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Former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez had severe C.T.E.

LJ11

Member
Accomodations don't exist. There is no way to make the kind of contact that happens on every down of football, from lineman crashing into each other, QBs getting sacked from behind, linebackers crashing into running backs for tackles, safe. There is this misconception that it's just helmet to helmet hits that caise CTE. It's every part of the game. The human body was not built to do what is asked for it in the course of a football game.

Nor is it for boxing, mma, pitching in baseball, can probably name others but there's no point.
 

Noshino

Member
There is a big study of the damage heading the ball does to footballers (soccer) here as well. So many sports need to look into this seriously.

There is?

Iirc there was a study that found that heading isn't really the action causing most of the brain trauma, but rather everything else (butting heads, elbows, falls, etc)
 

Xiaoki

Member
Chris Benoit also had a severe case of CTE.

Studies should be done about the connection between CTE and violent behavior but that wont happen.

Too many rabid football fans too easily dismissing this.
 

ZZMitch

Member
Yeah, I wish I had stuck with soccer as a kid and not played football for 10+ years...

It's funny how so many talk about making sure their kids don't play football. My stepdad was the middle school football coach so me and my stepbrother didn't really have a choice. I won't treat my kid(s) that way.
 

Beefy

Member
There is?

Iirc there was a study that found that heading isn't really the action causing most of the brain trauma, but rather everything else (butting heads, elbows, falls, etc)

Yeah in my othrr post. There was a 29yr old footballer who died who was confirmed to have CTE.
 

GashPrex

NeoGaf-Gold™ Member
Good luck with that lawsuit - this is a pure PR stunt considering her damages are loss of consortium and he had just been sentenced to life in prison. You aren't going to be able to show a but for cause her and even if you could, there would be no damages since he was sentenced to life in prison. Also, murdering people tends to cut off your damages.
 

GodofWine

Member
Not a chance in hell my soon to be second child (boy) will play football.

My son is 6, and plays flag football, the leagues now run through 12th grade, more kids seem to be playing Flag for fun rather than trying to make 'varsity'. We do have two kids on the team who play tackle already, in FIRST grade. I think they are nuts or dumb (the parents, not the kids).

I tell my kids, be good at math, learn to code, and just go lift weights at the gym, you don't have to play any sports if you don't want to (they both play a couple they like now - flag and baseball for my 6 yr old son, and softball and basketball for my 8 yr old daughter).
 

Snaku

Banned
Too many rabid football fans too easily dismissing this.

They didn't give a shit when kids were getting raped in the name of football, what makes you think they care about the long term well being of the players? The fans only care about you until you get into your late 20s, start to lose a step, and then start debating who's gonna replace you in the next draft.
 
No doubt, but would anyone disagree that the amount of trauma the doctors say his brain went through added fuel to that fire?

It definitely makes it harder to control your behavior lol

I mean there are six year olds who go insane due to brain trauma and go back to normal when its fixed.
 

platocplx

Member
Of course. The question is whether his rage was a part of him before the CTE. All signs point to yes.

I’m From CT know some people who knew him and his family. It definitely wasn’t always him. Many say he changed after his father died which maybe was traumatic coupled with all the hits at the time who knows what the CTE does to people emotionally. But it makes sense of where he had feelings of people out to get him etc as to why he “accidentally” shot that guy in his eye(what I’ve heard he did it on purpose) etc. but yeah. I have a feeling it did a number on him.
 

Lombax

Banned
Nothing will happen because the NFL does not consider this a problem, and fans just see players as "gladiators".
 

Furio53

Member
I grew up playing football, but that young I was playing in the city league flag football. My parents made a good call. Didn't start tackle until 7th grade (though even that may be too early). More kids should learn fundamentals through flag football when they're young.
 

Hunter S.

Member
I am really waiting for more research in other sports. Extreme sports, hockey, professional wrestling all involve a lot of concussions which is believed to be the main culprit behind CTE. The focus on the NFL only seems like a major fault in thinking.
 

andthebeatgoeson

Junior Member
I hear participation has fallen off a cliff at younger ages. They used to be able to fill multiple teams and are struggling to get one team together, was a rumour I've heard. Anyone have anecdotal evidence?

