eyes to what is going on. The public has been lagging behind.” Concussion is based on Jeanne Marie Laskas’s GQ article “Brain Game” from 2009, which painted a picture of the NFL actively undermining Omalu’s findings to protect its business interests. Many of the same issues were also covered in the Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru book League of Denial and subsequent PBS Frontline documentary. What Concussion does best is simplify the degenerative brain disease CTE for the masses. In one scene, Omalu explains how a woodpecker can violently use its head as a battering ram and not suffer injury: its tongue wraps from the back of it mouth, around the skull and through the nostril—a safety belt, if you will, that absorbs the shock and protects the brain. The human brain has no such safety belt.“I’ve heard so many doctors discuss brain injuries, but that example was so clear to me,” said Greg Anderson, whose husband, Taz, was a tight end for the Cardinals and Falcons from 1961 to ’67. “Nature protects the woodpecker, but it doesn’t protect us. It’s like God didn’t intend for us to play football.”Greg Anderson sat a few rows from the screen. (“My father always wanted a boy,” she said. “Hence the name, and why I love the sport so much.”) Her husband, now 77, has had 41 surgeries since college—one for each year of their marriage. His back went first, then his knees, elbows, and his heart. Yet his brain has proved to be the most troublesome. For the past 10 years, Taz has visited specialists while battling mild cognitive impairment. He forgets things. His speech has slowed. He’s often aloof. His wife sobbed through the entire film. “Of course, we won’t know if he has CTE until he has an autopsy,” she said matter-of-factly. “ Taz has had friends who had CTE and killed themselves. He may have Alzheimer’s, he may have more.”Willie Gault, the Bears and Raiders wide receiver from 1983 to ’93, has seen the movie twice in L.A., once with writer/director Peter Landesman. “Every single football player in this country—NFL, college, high school, youth—needs to see this movie,” Gault said. “If I had seen it while I was a player, I think I still would have played football, but I would have played it differently. I would have had a different mindset.” Outside the theater in Atlanta, Taz Anderson and his wife shifted their conversation to football’s next generation. “We’ve been around this game a long time,” Taz said. “I played when they didn’t even sod the infields. We were soldiers. We were tough guys.” “Well, isn’t that the point of it?” his wife said of the movie. “You can play tough, but you can’t protect yourself?” “I suppose,” Taz said. “But here’s the thing,” she said, setting up a sudden twist. “We love this game so much. We built our life on this sport. The harder the hit, the more we like it. We have a grandson who plays. He’s 7. After seeing this movie, I should probably go call his parents and say he shouldn’t play anymore. But I can't do that. Isn’t that awful? I’d rather roll the dice.” mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/12/09/nfl-retired-players-watch-react-to-concussion-movie-will-smith
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Post by maniaaron on Dec 14, 2015 8:19:47 GMT -6
^wow, thanks 4 posting Mike
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Post by mikecubs on Dec 23, 2015 0:54:39 GMT -6
NFL backs away from funding BU brain study; NIH to fund it insteadThe NFL, which spent years criticizing researchers who warned about the dangers of football-related head trauma, has backed out of one of the most ambitious studies yet on the relationship between football and brain disease, sources familiar with the project told Outside the Lines. The seven-year, $16 million initiative was to be funded out of a $30 million research grant the NFL gave the National Institutes of Health in 2012. The NFL has said repeatedly that it has no control over how that money is spent, but the league balked at this study, sources said, because the NIH awarded the project to a group led by Dr. Robert Stern, a prominent Boston University researcher who has been critical of the league. In a news release announcing the study Tuesday morning, Boston University said the NIH would pay for the project but made no mention of the NFL. The study seeks to capture what has been described as the holy grail of concussion research: the ability to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, in living patients. Asked why the NFL did not want to fund the study, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy on Monday referred questions to the NIH, writing in an email: "The NIH makes its own funding decisions." He did not respond to follow up questions. On Tuesday, McCarthy tweeted that the story was wrong. The NFL's decision not to fund the Boston University CTE study delayed its announcement for months, and the issue ultimately reached the office of NIH director Dr. Francis S. Collins, according to sources. As late as this week, some officials held out hope the league would change its mind, but the NIH remained committed to funding the project regardless. The Foundation for the NIH, a non-profit organization that partnered with the NFL to administer the grant, released a statement late Tuesday morning that "the NFL was willing to contribute to the Boston University CTE study headed by Dr. Stern." The statement did not specify under what conditions the NFL was willing to participate, and a spokeswoman did not respond to immediate follow up inquiries. But sources told Outside the Lines that after Stern and Boston University passed a "scientific merit review" and received approval from an NIH advisory council of high-level experts last spring, the NFL raised objections to the selection. Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of the NIH's National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, told Outside the Lines this week that he had asked the FNIH over a period of several months if the NFL would be providing funding for the study but never received a definitive response. He said he attempted to expand the study over the summer to include other researchers -- a proposal that might have satisfied the league. But the NIH ultimately decided to fund the study on its own. The FNIH statement said the NFL's overall funding commitment "remains intact." The NIH, according to the statement, will seek applications for an another study on CTE next year using NFL funding, which "will double the support for research in this area." When the NFL's "unrestricted" $30 million gift was announced in 2012, the NIH said the money came "with no strings attached"; however, an NIH official clarified the gift terms two years later, telling Outside the Lines that, in fact, the league retained veto power over projects that it funds. Koroshetz affirmed that this week. Sources told Outside the Lines that the league exercised that power when it learned that Stern, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Boston University, would be the project's lead researcher. The league, sources said, raised concerns about Stern's objectivity, despite the merit review and a separate evaluation by a dozen high-level experts assembled by the NIH. Stern, the director of clinical research for Boston University's Alzheimer's Disease and CTE centers, has a complicated history with the league. He once said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell inherited a "cover-up" from his predecessor, Paul Tagliabue. In October 2014, he filed a 61-page declaration opposing the NFL's settlement of a lawsuit in which thousands of former players accused the league of hiding the link between football and brain damage. Stern wrote that the settlement would deny compensation to many deserving players, including some of the most severely disabled. Former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland said a phone consultation with Stern in March sealed his decision to retire after his rookie season because of concerns about getting brain disease. Stern warned Borland that he might already have brain damage but also cautioned that the science was still in its infancy. " I am a scientist, first and foremost," said Stern, who referred all questions about the project's funding to the NIH. "And as a scientist I have always and will always conduct research with complete impartiality. If I say things about the NFL or others that may sound negative, that has nothing to do with the impartiality of my science."Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist affiliated with Boston University and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, recently received a $6 million grant that came through the NFL's 2012 donation to the NIH. McKee, like Stern, at times has criticized the league and has warned that the number of players with CTE is likely to be high. Why the NFL, which has faced long-standing questions about its involvement in the science of concussions, would fund a project headed by McKee -- and not one led by Stern -- was not clear. From 2003 to 2009, the NFL published its own research denying that football players get brain damage; much of that research was later discredited. But since then, the NFL has poured tens of millions of dollars into concussion research, allowing the league to maintain a powerful role on an issue that directly threatens its future. Some neuroscientists believe the league uses its money and influence to reward researchers who focus primarily on issues such as safety, equipment and proper tackling."Up until now they have controlled every dollar that they have spent on this issue," said Eric Nauman, a professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at Purdue University. Research -- published without the NFL's support -- by Nauman and his colleague, Thomas Talavage, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and of biomedical engineering at Purdue, has shown that repetitive head trauma from football leads to dramatic changes in brain chemistry. "There was no way they were going to just give that money to the NIH and say, 'Do whatever you want,'" Nauman said.The Boston University-led study involves 50 researchers at 17 institutions and hundreds of former NFL and college players who will participate as subjects. The study seeks to detect, define and measure the progression of CTE, which can only be diagnosed after death and has been found in 87 former NFL players over the last 10 years. Ultimately, a test for living patients could go a long way to answering one of the most fundamental -- and yet elusive -- questions: What percentage of players are likely to get brain disease from playing football? "We view this study as the primary study in the world, as far as we know, specifically addressing methods of diagnosing CTE during life," Stern said. The NFL's $30 million grant -- its largest single donation -- is administered by the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH), a nonprofit organization that solicits donations for NIH research. Koroshetz said he had asked FNIH since May whether the NFL would fund the project but never received a commitment. There has been no indication that the league is walking away from its original donation. Koroshetz said he was never told directly that the NFL was refusing to support the CTE study. "No one has ever said that to me: 'The NFL said no,'" he said. "They're their own organization. They have committed $30 million; I am hopeful they stick to their commitment. If they don't, then I'll be upset." On "60 Minutes" last month, commissioner Goodell was asked if NFL-funded research may be "sowing the seeds of your own destruction." "No, we want facts," Goodell replied. "The facts will help us develop better solutions. And that's why we're advancing medical research. That's why we're funding directly to Boston University on some of this research." The funding issue coincides with the release this week of a new film, "Concussion," starring Will Smith, about the NFL's attempts to silence Dr. Bennet Omalu, who discovered the first case of brain damage in a former NFL player while working as a Pittsburgh coroner in 2005. The Boston University study announced Tuesday originated with a July 2014 NIH request for applications, or RFA. It advised applicants that any publication of the results would require acknowledgement of the Sports Health Research Program, which the FNIH website describes as an "innovative partnership among the National Football League, the NIH and FNIH" launched in 2012. In the spring, the NIH notified Stern and Boston University that their research group had won the research grant following a "scientific merit review" and a separate review by an NIH advisory council. The other principal investigators are Dr. Jeffrey Cummings, director of the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health; Dr. Eric Reiman, executive director of the Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix; and Martha Shenton, a Harvard University professor of psychiatry and radiology and director of the Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory at Brigham & Women's Hospital. "There really is an urgent need to get more information about the clinical features and clinical course of CTE," Reiman told Outside the Lines. He added that the information is needed not only to help "affected players or the at-risk players who are vulnerable. It's everybody -- every parent, every child. We can't get that information fast enough." Shenton agreed. "We don't know enough, and if we want to be able to prevent a further cascade of progressive changes, we need to know what's going on now and need to understand who's more at risk," she said. espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/14417386/nfl-pulls-funding-boston-university-head-trauma-study-concerns-researcher
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 1, 2016 7:42:54 GMT -6
^ I am interested where the NHL would fare against the NFL with regards to concussions. They have been becoming a regular occurance in the NHL and several high profile cases of players committing suicide as a result of them and many other players ending careers early or just dealing with the effects of concussions in a high profile way. NHL has a big problem with concussions as well. Some NHL concussion data from 1997 to 2004 www.ctvnews.ca/w5/concussions-in-the-nhl-by-the-numbers-1.2680486
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 1, 2016 7:45:40 GMT -6
NFL to study why diagnosed concussions rose significantly in '15Diagnosed concussions rose by nearly 32 percent in the NFL this season, according to data released Friday by the league.The 2015 total was 271, a figure that includes all preseason and regular-season games as well as all practices since the start of training camp. The league had previously boasted of a decrease in reported concussions in both 2014 (206) and 2013 (229), a drop the league attributed to an enhanced concussion protocol it implemented after the 2012 season. There had been 261 concussions in 2012.The NFL says reported concussions in regular-season games rose 58 percent from 2014 to 2015 -- the highest number (182) in any of the past four years. Of the 271 concussions in 2015, 234 occurred in games and 37 in practice. The report, conducted by Quintiles Injury Surveillance and Analytics, listed the following as the most common causes during regular-season games: Contact with another helmet (92)
Contact with the playing surface (29)
