bbb Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 62 years old. Sounds like he was battling dementia type stuff at least in his 50s, if not earlier: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7839981/police-say-ray-easterling-former-atlanta-falcon-committed-suicide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 62 years old. Sounds like he was battling dementia type stuff at least in his 50s, if not earlier: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7839981/police-say-ray-easterling-former-atlanta-falcon-committed-suicide I'm tired of all these guys blaming the league, we all played the game and anyone with common sense knows banging your head repeatedly is bad. You play this game you know the risks, players need to take responsibilities for themselves. Besides plenty of people get dementia who never played, who's to say if he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 1335084630[/url]' post='2442684']I'm tired of all these guys blaming the league, we all played the game and anyone with common sense knows banging your head repeatedly is bad. You play this game you know the risks, players need to take responsibilities for themselves. Besides plenty of people get dementia who never played, who's to say if he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. If you were In their shoes, I think you would feel differently. Former players are committing suicide. It's hard to judge someone when you've never walked in their shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WickedGame Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I'm tired of all these guys blaming the league, we all played the game and anyone with common sense knows banging your head repeatedly is bad. You play this game you know the risks, players need to take responsibilities for themselves. Besides plenty of people get dementia who never played, who's to say if he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. We know that today. Sure, we call it common sense today, but was our awareness of concussions and their long-term impact so common in the 70s? It's one thing to know banging your head isn't a great idea, it's another to understand the difference between a hard knock and a concussion, or to know what the long-term impact of repeated concussions is. I'm as big an advocate for personal responsibility as anybody, but I also see a need for compassion. A lot of these guys seem to truly be suffering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Back then it was "getting your bell rung." If you were any kind of man you'd walk it off. Now we know better. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I'm tired of all these guys blaming the league, we all played the game and anyone with common sense knows banging your head repeatedly is bad. You play this game you know the risks, players need to take responsibilities for themselves. Besides plenty of people get dementia who never played, who's to say if he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. In the old days the dangers of it weren't at all well known. At least not like today and it wasn't a zillion dollar business (which one would sue), life before the cigarette suits was much less litigious (at least as far as winning against a big corprte entity). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 I'm tired of all these guys blaming the league, we all played the game and anyone with common sense knows banging your head repeatedly is bad. You play this game you know the risks, players need to take responsibilities for themselves. Besides plenty of people get dementia who never played, who's to say if he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. Wow, spoken like compassionate, level-headed non-judgmental knowledgeable barbarian we all know and love. Early-onset dementia (starting in the 30s) is quite rare actually. Back then it was "getting your bell rung." If you were any kind of man you'd walk it off. Now we know better. Yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Back then it was "getting your bell rung." If you were any kind of man you'd walk it off. Now we know better. PTR So how is that the league's fault, if no one knew about it back then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 (edited) I'm tired of all these guys blaming the league, we all played the game and anyone with common sense knows banging your head repeatedly is bad. You play this game you know the risks, players need to take responsibilities for themselves. Besides plenty of people get dementia who never played, who's to say if he wouldn't have gotten it anyway. Yes, plenty of people who've never 'banged' their head get dementia. But we're not talking about simply 'banging' your head. We're talking multiple concussions and the irrefutable link between multiple concussions, brain damage, and a number of related conditions brought upon as a result. From dementia to depression, brain injuries have been associated with a wide variety of severe problems. Some people get Parkinsons who've never boxed. Muhammad Ali's condition is directly related to his boxing career. I'm not disagreeing with your premise that these guys know what they're getting into when they sign on. Nor is the league responsible for their injuries. But for years the league denied any connection between concussions and the brain damage that many former players sustained as a result. At the very least, the league should guarantee the best health care and facilities be made available after their careers are over. The John Mackey case is an embarrassment to the league. And there are many more like him that need the help that the league can easily provide. GO BILLS!!! Edited April 22, 2012 by K-9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Except for kicking and punting, you couldn't pay me enough to play football for a living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Except for kicking and punting, you couldn't pay me enough to play football for a living. You raise a good point. As more and more info becomes available, more and more parents are going to understand the dangers of children suffering even ONE concussion at an early age and the ramifications it may have on brain development. It's just starting to come to the forefront. And there is not a helmet now or one that will ever be invented that can prevent a concussion. Injuries to your scalp and face, yes. But no helmet can stop the brain from moving as a result of impact. Football may very well be a dying sport as less kids play it in years to come. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Who Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 So long as there is a south, there will be football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Drew Brees said the guy should have saved his money and thanked him for what he did to pave the way for his league now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 If you were In their shoes, I think you would feel differently. Former players are committing suicide. It's hard to judge someone when you've never walked in their shoes. did you miss the part about we all played the game, I've been in there shoes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 So how is that the league's fault, if no one knew about it back then? I don't think that he said no one and I don't think that's the inference either. Do a search and I'm quite sure that you'll find medical articles dating back further than the 70's that discussed the dangers of concussions. What I think: Many of these former players would be 'satisfied' if the NFL had made a real effort on their own to help care for former players. The players feel that once their careers were over they were dumped. Minimal insurance coverage for a couple years, very small disability payments etc. There are better helmets out there. Why isn't the NFL spending millions on developing the best protection available? I wonder what the advertising budget is for the NFL network? Until the NFL leads they way in R&D their words ring hollow. Now a question: It would be the end of football as we know it, but why isn't OSHA involved in investigating these 'work place' injuries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 (edited) I have no sympathy for the players. They have rejected safety advances again and again (like the better helmets) because it affects their performance and thus their ability to get paid. Look at the 'bounty' thin happening. The NFLPA isn't protecting the players who were targetted, they're protecting the guys who tried to injure other players. I have a hard time believing the the players back then were 'less greedy', but just didn't have the opportunity to be so. Edited April 22, 2012 by jeremy2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KollegeStudnet Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Easterling's wife finds his body...That's f***ed up I'm all up for players getting help, but I hate reading about how the spouse finds their person dead from suicide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJasper Probincrux III Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 As more and more info becomes available, more and more parents are going to understand the dangers of children suffering even ONE concussion at an early age and the ramifications it may have on brain development...Football may very well be a dying sport as less kids play it in years to come. This. The District I coach at is now tracking concussions as early as Middle School across all sports, including baseline and re-admittance testing. Once parents start getting this kind of data in their hands it's going to be very difficult to ignore. As kids fall out of the sport interest is going to wane. We are at the zenith of football right now. Scoff if you want to but tastes change very quickly. I'll say now that in 15-20 years soccer will have caught up to football. All those suburban kids who clamor to play football now will be getting steered into soccer by parents. It's happening already. We had 50+ kids with concussions at my school alone this year (1300 kids total). The most common occurrences were in football, wrestling, and hockey. I'll tell you one thing. I LOVE football but there's no way in hell I'm letting my boys play the game competitively. Risk/reward is not even close to worth it. There are plenty of other things they can do. Knowing what I know, letting your kids play football is very nearly like letting them box. How many of you would let your 8 year olds box competitively? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Funny you mention boxing at the end, I was just going to say that football could go the way of boxing........Boxing used to be as big as football is today. It'll be just like boxing has traditionally been - only for those way down the economic totem poll, who do see the risk/reward as worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 I was going to try and stay out of this thread, but I just wanted to say something. While these players volunteered to play the game, there is no reason why a multi-billion dollar industry cannot toss a few more scraps to the older players in need. The most rewarding, and sometimes the most difficult, part of my job with the PFRA is to talk to retired players. To see how some of these players have degraded is heartbreaking. I talked to one who degraded so far that all he could do was make unintelligibile noises. Another went from a vibrant, talkative person, so someone who knows that they are suffering and has started to clam up (does not want to let on that he is suffering). The one small bright-spot in talking to him was when he talked about his grandkids who were visiting at the time. It was a phone conversation, but you could just picture him smiling and waving at them while he was talking. His voice changed and you could hear true happiness. This guy might make it into the Hall of Fame, but I wonder how much of the experience he is going to recognize and appreciate. I have talked to his teammates, and they break down when the talk about him and what has happened to him. The list goes on. I am committed to doing what I can to help them. I run the Philadelphia Chapter of the NFL Alumni members and I will have a fundraiser in June. For those who want to help, I appreciate it. For those who don't, that is fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts