Gale Sayers has dementia

[Steak Snabler]

Sad but all too common tale:

Vahe Gregorian: Former KU and Chicago Bears great Gale Sayers is battling dementia

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Is there any indication this was football-caused? He didn't play long in the NFL but you have to account for the hits in college and high school too.

 

[QYFW]

Does it matter if there's any indication?

 

[Joe Williams]

Seemed as if every hit he ever took was to his knees.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Always seemed like a genuinely nice man. He also essentially demanded KU hire Mark Mangino. I wish he would have had more say in keeping him.

 

[I Should Coco]

Strong story from the KC Star ... thanks for the link. And one of the doctors in the story is pretty sure football played a role; even though Sayers NFL career was cut short by knee injuries, those 1960s players took so many jarring hits.

 

[poindexter]

He is 73.
Do any non football players have dementia at 73?

 

[Neutral Corner]

Many 73 year olds get cancer. Do those who smoked have a higher chance of cancer?

 

[mateen]

What has got to terrorize retired football players is the seeming randomness and capriciousness of who it hits and who it skips. Take two longtime Minnesota Vikings, who each got law degrees and practiced after playing: Alan Page is 71, recently retired from the Minnesota Supreme Court, and seemingly as sharp as ever, while Fred McNeill died at 63 after a long struggle with dementia.

 

[cisforkoke]

I'm wondering if he was exposed to Smylex gas during that Gotham City festival. He was noticeably absent from the event.

 

[Starman]

What has got to terrorize retired football players is the seeming randomness and capriciousness of who it hits and who it skips. Take two longtime Minnesota Vikings, who each got law degrees and practiced after playing: Alan Page is 71, recently retired from the Minnesota Supreme Court, and seemingly as sharp as ever, while Fred McNeill died at 63 after a long struggle with dementia.

And Page, as a defensive lineman, took a lot of shots to the head.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Charlie Garner is 45.

Charlie Garner's post-football life ruled by fear as his brain fails him