NFL PING
FReepmail scott says to be added to, or to be taken off the NFL Ping list...
This is a fairly high volume ping list
Posted on 02/02/2007 4:41:12 AM PST by misterrob
It has all unraveled; his career, his marriage, his health, his reputation. Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson was once a Super Bowl champion and a fan favorite, admired for his jarring hits and thoughtful approach to a violent game.
But now he is a struggling ex-athlete who has become unreliable and unreachable, making promises and commitments he does not keep, the subject of steamy tabloid gossip, shunned for an alleged domestic abuse incident involving his wife.
Johnson, 34, suffers from such severe depression that some mornings he literally cannot pull himself out of bed. When the crippling malaise overtakes him, he lies in a darkened room, unwilling to communicate with his closest family members.
The 10-year NFL veteran believes his current state is a direct result of a career in which he absorbed "countless" head injuries, including back-to-back concussions suffered within days during the 2002 season, when he says the Patriots didn't give him proper time to recover.
He has tried to make himself well. He has been in counseling, taken antidepressants (Prozac and Wellbutrin). When they made him feel sluggish, he began taking Adderall, an amphetamine. He developed an addiction to the stimulant and was admitted to McLean Hospital in the summer of 2005 to receive psychiatric care.
snip
"Officially, I've probably only been listed as having three or four concussions in my career," Johnson said. "But the real number is closer to 30, maybe even more. I've been dinged so many times I've lost count."
The numerous head traumas, said Dr. Robert Cantu, co-director of the Neurological Sports Injury Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital, have left Johnson with post-concussion syndrome as well as signs of early brain damage that Cantu fears is permanent.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Make no mistake about it, Belichick is a guy who wins but he can be as cold and callous as the next guy.
NFL ping.
he is a struggling ex-athlete who has become unreliable and unreachable, making promises and commitments he does not keep,
Maybe he should consider politics.
Roids have been tested for a few years now so I don't think that was Ted's problem. I do think that he took one too many shots to the dome and he's just not right. He was a fairly articulate guy back in his day.
Mohamed Ali.
Repeated blows to the head are not conducive to a long and healthy life.
L
Wilbut was a bad man.
save
This is so sad. I used to watch for him whenever the Broncos played the Pats because I remembered him from his days as a Colorado Buff. I thought he had just retired.
Sad story, and certainly not the only one.
How about another name, Andre Waters.
Athletes have problems when the crowd isn't cheering for them anymore. The longer they were in it, the more it hurts.
Brain injuries are not something to take lightly. What used to be considered just "getting his bell rung" is now rightfully taken more seriously.
Having said all that, I get a little sick of the sob stories when someone is seriously injured, or dies do to "sticking it out" while playing sports. I remember numerous times hearing almost heroic stories of professional players "playing through the pain", Michael Jordans unbelievable flu playoff game comes to mind. The media hypes these stories to unbelievable levels, yet when someone does actually gets hurt, or dies (Vikings player circa 2001, Corey something) we get months of blame because he didn't heed the warning signs when he started to get signs of heat stroke.
Corey's weight fluctuated and he was supposedly taking ephedra although I don't know if that was substantiated.
The NFL is a cold world. Guys will play hurt to keep their jobs regardless of the long term consequnces to their bodies. The teams use the players to win with no real concern for their safety and health. That Johnson kept playing is partially his responsibility but also the team's.
I know people that suffer from the same kind of illness that Ted Johnson is experiencing, and some worse, and they haven't had even one hit to the head.
Maybe it has nothing to do with football, maybe it is just inherent in him. Until people realize that sometimes a person's mind just doesn't work properly, no one will ever take these kind of ailments really seriously. It doesn't have to be a hit to the head or a former drug issue. Sometimes it just "is". Always blaming it on something else won't ever help people who need real help.
He has damage from head injuries. He played a high impact position where he would make over 100 tackles a year plus numerous other collisions.
Ya know... Ali didn't take those shots all through his career. Nobody could touch him. It was his last two fights where he got his brains beat out. He hung on too long.
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