'I'm the Wife of a Former NFL Player. Football Destroyed His Mind'

[Dick Whitman]

Opinion | I’m the Wife of a Former N.F.L. Player. Football Destroyed His Mind.

He was losing touch with reality and was increasingly paranoid. The first time he accused me of stealing loose change from his nightstand I was speechless. And when I told him how illogical it would be for me to do such a thing, he looked at me with even more suspicion. But his paranoia didn’t end there. It would leave me with a heaviness in my chest that made me sob without warning.

He went from being a devoted and loving father and husband to someone who felt like a ghost in our home. For a couple of months one winter he was so depressed and detached, he couldn’t muster up the energy to speak. My questions went unanswered until I simply stopped asking them. The silence was unnerving.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Jesus.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I was watching the highlight video of the second Packers-Broncos Super Bowl this morning. Shanahan sends Terrell Davis into the game after Davis tells him that he can't see, because of a migraine. Shanahan pressures Davis to go in: You don't need to see to run this play, and the Packers will never buy that we're running the ball if you aren't in there.

Then the NFL Films narrator guy starts lauding Davis for his courage.

It's sickening.

 

[User 4332]

This is why I find no enjoyment in football any longer. Used to be my favorite sport.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Terrible. I feel I've read this article a few times before, though. I wonder if we will eventually become fatigued to this.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Terrible. I feel I've read this article a few times before, though. I wonder if we will eventually become fatigued to this.

Someone has to die in a game.

 

[JC]

Someone has to die in a game.

It will matter for a few months then people will move on.

 

[QYFW]

It will matter for a few months then people will move on.

That's kind if how life works, though.

 

[BTExpress]

 

[JC]

That's kind if how life works, though.

I mean it won't change footballs popularity much. Between Fantasy and gambling alone the game is almost bulletproof.

 

[goalmouth]

My father got kneed in the head when he played in college in the early 1940s. He had a brain scan about 2014 for a possible stroke. The neurologist said, "I see you've had a concussion." It still showed in the brain tissue, 50-some years later.

 

[cranberry]

I mean it won't change footballs popularity much. Between Fantasy and gambling alone the game is almost bulletproof.

Parents aren't even letting their kids play football anymore. It's going into a death spiral.

Poll: Sharply declining support for NFL, youth football

 

[Dick Whitman]

It sucks that football is so awesome.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Someone has to die in a game.

I used to think that way. Then came Sandy Hook, and Las Vegas.

Individually, we care and are distressed. As a society, we're Romans at the Arena.

 

[Buck]

A decline in participation will cause the change over time - one, two generations.
About the same time it took to NFL move from second tier to the biggest.

 

[playthrough]

I mean it won't change footballs popularity much. Between Fantasy and gambling alone the game is almost bulletproof.

That's what I was going to say. If sports betting goes legal nationwide, it will buy football a few more decades before its supposed "decline."

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Probably covered in the SB thread, but it's really something that the halftime act for the game flat-out said his son won't be allowed to play the game.

(Of course, that opens the door to the "if the game is so destructive that you won't let your kid play it, WTF are you doing singing at it?")

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

Parents aren't even letting their kids play football anymore. It's going into a death spiral.

Poll: Sharply declining support for NFL, youth football

SUPPORT IS DECLINING FOR THE NFL BECAUSE THE THUGS WONT STAND FOR THE ANTHEM

 

[outofplace]

I was watching the highlight video of the second Packers-Broncos Super Bowl this morning. Shanahan sends Terrell Davis into the game after Davis tells him that he can't see, because of a migraine. Shanahan pressures Davis to go in: You don't need to see to run this play, and the Packers will never buy that we're running the ball if you aren't in there.

Then the NFL Films narrator guy starts lauding Davis for his courage.

It's sickening.

I've heard Davis talk about that moment and he does so without bitterness. I'm not sure he sees anything wrong with it, or perhaps he doesn't know how to address it without attacking Shanahan. It certainly demonstrates a coach not putting a high enough priority on the safety of one of his players.

My Big Game Moment: Terrell Davis dealt with his pain

SUPER BOWL XXXII; Even a Migraine Doesn't Slow Down Davis on His Way to the M.V.P.

According to Davis, he forgot to take medication that helped him hold off his migraines before the game. He also described taking a knee to the head that "kinda rocked my world." That makes me think he suffered a concussion.

Of course, this was also about 20 years ago. The public perception of the issue has changed and I think more of the players know better, but the league clearly still has a long way to go in terms of getting players to protect themselves and teams to put the players' health first.

 

[cranberry]

SUPPORT IS DECLINING FOR THE NFL BECAUSE THE THUGS WONT STAND FOR THE ANTHEM

That too!