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Frontline: 87 of 91 deceased NFL players' brains showed CTE

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by LongTimeListener, Sep 18, 2015.

  1. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    New: 87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease – Concussion Watch - FRONTLINE

    It was also found in 44 of the 74 donors who played football (HS, college, semi-pro) but not in the NFL.

    Important new information, or more of the same? To me it's good to see the numbers and it sounds pretty shocking, but then again one of the main points of contention that caused ESPN to cave on the documentary was the researcher's statement that she thinks every NFL player has it.
     
    LongTimeListener, Sep 18, 2015
    #1
  2. SnarkShark

    SnarkShark Well-Known Member

    It's important. I thought the ratio would be high, but not that high.
     
    SnarkShark, Sep 21, 2015
    #2
  3. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    I bet kickers and punters throw the CTE stats off a bit. But they seem to be head cases anyway.
     
    Vombatus, Sep 21, 2015
    #3
  4. heyabbott

    heyabbott Well-Known Member

    What percentage of men who died at similar ages but did not play football had that brain disease?
     
    heyabbott, Sep 21, 2015
    #4
  5. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    That is what I was wondering reading that. Also, what is the prevalence of CTE in the general population of men? Those numbers sound shocking -- and maybe football is brutally bad for you -- but without putting it into the context of how prevalent CTE is among everyone (not just football players), you can't begin to know just how dangerous playing football specifically is, relative to all the other things men in the aggregate do throughout their lifetime that might cause the same thing. I have never seen anything putting it in that kind of perspective. Do they know that?
     
    The Big Ragu, Sep 21, 2015
    #5
  6. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    They don't have those numbers.
     
    doctorquant, Sep 21, 2015
    #6
  7. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Doesn't fit the narrative.
     
    Armchair_QB, Sep 21, 2015
    #7
  8. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    The skeptic in me says there are a lot more than 91 deceased NFL players, so how did they choose those 91?
     
    old_tony, Sep 21, 2015
    #8
  9. SnarkShark

    SnarkShark Well-Known Member

    That's the number of people who volunteered to have their brains examined.
     
    SnarkShark, Sep 21, 2015
    #9
  10. SnarkShark

    SnarkShark Well-Known Member

    Yes. There should be a control group, for sure. But the gap between those playing in the NFL and just playing football in college or high school is pretty telling.
     
    SnarkShark, Sep 21, 2015
    #10
  11. murphyc

    murphyc Well-Known Member

    Good information to get out there and hopefully this will continue conversations about safety and injuries. But this part from the article makes me question just how widespread the problem really is.
     
    murphyc, Sep 21, 2015
    #11
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