Dr. Bennet Omalu: CTE obsession obscuring the truth.

[Beast]

 

He has a point and his post was reasonable.

 

Consider mellowing out.

 

No, he really doesn't. Plain and simple, we are speaking about after the dangers are known. I'm pretty sure most everyone understands that.

 

Most everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2017 by Binghamton Beast

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

NFL great Jim Plunkett says 'My life sucks' at 69

 

Jim Plunkett, a former Super Bowl MVP, is the latest former NFL player to detail a life of crippling pain and misery.

 

“My life sucks,” Plunkett told the San Jose Mercury News. “It’s no fun being in this body right now. Everything hurts.”

 

Now 69, Plunkett led the Raiders to two Super Bowls after a storied career at Stanford, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1970.

 

The report said Plunkett has endured 18 operations and lives with artificial knees, an artificial shoulder and debilitating pain in his surgically repaired back.

Plunkett played 15 seasons in the NFL and estimates he suffered at least 10 concussions from the time he started playing football. He's also dealing with headaches, possibly related to Bell’s Palsy which he contracted a year ago, the Mercury News said.

 

After watching so many former teammates and contemporaries suffer and die young, Plunkett says it's time for the NFL “to help take care of these people.”

Edited August 5, 2017 by OldTimeAFLGuy

[dubs]

I think the another real problem with this issue is more with how every issue is portrayed in our 'immediacy' and 'litigious' culture. Combine that with the SJW world we live in and entitlement and you have a perfect storm of bad reactions.

 

There is absolutely a need for more research on this topic. I think it makes sense to have more of a safety net for older players who played at a time when the risks were less know or maybe more concealed, and they were compensated at a far lower rate. But for contemporary players, forget about it. At this point, they know there is some risk, so they can at least make a little bit more of an informed decision. They are also compensated at a much higher rate than players from decades ago.

 

Additionally, it makes a ton of sense to try and improve th game and the equipment to try and reduce the risks.

Edited August 5, 2017 by dubs

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

I think the another real problem with this issue is more with how every issue is portrayed in our 'immediacy' and 'litigious' culture. Combine that with the SJW world we live in and entitlement and you have a perfect storm of bad reactions.

 

There is absolutely a need for more research on this topic. I think it makes sense to have more of a safety net for older players who played at a time when the risks were less know or maybe more concealed, and they were compensated at a far lower rate. But for contemporary players, forget about it. At this point, they know there is some risk, so they can at least make a little bit more of an informed decision. They are also compensated at a much higher rate than players from decades ago.

 

Additionally, it makes a ton of sense to try and improve th game and the equipment to try and reduce the risks.

 

....all great points.....and the oldtimers who paved the way are broke at the curb.....remembered reading about Dobler...here are some excerpts.....

 

“I’m thankful I got out the way I did,” Jeff Nixon said. “I look at a guy like Conrad Dobler. I used to watch him with those scarred knees, and he’d still be out there doing it. What a leader. He is the poster child for what’s wrong.”

 

Dobler was renowned as the meanest, dirtiest player in the game. Now he can barely walk after more than two dozen knee surgeries. His right knee will probably need to be amputated one day.

He can’t use a cane because his shoulders are too messed up. He’s the primary caregiver to his paraplegic wife. He’s broke, addicted to painkillers and can’t get disability insurance.

 

His story made HBO’s “Real Sports.” Golfer Phil Mickelson saw it and offered to put Dobler’s two youngest daughters through college.

 

If only today’s NFL players felt that sense of obligation.

 

Let them eat cake. Let them eat caps.

 

Either way, you can’t blame the old guys for being completely fed up.

[boyst]

 

 

 

 

 

He has a point and his post was reasonable.

 

Consider mellowing out.

no he doesn't.

NFL great Jim Plunkett says 'My life sucks' at 69

 

Jim Plunkett, a former Super Bowl MVP, is the latest former NFL player to detail a life of crippling pain and misery.

 

“My life sucks,” Plunkett told the San Jose Mercury News. “It’s no fun being in this body right now. Everything hurts.”

 

Now 69, Plunkett led the Raiders to two Super Bowls after a storied career at Stanford, where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1970.

 

The report said Plunkett has endured 18 operations and lives with artificial knees, an artificial shoulder and debilitating pain in his surgically repaired back.

Plunkett played 15 seasons in the NFL and estimates he suffered at least 10 concussions from the time he started playing football. He's also dealing with headaches, possibly related to Bell’s Palsy which he contracted a year ago, the Mercury News said.

 

After watching so many former teammates and contemporaries suffer and die young, Plunkett says it's time for the NFL “to help take care of these people.”

jim plunkett may have mental health issues, he may just have made poor choices, or he may have an issue that he is no longer rich, famous, or a celebrity.