Contact with a shoulder (23)Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president of health and safety policy, said during a conference call the league will study what might have caused the incidence of head injuries to rise so much this season. Among the possible explanations Miller mentioned were a doubling in the number of players screened for possible concussions, "unprecedented levels of players reporting signs and signals of concussions," and the fact that trainers who work as spotters or independent neurologists on sidelines "are much more actively participating in identifying this injury." Rather than a discussion about the possibility that there were simply more concussions this season and what could have led to that, the emphasis during Friday's call was on what the league and doctors touted as more efficient identification of head injuries during games. "I see coaches report players and pull them out of the game. I see players report themselves. I see players report each other," said Richard Ellenbogen, co-chairman of the NFL's head, neck and spine committee. "Clearly," Ellenbogen added, "we've lowered the threshold for diagnosing concussion, for pulling players out and evaluating them." Meanwhile, the league also reported an increase in knee injuries to the ACL and MCL. According to the data, ACL injuries rose from 49 last season to 56 in 2015 but were still lower than the 62 from 2013. There were 170 MCL injuries in 2015, up from 139 last season, 136 in 2013 and 132 in 2012. espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14672860/nfl-says-diagnosed-concussions-way-season
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 1, 2016 8:00:01 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 4, 2016 1:19:36 GMT -6
Another CTE case, another reason football needs dramatic changeDeep down we all wanted to be Kenny Stabler, right? We all wanted to play quarterback with flowing, rock-star hair, studying the playbook by a jukebox's light when we weren't shooting pool and knocking down a cold one with an adoring blonde nearby. We all wanted to be the Snake, the boys-turned-middle-aged-men of my generation, because he was the ultimate rebel among Oakland Raiders rebels and because he played the sport with the same amount of restraint defining his off-the-field life. That is to say, none. Former NFL quarterback Ken Stabler had CTE when he died in 2015, the doctor who examined his brain told ESPN's Outside The Lines.The game was never going to catch up to the Snake, not after his junior-high coach gave him the nickname for his ability to zig when the bad guys zagged. Despite bum knees and the body of a man who too often called it quits at sunrise, and who once wrote he needed "the diversions of whiskey and women" to survive training camp, Stabler always knew how to escape. Bigger, faster defenders would close hard on him, and the Snake would somehow emerge from a raging pile of humanity and sling it left-handed with hardly a care in the world. But as it turns out, the game of football ultimately runs down and corners everyone. Stabler might be inducted posthumously into the Hall of Fame on Saturday, and if his legacy makes the journey to Canton, it will do so with the letters CTE attached. Stabler is the most recent deceased NFL player found to have suffered from the progressive degenerative brain disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy. He died of colon cancer in July at age 69, and his family donated his brain and spinal cord to Boston University's CTE Center; Stabler was among the players who had sued the NFL over the occupational hazard that is head trauma. The results surprised no football player or fan who followed the case of Frank Gifford, or knew of the suicides of Junior Seau and Andre Waters and Dave Duerson, or read about the accidental pain-medication overdose of Tyler Sash, who died with CTE at age 27 despite appearing in only 27 regular-season and postseason NFL games, and never as a starter. A study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University determined in September that 87 of 91 deceased players tested had CTE. Bennet Omalu, the groundbreaking doctor played by Will Smith in the film "Concussion," estimated that more than 90 percent of all NFL players have CTE. "The game is not safe," Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson said by phone, "and there's no way around it. You only have one brain. If you injure it, you can't get replacement surgery for your brain like you can for your knee or shoulder."Carson already has informed his daughter and son-in-law that his 6-year-old grandson is not allowed to play football. "My daughter is afraid to go see 'Concussion,'" the former New York Giant said, "because she fears her father might end up like those guys who committed suicide. But I've assured her I've already gone through that period in my life." Carson was speaking before the Stabler news broke and relaying the story that he practically jumped for joy when his younger son once failed a physical in his attempt to try out for the Auburn football team. There's something terribly wrong when a Hall of Famer celebrates his son's failed bid to play at the major college level and forbids his grandson from even trying to find a little joy on a Pop