RIP Junior Seau

[Brian48]

What a selfish act. For as strong as he was on the outside, he was obviously a weak man on the inside. For whatever issues he had, he took the cowardly way out. No pity for him at all... only to those who cared about him did he hurt and passed his problem onto others.

 

While 95% of the time I'd agree, I think the suspicion here is that this may be related to the accumulated head trauma that he and a lot of other football players have been subjected too. Especially the defensive side. This topic has only come to light in the last few years and the league is only now taking this seriously.

[sufunk]

What a selfish act. For as strong as he was on the outside, he was obviously a weak man on the inside. For whatever issues he had, he took the cowardly way out. No pity for him at all... only to those who cared about him did he hurt and passed his problem onto others.

 

Its hard for regular people to understand how someone with seemingly tons of money, women, admiration, pretty much everything we wish for could do something like this. Wether it was issues caused by football or just something inherent in him, clearly he had some MAJOR problems going on in his head.

 

I was never a fan of his really but definitely sad to see such a great football player do something like this to himself

[fantastic_four]

anybody else notice that seau shot himself in the chest and not his head? he prolly wants his brain to be donated for scientific research on playing in the NFL.

 

When most people think gun suicide they think the head, but the reality is that recoil and noise shock end up screwing up your aim and horrifically maiming more people than head shots kill. Aiming for the heart is actualy easier and more reliable.

[Park]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/sports/football/03duerson.html

 

I am thinking Seau is going to come in with the same type of brain trauma that players like Duerson had.

 

Duerson’s Brain Trauma Diagnosed

By ALAN SCHWARZ

Published: May 2, 2011

 

 

BOSTON — The suicide of the former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson became more alarming Monday, when Boston University researchers announced that his brain had developed the same trauma-induced disease recently found in more than 20 deceased players.

 

The diagnosis adds a new and perhaps pivotal chapter to football’s still-unfolding narrative surrounding concussions. Duerson shot himself Feb. 17 in the chest rather than the head, presumably so that his brain could be examined by Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, which announced its diagnosis.

 

About two dozen retired N.F.L. players have been found to have the disease, known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, but none acted upon his suspicion of it like Duerson, 50, who complained to family of his deteriorating mental state during his final months.

 

His death reminded the football community that for all the reform in the management of concussions and other on-field brain trauma in recent years, the damage to past players remains a vestige of the game’s more brutal times.

 

“It’s tragic that Dave Duerson took his own life, but it’s very meaningful that he recognized the symptoms of the disorder — it validates this condition,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the neuropathologist who examined Duerson’s brain. She said she found indisputable evidence of C.T.E. in the tissue samples, with “no evidence of any other disorder.”

 

Although the precise motivations behind Duerson’s suicide remain unknown, he had complained of headaches, blurred vision and a deteriorating memory in the months before his death. His final note to his family finished with a handwritten request: “Please, see that my brain is given to the N.F.L.’s brain bank.”

 

The N.F.L. does not run the Boston University research group but did donate $1 million to its financing last year, after the league acknowledged long-term effects of football brain trauma.

 

C.T.E., a condition previously associated mostly with boxers and manifested in behavior more commonly known as dementia pugilistica, is a degenerative and incurable disease that compromises neural activity and is linked to memory loss, depression and dementia. Although groups at Boston University and elsewhere are pursuing tests for living patients, the condition can currently be detected only after death, by brain autopsy.

 

“We hope these findings will contribute more to the understanding of C.T.E.,” the N.F.L. said in a statement. “Our Head, Neck and Spine Medical Committee will study today’s findings, and as a league, we will continue to support the work of the scientists at the Boston University Center and elsewhere to address this issue in a forthright and effective way.”

 

DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the players association, said in a telephone interview that Duerson’s having C.T.E. “makes it abundantly clear what the cost of football is for the men who played and the families.”

 

He added: “It seems to me that any decision or course of action that doesn’t recognize that as the truth is not only perpetuating a lie, but doing a disservice to what Dave feared and what he wanted to result from the donation of his brain to science.”

 

Duerson’s death rattled players both active and retired, who after years of news media coverage are more aware that the damage done to their brains could be permanent. Pete Kendall, a recently retired offensive lineman, said, “The whole issue of C.T.E. is something that players young and old have no choice but to think about.”

 

Duerson’s former wife, Alicia, attended the Boston news conference with their four children. Their son Tregg, 25, made a brief statement, saying, “It is our hope that through this research questions that go beyond our interest may be answered — questions that lead to a safer game of football from professionals to Pop Warner.”

 

He added with regard to his father, “It is my greatest hope that his death will not be in vain and that through this research, his legacy will live on and others won’t have to suffer in the same manner.”

 

Duerson was an all-American defensive back at Notre Dame before spending most of his 11 N.F.L. seasons with the Bears. He played safety on the famed 46 defense that fueled their Super Bowl championship in the 1985 season, and he won the 1991 Super Bowl with the Giants.

