Ex-Pat Cam Cleeland's battle with concussions

[jmt57]

A sobering story of what happens to football players once they are done playing in the NFL.

Effect of concussions poses challenges after playing days - NFL News - FOX Sports on MSN

I think we can enjoy watching the game without the glorification of shots to the head on "all jacked up" highlights; I'm sure players can find a better way of bonding and building team unity than the hazing Cleeland describes that went on in New Orleans.

 

[Gwedd]

Good story. I hope Dr Amen can get the support he needs to continue with his programs.

Respects,

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

On a Patriots Mailing List (an artifact of the early 90s internet) road trip to San Diego in 2002 I had the pleasure of staying at the same hotel and hanging out for 2 days with Cam's parents. Really nice people. Best wishes.

 

[Ring 6]

Awful story. Some of these guys work so hard to achieve their life dream and then find out they ruined the rest of their life by achieving it.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Awful story. Some of these guys work so hard to achieve their life dream and then find out they ruined the rest of their life by achieving it.

Point well taken

"Cleeland went public with his medical condition to try and inspire other concussion-saddled players to seek help. And while this idea won’t fly with NFL doctors still unconvinced about the effectiveness of Amen’s treatments, Cleeland said the league should provide complimentary SPECT scans immediately upon retirement and help pay for supplements if needed.

“I’m sick of seeing the broke, the divorced, the depressed and the dying NFL veterans who aren’t being taken care of and thrown to the wayside like gladiators,” said Cleeland, whose close friend and former Saints/Rams teammate Kyle Turley is also suffering from concussion-related health issues. “We’re not in the Roman times any more."

 

[MoLewisrocks]

It's a little more complicated than that. Most of these problems start in college. The NCAA makes billions off of athletes who get a free half assed education in the process. They should be forced to set up a fund to assist players damaged in the process, many of whom never make it at the next level. The league should fund similar programs but the players themselves and the union should share in that cost at the same level they share in the profits...

These players almost to a man still state that had they known or now that they do know they would still choose to play this sport for an education and a living. The league alone (owners) should not be held solely liable unless in light of recent findings they are empowered to pull the plug on some of these guys dreams - and somehow I think that (and the concept of shared liability) would be a tough sell at the bargaining table. Upshaw was quoted as saying that retirees from the last generation weren't his constituents. Present day players were. Heck, the union acts like blood testing for Hgh and designer steroids or PEDS is so impossibly invasive they can't fathom even being asked to consider it for the good of the game and the men that play it... FWIW I read this week that the CFL has just made it mandatory for their players. Part of the problem is rooted in this era of bigger, faster, stronger and angrier players...the kind of players willing to do anything to gain a performance/financial edge during their limited careers.

 

[Ring 6]

It's a little more complicated than that. Most of these problems start in college. The NCAA makes billions off of athletes who get a free half assed education in the process. They should be forced to set up a fund to assist players damaged in the process, many of whom never make it at the next level. The league should fund similar programs but the players themselves and the union should share in that cost at the same level they share in the profits...

These players almost to a man still state that had they known or now that they do know they would still choose to play this sport for an education and a living. The league alone (owners) should not be held solely liable unless in light of recent findings they are empowered to pull the plug on some of these guys dreams - and somehow I think that (and the concept of shared liability) would be a tough sell at the bargaining table. Upshaw was quoted as saying that retirees from the last generation weren't his constituents. Present day players were. Heck, the union acts like blood testing for Hgh and designer steroids or PEDS is so impossibly invasive they can't fathom even being asked to consider it for the good of the game and the men that play it... FWIW I read this week that the CFL has just made it mandatory for their players. Part of the problem is rooted in this era of bigger, faster, stronger and angrier players...the kind of players willing to do anything to gain a performance/financial edge during their limited careers.

Here is a thought.
Many big time colleges are state schools, right? Many have Medical Centers an Hospitals.
Why not make it part of a football scholarship that the school, or state, or even conference schools together, provide lifetime medical treatment free of charge for any injury related to the sport they played?

Of course, I have always said that if person is dying, needs an operation, has no insurance and cannot afford it that the Doctor should donate his time and it should be done free of charge, but people argue me on that one too

 

[Frezo]

Where's OSHA? Is the NFL somehow exempt from OSHA regs and inspections?