Posted on 12/09/2023 5:27:47 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
Behind the doors of sports’ most exclusive and secretive club is the sight of oil paintings and hardwood, the smell of cigar smoke baked into cushions and walls, the feel of familiar faces and the shuddering reminder of hangovers past.
“'The Heisman flu,'” says Barbara Cassady, whose late husband, Howard “Hopalong” Cassady, was granted lifetime entry into the club in 1955, when the Ohio State halfback was awarded the Heisman Trophy, the annual honor for college football’s most outstanding player. From then on, one weekend every December was a massive reunion with a guest list filled with sports’ upper crust — a high school reunion meets a royal wedding meets Oscar Night.....
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I wonder how many other players who never won Heisman Trophies or induction into the NFL Hall of Fame are suffering from CTE that we never hear about?
OJ doesn’t have CTE.
Real Men work and play hard. Women outlive them. That’s life
Never said he did, nor did the article even imply it.
This comes under that old moniker... Sh*t happens!
CTE (whatever that is), Alzheimer’s, dementia, not being able to find your underwear... Those are all terrible things. They are typically terrible things that happen because you’re very old. When they happen to young people it’s a shame... When they happen to old people... It’s part of being old.
I was looking forward to high school sports then the summer going into my freshman year of high school I had a compound fracture of my left humerus in the surfing mishap. That effectively ended any athletic aspirations I might have had. By the end of my sophomore year I was sort of much to normal and I played tennis as the break was in my left arm and I’m right handed.
Looking back I’m glad I didn’t participate in contact sports. That injury nagged me for years. At 21 I enlisted and it was a struggle but I got through it. It still bothers me on occasion.
However he does suffer from stabbing sensations in his hands from creating the Nicole Brown Simpson PEZ dispenser.
Did the entire article not mention what the acronym CTE stands for, or did I just miss it?
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain disorder likely caused by repeated head injuries.
What are 3 symptoms of CTE?
The symptoms of CTE include memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, anxiety, suicidality, parkinsonism, and, eventually, progressive dementia.
These symptoms often begin years or even decades after the last brain trauma or end of active athletic involvement.
chronic traumatic encephalopathy,
I wanted to be a high school athlete star but lacked the size and the ability. I am so glad now. I stay in touch via a Facebook alumni group and most of the guys that played football really paid a price. Nasty knee and back problems.
Let’s see. Howard Cassady. 1934-2019. By my count he lived to be 85. That’s a longer lifespan than average. CTE didn’t seem to shorten his life any.
I remember my son’s doctor telling me when he was an infant to NEVER let him play football b/c of frequent head injuries and permanent damage to the brain that often appeared later in life.
This was years before all the information came out about CTE.
If the article was unclear, this will help:
This gets into the weeds (including post-mortem examinations)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9826753/
Also some indications CTE can lead to or exacerbate ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.
One of my best friends played Division 1 college football. Linebacker. He got hit in the head a LOT. His helmet (which he kept) showed it. I could not have done that much damage to his helmet with a hammer unless I had several hours. He succumbed to ALS. Maybe a coincidence, but a correlation has been shown.
That’s part of why I am a big fan of the anti-targeting rule in football. Now getting hit is part of the game. I played (not Div 1 but another league). You accept that. Heck part of what makes playing football fun - hit and get hit. But getting thumped in the head is no fun. Know. Got a concussion once.
PS I would not wish ALS on my worst enemy. It’s horrific. I still think of him on occasion even though it’s been over a decade since he passed. Almost brings me to tears when I do.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy doesn’t happen because you’re very old. It happens because you’ve taken too much brain damage. Symptoms usually start in the 30s or 40s. Some even younger.
In the 1960s-1970s they started teaching blocking & tackling different then they did before. Don’t hit with the shoulder “stick your helmet\head in there” was what you heard from the coaches even on the little league level. Use your helmet\head as your main striking weapon. I remember the change it was in jr high football.
reminder of hangovers past
Other lifestyle factors are dots always left unconnected by the crowd who hate football and everything traditional American it is associated with.
I played in the early 90s. Same story.
What idiocy. Yeah, it’s effective. But hard on the neck and esp. the head.
I was a WR. Concussion came when I was defenseless going up for a ball and got utterly splatted by two guys hitting me on opposite sides at the same time. But I didn’t drop the ball! /SMILE
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.