 

so, i don't care that jim plunkett is sad.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

no he doesn't.

jim plunkett may have mental health issues, he may just have made poor choices, or he may have an issue that he is no longer rich, famous, or a celebrity.

 

so, i don't care that jim plunkett is sad.

 

....how noble......he probably won't read your post either...oh well................

[Punching Bag]

I have a different issue with the direction that CTE "research" is taking. This study is of 202 brains of football players at any level, with 111 being of NFL players (I don't have the article in front of me, so the numbers may be off). So, we know they're all dead. We also know that they likely had some signs or symptoms that led them to donate their brains in the first place. The likelihood of finding CTE is therefore already very high. No research is being reported, to the best of my knowledge, that actually looks at the incidence of this in other settings. There is no comparison to a control in these studies. They are all descriptive studies, and yet they are using these studies to ascribe risk. I'm not so naïve as to think hitting your head doesn't cause damage, so I'm sure there is risk associated with playing football and other contact sports. I just think that the way the research on CTE is being reported in the media for all to draw their own conclusions is poor form. The scientists doing the research and reporting results through the media should know better, IMO.

 

Agree completely. The data is being cooked to try to get more funding.

[boyst]

 

....how noble......he probably won't read your post either...oh well................

yep.

 

and i'm 100% ok with that.

 

i care about him and his sadness as much as he cares about me and my life.

 

i accept responsibility for reasons in my life that my life sucks.

 

plunkett shoudl too

[iinii]

Maybe like with tobacco use, there should be a warning label type of thing. Make PSA type commercials mandatory during games, say twice a half, of Plunkett, Bounicotti, Dorset and other greats who can no longer care for themselves thanks to Football. Full disclosure, make sure the kids have all the facts before they start buying lottery tickets, because that giant steaming pile of elephant dung about Football lifting people out of poverty, while true, is so misleading as to be comical.

[boyst]

Maybe like with tobacco use, there should be a warning label type of thing. Make PSA type commercials mandatory during games, say twice a half, of Plunkett, Bounicotti, Dorset and other greats who can no longer care for themselves thanks to Football. Full disclosure, make sure the kids have all the facts before they start buying lottery tickets, because that giant steaming pile of elephant dung about Football lifting people out of poverty, while true, is so misleading as to be comical.

we have no definitive proof that cte is caused by football.

 

a psa about something with no conclusive proof.

 

this is a money grab just as much as climate change.

[Dr.Sack]

we have no definitive proof that cte is caused by football.

 

a psa about something with no conclusive proof.

 

this is a money grab just as much as climate change.

Newsflash Sherlock, the science is closed on CTE - chronic repeated brain injury.

[gobillsatthebeach]

Based on the comments, my guess is that many on this board are in their 20's and 30's. The decisions we make in our 20's are not the same as those we would make later in life. So many athletes who come from nothing or middle-class lifestyles and blow away the odds with the rarest of opportunities at making millions of dollars, often can't fully comprehend the risk they are about to take. At that age, we rarely look at the consequences. Look at our diets, our actions...What is the average age of the people in the tailgate videos doing crazy things?

 

Compound all of that with a one-time life changing opportunity that can set you and your family up for life? The average middle-class person with average athletic ability can't truly comprehend that choice without ever having a chance to experience it.

 

Look at those affected with the symptoms who said that they wouldn't let their kids play. We can't just say, "it's their choice, they know the risks", it's much more complicated.

Edited August 5, 2017 by gobillsatthebeach

[dubs]

Based on the comments, my guess is that many on this board are in their 20's and 30's. The decisions we make in our 20's are not the same as those we would make later in life. So many athletes who come from nothing or middle-class lifestyles and blow away the odds with the rarest of opportunities at making millions of dollars, often can't fully comprehend the risk they are about to take. At that age, we rarely look at the consequences. Look at our diets, our actions...What is the average age of the people in the tailgate videos doing crazy things?

 

Compound all of that with a one-time life changing opportunity that can set you and your family up for life? The average middle-class person with average athletic ability can't truly comprehend that choice without ever having a chance to experience it.

 

Look at those affected with the symptoms who said that they wouldn't let their kids play. We can't just say, "it's their choice, they know the risks", it's much more complicated.

It's called life. We can't bubble wrap everyone into a narrow set of choices. People make decisions and live with the consequences.

 

The risks are known or at least suspected.

[MPT]

This is getting as bad as the tobacco issue.

 

Quite frankly, if people want to smoke or play football, all the more power to them. Everyone knows the risks.

 

I'm a firm believer in personal choice.

I agree with your assertion about personal choice, but the problem is that people didn't know the risks in either situation, and those who should have been responsible for disclosing said risks actually covered them up and declared their product safe when they had evidence to the contrary.

[MPT]

we have no definitive proof that cte is caused by football.

 

a psa about something with no conclusive proof.

