It's not dominating news coverage but this might just end up being a really big deal. This story is suggesting that it's at possible that Chris Henry could have gotten brain damage from playing football. The kind of brain damage that was found is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Symptoms of CTE are similar to Alzheimer's with the added bonus of
" CTE carries specific neurobehavioral symptoms, Bailes said — typically, failure at personal and business relationships, use of drugs and alcohol, depression and suicide"
Random thoughts on this:
Chris Henry was a shitty dude most his adult life, this must be somewhat comforting to his family.
He was only 26 years and he was a wide receiver (a relatively low contact position). There are thousands of pro, college and even high school kids who have taken more shots to the head than he has.
How long until professional athletes in trouble with the law are using this as a legal defense? Think Mike Tyson, Oj Simpson, Micheal Vick, Ben Rothlesberger, Tito Ortiz
How bad would the effects of collision sports have to be before we stopped playing them?
The Score reminded me today who else was linked to CTE at the time of his death.....Chris Benoit.
I don't know the legitimacy of these findings but it's not a stretch to think banging your head is bad for your brain. This might end up being a big deal.
Oh Jeebus. When are people going to start taking responsibility for their own actions? As soon as something bad happens people always ask the same two questions:
ReplyDelete1) Who can I blame?
2) Why did they do it?
Even when some people do fully admit to their actions, (think Jeffrey Dahmer), other people need to know why. No one seems to ask why when they win money. Like you said, some people are just assholes.
Dahmer is an extreme example and said with tongue in cheek, but not all people that do things different that you have something wrong with them. Some athletes (read most) just like hitting other people, and that is why they joined a contact sport. Not the other way around.
They are aggressive in nature, this draws them to the sport and makes them "good" at what they do. Most pro athletes have an ego too. Again, I would argue this came first, and not just a result of being a pro athlete.
50 yrs ago people were getting frontal lobotomies for behavioural problems, and when I was a kid there was something called hyperactivity. Neither are around anymore. Mind you we had never heard or post traumatic stress syndrome, nor post concussion syndrome, but they are two perceptible things. Will CTE last?
Where is this going to end up? Authoritarianism? Is this the end of contact sport? Only the ones the public doesn't like. Something like football is too much of an American thread to be pulled out, but something like UFC while highly successful and arguably better run than boxing, is to sports what Heavy Metal was to music in the 80's. People who don't understand it think it is the devil. Americans don't like the devil.
What about soccer? I love to make fun of the drama queens in the worlds biggest sport, especially because they fall down, cry, ask for the magic sponge, hop up, run 80 yards then take a soccer ball kicked at 50 mph and INTENTIONALLY hit it with their head. Race car drivers and pilots experience extreme G-Forces on their body and their brains.
So once again, will this be the end of contact sports? No. Too many people have the desire to play, and to watch. I was once told someone has to throw a punch to start a fight, but I think it's only a fight if you have two willing combatants. "Willing" being the key word.
Nicely done Neil.
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