Warner field. That's why dramatic change is needed from the lowest participation level on up in order to save football from itself. To reduce the number of blows absorbed by developing brains, a reasonable plan enacted by reasonable guardians would go something like this: Outlaw tackling through eighth grade coast to coast. (Plenty of boys can have plenty of fun learning the game through the rules of flag football.) Spend freshman year in high school in full pads for practice-only drilling on the fundamentals of blocking and tackling conducted by coaches with proper training. Spend sophomore through senior years in full-contact junior varsity and varsity games and practices, giving players three years to attract interest from college programs if they so desire. Although he didn't offer his official endorsement of such a plan, Carson did point out that the Sash case should enlighten those focused on the biggest names in the CTE crisis. "He only played two years in the NFL with the Giants," Carson said, "but he did play 16 years overall. CTE is not an NFL problem. CTE is a football problem."Still, Roger Goodell's NFL has to do more than throw $1 billion at the thousands of players who have sued over head trauma and deserve a bigger cut. The league has to dedicate even more time, energy and money on helmet technology and player safety, and add to its enhanced concussion protocol a provision that a concussed player must miss at least two full games before returning to action. Carson's own story explains why. He was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome in 1990 after suffering what he estimates to be 12 to 18 concussions over his 13-year career, and he believes his brain injuries contributed to memory loss, communication issues and a bout with depression that one day -- during the prime of his Giants career -- nearly compelled him to drive his car off New York's Tappan Zee Bridge before thoughts of his daughter stopped Carson from harming himself. One former teammate with neurological issues called Carson to discuss his darkest thoughts, then sent him a follow-up text thanking the linebacker for saving his life. A fellow Hall of Famer called around Christmastime to say that he'd been diagnosed with a neurological disorder and that he considered Omalu a hero.Carson also spoke with the son of the legendary defensive back Dick "Night Train" Lane, who died of a heart attack at age 74 in 2002, the same year Omalu began the examination of Mike Webster's brain that led to the discovery of CTE. Richard Lane said by phone Tuesday that he has no doubt his father had CTE in the final years of his life in Austin, where surgeons operated on what was described as fluid on the brain. "He couldn't bathe or clothe himself," said Richard Lane, a Catholic evangelist and motivational speaker, "and he had a hard time remembering his grandkids' names. I had to take the car keys away from him. I remember getting a call in the middle of the night from the Austin police department that Dad was at a Denny's with no idea of who he was or where he lived. "He suffered a lot and really lost all of his dignity. We went to the NFL [Alumni] Dire Need Fund; Dad was broke ... and they wouldn't help at all. He only got a $695-a-month pension from the NFL. It really pissed me off beyond belief, and what really gets me worse is that there are still guys out there freakin' suffering, and the NFL is putting a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. My dad sacrificed his life and his family just so he could be Dick "Night Train" Lane, because he loved the game of pro football, and the game screwed us over." Lane is hardly the only family member of a fallen football star who feels that way, and Carson does what he can to reassure those who feel aggrieved. He speaks loudly on brain-damage issues without any financial incentive; he didn't join the lawsuit against the NFL because he wanted people to know this wasn't a personal money play. "I know the league wants me to go somewhere, sit down and shut the f--- up about this," Carson said. "But I can't do that." Although he prefers it when people don't describe him as a sufferer and instead point out he's managed his life with post-concussion syndrome quite nicely, Carson has decided his charmed football career wasn't worth it. "If I had to do it all over again," he said, "I wouldn't. I would fly planes in the military, my true calling." Meanwhile, a quarterback who might join Carson in the Hall of Fame this weekend is no longer around to say whether he shared the linebacker's sentiment. Like the star who preceded him at Alabama, Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler was what every man wanted to be -- cool, fearless and elusive when necessary. The Snake would never let his fellow Raiders see him treating his injuries in the trainer's room. But in the end, the unforgiving game of professional football caught up to him just like it catches up to everyone else. And now that game needs an overhaul from the bottom floor up. espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14701874/kenny-stabler-cte-diagnosis-why-football-needs-dramatic-change-nfl
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 8, 2016 0:23:30 GMT -6
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 8, 2016 2:06:52 GMT -6
Former LB Bill Romanowski: Most NFL players likely have CTEBill Romanowski sustained 20 documented concussions, and certainly more he doesn't know about, during his 16-year NFL career as a linebacker. He was hardly surprised to learn this week that late Raiders quarterback and Hall of Fame finalist Ken Stabler had been diagnosed with the brain disease CTE. "I pretty much assumed that was the case. More and more I realize that pretty much all of us football players who have had a lot of collisions probably have CTE," Romanowski told The Associated Press on Friday. "That's a reality. And now, it's what do we do with that? We can be like some players and maybe be in denial or we can take the bull by the horns and go after it. That's what I do." Boston University researchers said Wednesday that Stabler had Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy and the disease was widespread throughout his brain. Stabler died of colon cancer in July at age 69. Romanowski, now 49, has taken numerous proactive steps he hopes will help him combat any potential issues. That included two stints of 40 treatments in a hyperbaric chamber. The Mayo Clinic says hyperbaric oxygen therapy — the breathing of pure oxygen in a pressurized room or tube — is a therapy used for "serious infections, bubbles of air in your blood vessels, and wounds that won't heal as a result of diabetes or radiation injury." He still goes in the hyperbaric chamber once a month and expects to do so the rest of his life. Romanowski also takes what he calls a "brain focus product" and turmeric, drinks two gallons of water a day, takes "massive amounts of enzymes" and exercises daily. He also gets vitamin and mineral IVs. "I feel like I'm doing almost everything I can," he said. "So, now, CTE, how does it affect a healthy brain? I try to do whatever I can do. I don't know if there's anybody in the country that is taking care of themselves the way I am. So, if I start noticing a decline in certain areas, well, guess what? I will search out more experts in the brain and take it upon myself to get more aggressive in my treatment." Romanowski attended a private screening of the "Concussion" movie in mid-December in nearby Redwood City and said it was difficult to watch. lasvegassun.com/news/2016/feb/06/former-lb-bill-romanowski-most-nfl-players-likely/
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Post by mikecubs on Feb 10, 2016 0:51:32 GMT -6
Super Bowl week highlights NFL's health crisisThe morning after Roger Goodell stood below the winners' Super Bowl stage, hugging members of Peyton Manning's family as the confetti swirled around him, the commissioner stepped to a microphone and proudly declared his belief that the weeklong event in the Bay Area had been a smash hit. Better yet, Goodell added, football fans everywhere seemed to agree with him. "We've had initial reactions on the ratings," he said of the Denver Broncos' victory over the Carolina Panthers, "and they are competitive, at least, if not the most-watched television show in history. It will be very close. When we add in the digital platforms that we are now working so closely with, I clearly believe this will be the most-watched Super Bowl in history." If this was Goodell's idea of an end zone dance in place of the one Cam Newton didn't get to perform, well, the commissioner made his point. You could almost hear a little voice in the back of his head saying something along these lines: You can mock me in your tweets and shred me in your commentaries, and paint my league as a heartless place where healthy brains go to die, and none of it will matter. People still crave my product, and that's never going to change. And you know what? Maybe it never will change in this lifetime, or in the next one, or in the one after that. Maybe there always will be enough men, women and children hopelessly devoted to the RedZone channel to sustain the National Football League as America's pastime. But that's not the smart way to bet. If anything, beyond Manning's almost certain farewell, the week that was in the NFL will be remembered as the time it became clear this game needs a surgeon general's warning attached to it.Where to begin? In the wake of news that reported concussions suffered in regular-season games rose 58 percent from 2014, ESPN's Outside the Lines and The New York Times reported that a Boston University doctor found CTE in the brain of the late, great Kenny Stabler. Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson told ESPN.com that he won't let his grandson play football, that head trauma nearly compelled him to commit suicide in his playing days, that he'd never play football if he had to do it all over again, and that the NFL wants him to "shut the f--- up" about concussions. The son of legendary Dick "Night Train" Lane told ESPN.com he believed that his father suffered from CTE-related disorders before his 2002 death, that the league "screwed us over" when Lane sought financial assistance and that the NFL is "putting a Band-Aid over a gaping wound" when it comes to caring for its neurologically altered retirees. The great Joe Montana described himself as a physical wreck in USA TODAY. The family of Earl Morrall told The New York Times that the former quarterback was found to have had Stage 4 CTE after his 2014 death. Chris Nowinski, co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, showed up uninvited at the Super Bowl health and safety media conference last week and likened the NFL's support of tackle football at the youth level to "big tobacco teaching kids how to smoke." The following day, Goodell was nearing the end of his annual state-of-the-league media conference when asked if the deaths of seven high school players last season from game or practice injuries had made him uncomfortable marketing tackle football to kids. Goodell spoke of the emphasis on proper technique promoted by USA Football and the Heads Up Football program, and of NFL rule changes designed to enhance player safety, when he suddenly ran himself into a problem, a big one. "There's risks in life," the commissioner said. "There's risks in sitting on the couch." Instead of explaining there are risks associated with many activities, and that parents and children need to weigh those risks against the rewards of engaging in many activities, and that the NFL will remain 100 percent committed to reducing football risks to kids for as long as it's in business, Goodell said what he said. Among his weaknesses, Goodell is not an artful public speaker. He comes across as robotic and rehearsed, and all the coaching his publicists do to prepare him for press conferences can't control the outcome. He committed an unforced error, because that's what poor public speakers do, and of course he got hammered for it. "I am #blessed to survive a night on the couch," one of his very own players, Chris Long of the Los Angeles Rams, tweeted after watching the Super Bowl. "But I knew the risks." On the same day Goodell made his mess, New York Giants owner John Mara, one of the league's most respected guardians, took on Nowinski and yet spoke passionately and humanely about the concussion crisis, swearing he cares deeply for the safety of the young men who have worked in the Mara family business since 1925. Had Mara been commissioner, he never would've said what Goodell said about that damn couch. But in the end, maybe it's a good thing the commissioner unwittingly breathed new and necessary life into the question of what football does to a man's (or boy's) brain and body. At 39, Manning already knows he'll someday need a hip replacement surgery, and possibly more neck surgeries. If you needed reminders of how violent the game can be, Luke Kuechly gave it to you with that hit on Demaryius Thomas, and Thomas Davis gave it to you with that Instagram photo of the surgical scar on his broken arm that looked like the laces on a football, only longer and far more grotesque. Chris Borland isn't the only young NFL player to walk away from this, and there will be plenty more. On the day Borland retired, Wesley Walker, a former Pro Bowl receiver for the New York Jets, told ESPN.com he admired the 49ers linebacker for making a decision he'd never made despite living a life of constant pain from the countless football-related injuries and surgeries that left him praying for relief in the dead of night. " If I had to do it all over again," Walker said that day, "and I knew I'd end up in the amount of pain I'm always in, there's no way in hell I'd play football again. ... I could never see myself hurting myself, but there have been times when I've thought, 'God, I wish you'd just end this right now.'"Roger Goodell is a good friend of mine. But I want the NFL to tell the truth about what's happening with players, and I think they sugarcoat everything."The time for sugarcoating is finally over in this $12 billion-and-counting industry. Between today and opening night in September, Goodell should spend every waking minute on this issue, and not on what defines a catch. He should first admit to the league's past mistakes in denying a link between football and brain disease, and then pledge to commit every available penny of research funding to truly independent doctors and scientists, not to those league-friendly types inclined to give the home team a favorable call or three. Goodell then should support a nationwide mandate to ban tackle football through eighth grade and support a call for high schools to limit freshman participation to practice-only contact supervised by coaches trained to teach the safest blocking and tackling techniques. Why not be the first NFL commissioner to actively campaign for the reduction of hundreds of hits to the average developing player's head? Would such a dramatic position save an already tattered Goodell legacy, especially when some owners might prefer he merely pay lip service to the cause of player safety, take the public hits they don't have to take, and just keep those revenues and ratings soaring? It would be a risk for sure. Then again, there are always risks to take in life. On the couch, or behind a commissioner's desk. espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14744263/nfl-come-warning-label
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