 

Duerson retired after the 1993 season and became successful in the food-services industry before his businesses collapsed, his marriage failed and he went bankrupt. He began showing symptoms of repetitive brain trauma, including memory loss, poor impulse control and abusive behavior toward loved ones.

 

Another son, Brock, 22, said that the diagnosis of C.T.E. provided an explanation for his father’s decline and final act.

 

“I don’t want people to think just because he was in debt and broke he wanted to end it,” he said. “C.T.E. took his life. He changed dramatically, but it was eating at his brain. He didn’t know how to fight it.”

 

Duerson’s case is unique beyond the circumstances of his suicide. Since 2006, he had served on the six-member panel that considered claims for disability benefits filed by former N.F.L. players. Although individual votes are kept confidential, that board has been sparing in awarding benefits, including those for neurological damage.

 

Duerson himself told a Senate subcommittee in 2007 that he questioned whether players’ cognitive and emotional struggles were related to football.

 

However, Duerson’s legacy will almost certainly be how he apparently came to believe he had C.T.E., acted upon it and requested that his brain tissue be examined for confirmation and contribution to science.

 

Dr. Robert Stern, along with McKee a co-director of the Boston University research group, cautioned that C.T.E. could not explain all of a player’s actions.

 

“When it comes to suicide and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, it is possible that in some individuals the combination of C.T.E.-related symptoms of poor impulse control, depression and cognitive impairment may indeed lead to suicide,” Stern said. “However, we can never clearly point to any cause-and-effect relationship in any one case.”

[Park]

anybody else notice that seau shot himself in the chest and not his head? he prolly wants his brain to be donated for scientific research on playing in the NFL.

 

When most people think gun suicide they think the head, but the reality is that recoil and noise shock end up screwing up your aim and horrifically maiming more people than head shots kill. Aiming for the heart is actualy easier and more reliable.

 

Dave Duerson shot himself specifically in the chest so they could study his brain. He left behind instructions to his family to donate his brain.

[seanfingh]

What a selfish act. For as strong as he was on the outside, he was obviously a weak man on the inside. For whatever issues he had, he took the cowardly way out. No pity for him at all... only to those who cared about him did he hurt and passed his problem onto others.

 

Selfishness, weakness and cowardice are likely not the culprit. Mental illness as a result of consistent and profound traumatic brain injury likely are. Sorry about all your anger focused like a laser at someone you never met.

[COI]

TBI can affect any aspect of behavior, which makes sense when you think about it. I think it's ridiculous for anyone here to judge these guys without understanding the extent to which their behavior is the result of taking too many shots to the head. To begin with, a professional athlete is already likely to be a more aggressive and impulsive personality; couple that with the pressure to perform, making crazy money at a young age, and the spotlight which comes with the job, and you have a recipe for disaster. To call these guys "weak" or "cowardly" is far too simplistic and judgmental, when it's likely that many of us wouldn't have fared much better in similar circumstances.

[Park]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2734941

 

Andre Waters. Suicide @ 44. No doubt he had a ton of concussions.

 

NEW YORK -- A leading forensic pathologist told The New York Times that brain damage suffered by former NFL defensive back Andre Waters may have led to his depression and ultimately his suicide.

 

The forensic pathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu of the University of Pittsburgh, told The Times that the condition of Waters' brain tissue was what would be expected in an 85-year-old man, and there were characteristics of someone being in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The doctor said he believes the brain damage had come from or had been quickened by successive concussions.

 

Waters was 44 and a father of three when he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Nov. 20 in Tampa, Fla., three days before Thanksgiving.

 

"No matter how you look at it, distort it, bend it," Omalu told The Times in a telephone interview, "it's the significant forensic factor given the global scenario."

 

If Waters had lived another 10 to 15 years, Omalu told The Times he believes "Andre Waters would have been fully incapacitated."

 

"Whatever its cause, Andre Waters' suicide is a tragic incident and our hearts go out to his family," the NFL said in a statement released to the media Thursday afternoon. "The subject of concussions is complex. We are devoting substantial resources to independent medical research of current and retired players, strict enforcement of enhanced player safety rules, development and testing of better equipment, and comprehensive medical management of this injury. This work over the past decade has contributed significantly to the understanding of concussions and advancement of player safety. We will continue with all these efforts and maintain our focus on player health and safety."

 

The league has a traumatic brian injury committee that will begin studying retired players later this year regarding concussions and depression.

 

"The connection between depression and head injuries is likely but not proven," Leszek Christowski, the Hillsborough County medical examiner, told ESPN.com's Tom Farrey on Wednesday. "Scientifically, there is no [cause-and-effect] connection. Could it play a role? Yes. But the statistical studies do not show a clear-cut connection between concussion and depression."

