Football Under Fire in Wake of Seau Death

Rush Limbaugh.com ^ | May 3, 2012 | Rush Limbaugh

[Alberta's Child]

You're actually contradicting yourself, DiscoStu. On the one hand you say that Chris Henry had signs of massive brain trauma caused by years of playing football, but on the other hand you point out that he had "no reported head injuries" in college or the NFL. If that's the evidence you're presenting, then it would seem to indicate that there is no relationship between head injuries and CTE. Otherwise, you're just speculating that his CTE was caused by mysterious head injuries that may never have taken place ... or at least never took place in a college or pro game.

[Alberta's Child]

I've played hockey and gotten a couple of pretty serious dings over the years. None of them was serious enough to knock me out, but there's no question that many years of that can have an impact on you. I would expect hockey to be more of a problem than football in that regard, since hockey players travel much faster on skates than any human being can run.

Interestingly, I believe the effect of a "whiplash" injury may be more serious in terms of brain injury than an old-fashioned hit on the noggin.

[Past Your Eyes]

I spent a year working in the woods. My logging career was cut short by a falling limb that knocked me silly and broke my back. About 5 years after that, I rejoined the military (National Guard - had been in the Marines earlier) and was in for 13 years. Never did go back to logging. Too dangerous.

[fso301]

Maybe the NFL should work on banning steroids.

I don't think steroids have anything to do with it. Junior Seau played 20 years in the NFL. Even if he weighted 180 lbs, 20 years as a linebacker is going to take a toll.

[oyez]

I venture to say there is more to this story than football. There a lot of speculation going on without much knowledge of the man's personal life.

The pro-football industry makes scads of money so they are an automatic target.

[cherry]

is the suicide rate that extreme?...really, these aren't ordinary men, they've been coddled their whole lives...lots of money and prestige and I would imagine girls falling all over them....it must be shocking when their knees go bad, their backs are sore, and they need viagra just to keep "up".....ordinary men go thru these changes and take it in stride...but these sports figures don't know how to handle it...

if they want to make football safer however, they can start by absolutely enforcing a ban on steroids and hgh......

[Cap'n Crunch]

Well, I’m not so sure. Steroids certainly cause health problems (and are illegal, along with cheating). And, Mr. Seau did not leave a suicide note, so who knows why he did what he did. Why is it simply assumed that repeated concussions was the cause. Steroid use could have been a contributing factor as well.

If players are willing to assume the risks of injecting themselves with steroids so they can be in the NFL, all these factors need to be studied.

[discostu]

It’s not a contradiction. It shows that you can sustain head injuries without concussion symptoms. That’s what makes the Chris Henry autopsy so scary. He never missed a game due to head injury but he CLEARLY sustained head injuries. CTEs don’t occur spontaneously, so there’s only two possible reasons Henry had them: injuries sustained before getting to college, which is really scary because that means he had permanent brain damage from peewee or high school football; or it was from injuries in college and pro ball that were to slight to be noticed (aka sub-concussions). There’s no way to view the Henry autopsy without fear. He either had his brain permanently damaged as a kid or as an adult in plays that didn’t appear to cause injury, either way you have to look at the current crop of players as walking wounded, we don’t know what percentage of this year’s crop of rookies already have permanent brain damage from football, but it’s looking like the number isn’t zero.

[dfwgator]

Henry had them: injuries sustained before getting to college, which is really scary because that means he had permanent brain damage from peewee or high school football; or it was from injuries in college and pro ball that were to slight to be noticed (aka sub-concussions).

If true, that will kill the game......insurance premiums will skyrocket to the point where high schools will not be able to afford to pay them, so they'll wind up dropping football.

[discostu]

Since CTEs can’t be diagnosed until after death it probably won’t drive insurance up that high. But its all pretty scary.

[ilovesarah2012]

I never said concussions weren’t serious - I said you probably can’t blame all suicides on them. It was hardly “claptrap”.

[ilovesarah2012]

I never said concussions weren’t serious - I said you probably can’t blame all suicides on them. It was hardly “claptrap”.

[fso301]

Well, I’m not so sure. Steroids certainly cause health problems (and are illegal, along with cheating). And, Mr. Seau did not leave a suicide note, so who knows why he did what he did.

If he had brain injuries, I would first look at his 20 years in the NFL as a linebacker. That is going to take a toll on a body.

A person who did steroids and limited himself to 5 years in the NFL, then retired, got off the steroids and promptly shriveled up to a normal size might have assorted squeaks and rattles for the rest of his life but is unlikely to be punch drunk.

[fabian]

There are plenty of great sports that are not full contact..NBA, baseball, etc....so why not play football in a modified way like partial full contact? If you look at the injury lists every football season, it is crazy. Who cares about those atheletes? The fans?