There is this:http://www.vocativ.com/298019/youth-football-participation-is-plummeting/

But college and high school football are equally at fault and i think people will start to move away. My oldest is 13, had a coach begging him to play and he knows we ain't having it.

I am really waiting for more research in other sports. Extreme sports, hockey, professional wrestling all involve a lot of concussions which is believed to be the main culprit behind CTE. The focus on the NFL only seems like a major fault in thinking.
It's a symptom of the popularity. Of course, the biggest, most popular sport will take the hits. But it's an indictment of our journalism community, the science community and funding for both why this isn't being attacked from all angles. You need money for studies and the tobacco industry and the gun lobby have set the precedents on discouraging scientific research for decades. I'll remind you that the US has the most gun deaths in the world but you cannot get an NIH research grant to perform research on gun violence in this country. It makes no sense.
 
They are going to look at O.J.'s brain when he dies and explain everything away with that. I don't look forward to that wall to wall coverage.

Serious disease and problem, I hope it's studied more and puts aspects in some context, without being a magic absolving wand.

Do people really believe that OJ did it and he wasnt covering for his family?

We have evidence of Hernandez shooting people during his recruiting trip during highschool. Stop making excuses for a long time phsychopath.

Stop projecting mr psychopath
 

TS-08

Member
I am really waiting for more research in other sports. Extreme sports, hockey, professional wrestling all involve a lot of concussions which is believed to be the main culprit behind CTE. The focus on the NFL only seems like a major fault in thinking.

But the main culprit of CTE is not believed to be concussions, but the accumulation of sub-concussive hits. Other sports will have this as well, but probably not to the extent of football. But I agree that more research should be pursued in these other sports, which does seem to be happening.
 

platocplx

Member
I know you didn't suggest this but it certainly won't be "better helmets" or "proper tackling."

I’ve said that the only way they get rid of it is removing some of the physicality. But it sounds radical when we are running into eachother like Neanderthals for sport. Football can still be fun without any tackle at all or a much lighter version of it(IE. taking away gang tackles blowing the whistle early instead of guys cracking to get a single extra yard etc)

But either football will adapt or die. I don’t want my kids playing it. Rather they play baseball or basketball etc.
 
I am really waiting for more research in other sports. Extreme sports, hockey, professional wrestling all involve a lot of concussions which is believed to be the main culprit behind CTE. The focus on the NFL only seems like a major fault in thinking.

Sub-concussive hits is the main culprit of CTE. That's why the main focus in the NFL.
 

Falchion

Member
Football is scary as shit. The youth base will start drying up in the coming years as parents refuse to let their kids play.
 

Hunter S.

Member
But the main culprit of CTE is not believed to be concussions, but the accumulation of sub-concussive hits. Other sports will have this as well, but probably not to the extent of football. But I agree that more research should be pursued in these other sports, which does seem to be happening.

Not that wikapedia and is that great source and a site called BIRI , but it says there that it is concussions are the main culprit. Even so all these contact sports include many sub-concussive hits to the head.
 
Nor is it for boxing, mma, pitching in baseball, can probably name others but there's no point.

Pitching is a weak comparison. Damaging your arm/elbow isn't the same kind of long term quality of life concern as CTE. Boxing and man, sure, but when you have youth and pee wee boxing/mma, where kids are bashing each other's skills in, or public funded high school boxing/mma, where again, teens are concussing each other on a regular basis, your comparison might be valid, and I'm sure the outcry would be equal.
 

Jeff-DSA

Member
I played linebacker and running back in high school. Lots and lots of hits. I started getting migraines in my senior year, but stupidly never equated the two.

I still get lots of migraines. It's not like there's anything I can do about it now, but I will always wonder if playing football played into that. I had an opportunity to play college ball. I'm glad now that I passed, because it wouldn't have lead anywhere beyond that.
 

shaowebb

Member
Glad this is getting pushed and made aware of. Back in the day (and still in many places) they just referred to it as "getting your bell rung" when you got nailed hard and were fucked up for a bit from a head impact. A lot of undocumented concussions and forms of head trauma played off in one stupid phrase by coaching staffs for generations.
 