 

The Times cited a study by the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, based at the University of North Carolina, of 2,500 former NFL players that found that cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's-like symptoms and depression rose in direct proportion to the number of concussions a player had sustained. The same group conducted a 2003 study which found a link between multiple concussions and depression among former pro players with histories of concussions. Then 2005 study was a follow up to the one two years prior.

 

According to The Times story, written by Alan Schwarz, Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler who has suffered a number of concussions, initiated the inquiry. He called the Waters family to request permission to use remaining parts of Waters' brain for testing. The family agreed and signed release forms in mid-December. Four pieces of Waters' brain were sent from the Hillsborough County, Fla., medical examiner's office to Pittsburgh for testing by Omalu.

 

On Jan. 4, tests came back and Omalu said the results were similar to that of an 80-plus-year-old Alzheimer's patient.

 

"It strikes me as pretty reasonable," Dr. Brent Masel, board member for the Brain Injury Association of America, said in reference to the quality of Omalu's analysis. Referring to studies that have likened head trauma in the NFL to that found in boxers, Masel added, "When you look at boxers and the problems they've had, it makes sense that you might find this in a football player, based on what we know."

 

Waters was signed in 1984 by the Eagles as an undrafted free agent out of Cheyney State and played 10 seasons in Philadelphia. He finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals, whom he played for in 1994 and '95.

[NewWorldOrder]

What a selfish act. For as strong as he was on the outside, he was obviously a weak man on the inside. For whatever issues he had, he took the cowardly way out. No pity for him at all... only to those who cared about him did he hurt and passed his problem onto others.

 

While 95% of the time I'd agree, I think the suspicion here is that this may be related to the accumulated head trauma that he and a lot of other football players have been subjected too. Especially the defensive side. This topic has only come to light in the last few years and the league is only now taking this seriously.

 

It really is sad because I have seen first hand with a really close friend of mind the effects on her and her siblings to what happens when a parent commits suicide it has life long repercussions that are irreversible.

 

They definitely pass their pain onto their family members for the rest of their lives.

 

One would have to assume that a lot of people probably on these boards might suffer from depression at one time or another in their life, but to take it to level of what Seau did is someplace that you are clearly not thinking straight and are out your mind.

 

Now while committing suicide yes can be viewed as selfish act you have to understand any person who commits such an act is not thinking straight about the consequences of his actions to their friends & family.

 

Again RIP Junior a very say tragic event here in San Diego community.

[Hibou]

Very sad...

 

RIP 55

[Hawkman]

If this turns out to be brain injury-related, this issue enters a new phase. The league has to be panicking right now. I'd bet Seau's brain will look somewhat similar to Duerson's

[Hawkman]

between watching Marcellus Wiley and Seau's mom, i can't watch anymore. it's too hard right now.

[sufunk]

If this turns out to be brain injury-related, this issue enters a new phase. The league has to be panicking right now. I'd bet Seau's brain will look somewhat similar to Duerson's

 

+1

 

I'm not sure what else they can do to protect players though. It's a violent game and TBI's are going to happen no matter what i think.

 

There is DEFINITELY going to have to be a MAJOR, MAJOR plan by the league though to put a HUGE amount of money from the TV contracts into pensions, research, therapy, etc. The amount they give now is a joke and a bad one at that. For as much money as they make off the players, they have to step up and put a MASSIVE amount of money into helping to insure that 1st ballot hall of famers arent killing themselves before they are even Hall eligible

[Chip Cataldo]

I thought Merrill Hodge was going to start crying right there in the studio, as well.

 

Everyone shown on ESPN so far is really crushed by this.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[NewEnglandGothic]

RIP #55

[Hawkman]

I thought Merrill Hodge was going to start crying right there in the studio, as well.

 

Everyone shown on ESPN so far is really crushed by this.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

 

 

excluding any problems he had with his ex wife, Seau was a top quality human being. Very active in local schools (my GF went to school in san diego and vividly remembers him).

 

 

and it was completely unnecessary for him to die today. that hurts more than anything. imagine his friends? you feel like you could have saved him if only he'd reached out.

[Junkdrawer]

So sad and go figure that today 876 newly listed Seau items went up for sale on ebay. The guy isnt even in the ground. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sop=10&_sacat=See-All-Categories&_from=R40&_nkw=junior%20seau&_pppn=r1&_dmpt=US_Football&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udlo=500&_udhi=

[Chip Cataldo]

you feel like you could have saved him if only he'd reached out.

 

That seems to be the theme with everyone's comments...Marcellus, his mom, Steve Young, etc...

 

It's a damn shame for it to end that way...it was a fantastic story with him settling in only a couple miles from where he grew up.

 

Peace,

 

Chip

[Aces]

RIP

[littlebill]

he was an awesome player. there were a number of years where he was simply the best defensive player in the nfl.