 

this is a money grab just as much as climate change.

Derp.

[boyst]

Derp.

is that you mr derp? It's me, mr hand

Newsflash Sherlock, the science is closed on CTE - chronic repeated brain injury.

I must have missed that and Why It's my problem or Yours or gooddells. Or Why football is so special. Or that it has to be from hard impacts. Why it can't be bumping your head on the headboard or the car.

 

Sooo yawn. It's not over. Nothings over.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

Based on the comments, my guess is that many on this board are in their 20's and 30's. The decisions we make in our 20's are not the same as those we would make later in life. So many athletes who come from nothing or middle-class lifestyles and blow away the odds with the rarest of opportunities at making millions of dollars, often can't fully comprehend the risk they are about to take. At that age, we rarely look at the consequences. Look at our diets, our actions...What is the average age of the people in the tailgate videos doing crazy things?

 

Compound all of that with a one-time life changing opportunity that can set you and your family up for life? The average middle-class person with average athletic ability can't truly comprehend that choice without ever having a chance to experience it.

 

Look at those affected with the symptoms who said that they wouldn't let their kids play. We can't just say, "it's their choice, they know the risks", it's much more complicated.

 

....EXCELLENT assessment.....look at the early years....NOTHING was known nor was consideration given to CTE.....Billy Shaw took time off from his cement mixing job to come play for Buffalo at a whopping 18 grand a year and went back home to mixing cement......didn't retire until age 66 when SS kicked in because NFL pension was squat.....fast forward to current game....20 somethings looking at MILLIONS a year, Ferraris, Lambos, 10000 sq foot cribs and you think risk is THE first thing on their mind?......many of them grew up with nothing in a single family household and immediately go buy Mom a new house as an admirable thanks for her support....the money lure is way too huge.......even though there is a LONG list of afflicted, addicted,crippled, etc NFL old time warriors that paved the way for today's game and get squat for pensions/assistance because of modern day greed, majority now are willing to roll the risk dice for huge payoffs ..nature of the beast or "risk/reward" IMO....

Edited August 5, 2017 by OldTimeAFLGuy

[DriveFor1Outta5]

yep.

 

and i'm 100% ok with that.

 

i care about him and his sadness as much as he cares about me and my life.

 

i accept responsibility for reasons in my life that my life sucks.

 

plunkett shoudl too

There is a great irony in these guys complaining about their health concerns to the media. They are basically saying that football ruined their lives. The same lives that the media wouldn't care if they didn't play football.

[transient]

Newsflash Sherlock, the science is closed on CTE - chronic repeated brain injury.

 

Ok, chronic repeated head injury... in whom? Is there a subset of people who are predisposed to this who should, therefore, avoid contact sports, or does everyone get it who has chronic repeated head trauma? Is it a consequence of continuing to return to play too soon from prior symptomatic head injuries, or a cumulative effect of each little blow, whether or not someone has symptoms from it? Is there a specific type of head injury that predisposes someone more than others? Would this process have proceeded regardless of profession? Did the chosen profession result in more profound symptoms and earlier onset? Is the profession entirely to blame? There have been thousands of football players over the years, so why aren't they all affected? Are they all affected? How can they say Rick Martin had CTE by examining his brain when by all accounts he showed no clinical signs of encephalopathy and died of a heart attack? Can someone really have CTE without symptoms? If anatomic changes without symptoms are enough to diagnose someone with CTE, what good is the diagnosis? I hit my head numerous times in numerous ways since birth.. am I affected?

 

They have barely scratched the surface, regardless of how much certainty the media coverage would have you believe exists, but good to know that you believe the book is closed on CTE, Dr. Sack. I'm going to assume your name is a reference to Leon Seals...

[DriveFor1Outta5]

 

....EXCELLENT assessment.....look at the early years....NOTHING was known nor was consideration given to CTE.....Billy Shaw took time off from his cement mixing job to come play for Buffalo at a whopping 18 grand a year and went back home to mixing cement......didn't retire until age 66 when SS kicked in because NFL pension was squat.....fast forward to current game....20 somethings looking at MILLIONS a year, Ferraris, Lambos, 10000 sq foot cribs and you think risk is THE first thing on their mind?......many of them grew up with nothing in a single family household and immediately go buy Mom a new house as an admirable thanks for her support....the money lure is way too huge.......even though there is a LONG list of afflicted, addicted,crippled, etc NFL old time warriors that paved the way for today's game and get squat for pensions/assistance because of modern day greed, majority now are willing to roll the risk dice for huge payoffs ..nature of the beast or "risk/reward" IMO....

What about all the chemicals ingested by factory workers in that era? That cement Billy Shaw mixed was probably destroying his brain too. Guys in the early era of football aren't the only people with diminished health as a result of their career. A great deal of health hazards weren't known until recently.