Hruby on former 49er George Visger, and the price his brain paid for football

[Versatile]

Would ESPN do a Red Wings-Maple Leafs Game Day edition?

Would SI?

Given that Sports Illustrated doesn't do themed issues very often and that the Game Day issue is an ESPN The Magazine thing, I would think not.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Would ESPN do a Red Wings-Maple Leafs Game Day edition?

Would SI?

Given that Sports Illustrated doesn't do themed issues very often and that the Game Day issue is an ESPN The Magazine thing, I would think not.

But as I said above, there are reasons for that including access and resources.

Also:

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/41492872/

Hruby is a must-read on this topic.

 

[Boom_70]

There are 5.4 million people with Alzheimers, how can you be sure that his condition was caused by football?

 

[Double Down]

I think that's a legit question in general Boom when we talk about this issue, but if you read this piece it's pretty clear what happened to Visage was not the natural progression of aging, even with the potential for a disease like Alzheimers.

But, as we talk about the issue of football going forward, I think we're going to have to acknowledge that some brains break easier than others. And I don't think any government body is going to be able to say "Football is too dangerous in its current form, therefor we are mandating this change." I think there will be a little too much libertarian in all of us to say grown men cannot decide what risks to take with their own bodies.

We're going to have to find a way to make the game safer. Period. Because its not going away. Maybe that means the no practice contact approach of John Gagliardi (since a lot of doctors believe a series of sub-concussive events cause more damage that the big kill shots you see players getting fined for in the NFL) or maybe it means bigger foam helmets or something else entirely.

Maybe too we'll just look at football like cigarettes in a few years. Ok, we concealed some of its dangers. Here is $2 billion to square up those concerns. Going forward, you will play at your own risk, and sign a series of waivers each step of the way. And that may shrink the pool of athletes a bit, and eliminate it entirely in places of affluence where it's not culturally important, but it's not changing in the Deep South or Texas or Ohio or Pennsylvania any time soon.

 

[Versatile]

Nicholas Cotsonika wrote a great piece about 16 months back on the scientific issues between the concussions-CTE-depression links: http://yhoo.it/12b5Ug7

I very much wish more writers would attempt to learn the science behind the issue before vaulting to the moral high ground.

 

[Azrael]

One of the clues to football's impact on the brain would be the rate at which dementia occurs in former players, versus the rate in non-players.

According to this study, from the ages of 30 to 49, that rate is 19 times higher than the general population.

www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Lots of variables. Lots more peer-reviewed science to be devised. Lots more testing to be done.

Still. Arguing that Visger's specific case isn't intimately bound up with football would seem an uphill fight.

 

[Boom_70]

One of the clues to football's impact on the brain would be the rate at which dementia occurs in former players, versus the rate in non-players.

According to this study, from the ages of 30 to 49, that rate is 19 times higher than the general population.

www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Lots of variables. Lots more peer-reviewed science to be devised. Lots more testing to be done.

Still. Arguing that Visger's specific case isn't intimately bound up with football would seem an uphill fight.

The harder argument to make was that his disability was completely caused while he played in the NFL since he had a documented concussion at age 14.

 

[Azrael]

One of the clues to football's impact on the brain would be the rate at which dementia occurs in former players, versus the rate in non-players.

According to this study, from the ages of 30 to 49, that rate is 19 times higher than the general population.

www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Lots of variables. Lots more peer-reviewed science to be devised. Lots more testing to be done.

Still. Arguing that Visger's specific case isn't intimately bound up with football would seem an uphill fight.

The harder argument to make was that his disability was completely caused while he played in the NFL since he had a documented concussion at age 14.

I don't think anyone is trying to make an NFL-specific argument in the Hruby story. But as is the case in the class action lawsuits, the assertion isn't that the NFL alone caused the concussions, but that it hid the risks of concussion from players (and mishandled the medical consequences).

 

[Boom_70]

One of the clues to football's impact on the brain would be the rate at which dementia occurs in former players, versus the rate in non-players.

According to this study, from the ages of 30 to 49, that rate is 19 times higher than the general population.

www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/sports/football/30dementia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Lots of variables. Lots more peer-reviewed science to be devised. Lots more testing to be done.

Still. Arguing that Visger's specific case isn't intimately bound up with football would seem an uphill fight.

The harder argument to make was that his disability was completely caused while he played in the NFL since he had a documented concussion at age 14.

I don't think anyone is trying to make an NFL-specific argument in the Hruby story. But as is the case in the class action lawsuits, the assertion isn't that the NFL alone caused the concussions, but that it hid the risks of concussion from players (and mishandled the medical consequences).

But as also is the case defense attorneys will bring to light the pre NFL medical history of the players.