I have a friend with two young sons (both under 3) who all he talked about when his first son was born was how he was going to play football like all the other men in his family. I ran into him at a wedding a couple of weeks ago and the subject came up and he was like no way will any of his sons be playing now. The NFL has a huge problem and I don't think there's a fix. Robot players maybe?

I think we're going to start seeing a larger divide between more affluent and more impoverished classes. Sports is a way out of poverty for many athletes and their families.
 

kmag

Member
Wasn't there a big piece in SI about Hernandez and how his personality basically changed when he his father died suddenly when he was 16. He'd already been playing football for 8 years or so at that point.
 
Wasn't there a big piece in SI about Hernandez and how his personality basically changed when he his father died suddenly when he was 16. He'd already been playing football for 8 years or so at that point.

Not waving away anything he did as excusable.

But the guy never stood a chance.

OMG this is terrible! Something must be done to protect these players!

*Turns on TV in time for kickoff*

Anyone playing now is doing so of their own free will with all relevant knowledge of CTE.

I think the sport needs rethinking, but no one still playing it now is ignorant to this stuff anymore. If they want to play it, there's no reason people shouldn't watch if they can stomach it.
 

v0yce

Member
I hope the family wins their lawsuit. Against the Patriots and against the league

YES! Good idea Sweeney Tom. That would be a great reward for his wife who helped him try to cover up the murder of another human being.

Screw that dead guy and his family though. Let's dump heaps of money on a murder accomplice.

Poor Aaron and his family.
 
I had an opportunity to play college ball. I'm glad now that I passed, because it wouldn't have lead anywhere beyond that.

Let's be real. Unless you're getting a massive scholarships to a D1 school or you're going pro, there's not much reason to even play sports beyond the fun of it, or the leadership / teamwork shills learned. Which only makes the calculus for football harder to justify. Why let my kid get his head smashed for (4) years of high school if that's all he's ever going to do. There's other ways to learn teamwork and leadership skills.

I quit NAIA basketball because of this. My time was better spent making small amounts of money working while going to school full time.
 
Wasn't there a big piece in SI about Hernandez and how his personality basically changed when he his father died suddenly when he was 16. He'd already been playing football for 8 years or so at that point.
Yeah that seems like the point when he started to do bad things.
 
Seau and Duerson deliberately shot themselves in the chest so that researchers would be able to examine their brains

This part was especially horrifying and tragic. Like they were aware something was wrong with their heads, but couldn't do anything about it
 

andthebeatgoeson

Junior Member
I played linebacker and running back in high school. Lots and lots of hits. I started getting migraines in my senior year, but stupidly never equated the two.

I still get lots of migraines. It's not like there's anything I can do about it now, but I will always wonder if playing football played into that. I had an opportunity to play college ball. I'm glad now that I passed, because it wouldn't have lead anywhere beyond that.
Yeah you can. Not to reverse your injuries but the biggest force in football wants to, still, cover-up the facts. You make sure you let everyone know. So, either your kids, or your nieces and nephews or who ever, knows that football is a gamble. The NFL is locked in it's momentum, unable to move.

We need more research and until the ratings plummet because people give up their football worship, i predict the NFL will still do half measures. The best thing for the NFL to do is to lead and sponsor good research so they can understand the problem and try and change. Instead of waiting for the ground swell of people to rise up.
 

vikki

Member
Grew up playing football and still love watching it today. I tell my wife all the time that my sone will not be playing football. Even in peewee, kids were getting fingers broken, the wind constantly knocked out, and who knows how many tiny concussions.
 

wyu177

Neo Member
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Of course. The question is whether his rage was a part of him before the CTE. All signs point to yes.

This was my first thought as well.

Hernandez was involved in criminal activity going back to his tenure at Florida. He was involved in a shooting in 2006 or 2007, and was involved in felony battery charges that were eventually dropped in 2008.

Of course, we can't truly pinpoint when somebody would have developed CTE... As a child playing pop warner football or other sports, in high school while participating in sports, in college at Florida, etc.

But we also know now that Hernandez was a person capable of murder well before he ended up finally getting one (or more) pinned on him.
 
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