OT: Football’s toll: At least eight members of 1972 Dolphins affected by cognitive impairment

[PatsFanInVa]

Football’s toll: At least eight members of 1972 Dolphins affected by cognitive impairment

"That makes at least eight members of a roster of roughly 50 men who have experienced loss of acuity. And that figure includes only those who keep giving interviews ; several do not.

Fixed it.

Sorry man serious subject. Couldn't resist though. All I could think was Mercury Morris.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

No excuses for those who cheat the system and get something for nothing.

But, those who do work are entitled to corresponding support for their sacrifices. A fair pension and decent medical coverage. There are far more than enough resources to provide that. The paycheck alone is not meant to cover all that.

I'd add that a pension plan is simply contributing some of your compensation to an insurance policy of sorts.

The terms of the policy are clear: at such-and-such age, you can retire, and according to this formula, we will pay you such-and-such an amount, in some but not all cases with cost of living increases. There are as many formulas as there are plans.

The basic gist is, you make a deal as an employer, you're supposed to pay your end of the bargain. It's part of the deal you made, i.e., part of the stated compensation.

Otherwise you're just saying "You do the work, and I'll decide afterwards whether to pay you everything I promised."

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Plenty of people have no healthcare or retirement unless they themselves provide for it

...which is not acceptible. Guess I must clarify, there are plenty of resources in this country, which are wasted by the government on other, stupid things.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Fixed it.

Sorry man serious subject. Couldn't resist though. All I could think was Mercury Morris.

Rergarding '07 and since, no matter how frail, decrepit, senile, broken down, aged, and crippled these Patriots get, you will not hear them saying all the stupid, ignorant and insulting things about other teams in the future that were said about them by the Dolphins and everyone else.

 

[bormio]

Shula?

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

There is no entitlement, constitutional or statutory, to "decent medical coverage." As you find yourself so flush with resources, feel free to donate as you wish to the cause here. What possibly might be the basis for this childish assertion that "the paycheck alone is not meant to cover all that"? "Meant" by whom, on what basis, with what legitimate implications for the obligations of the employer or of the citizenry at large?

Running for re-election, are we?

 

[patfanken]

Slow your roll here for a second. All of those 50 players are likely to be in their 70's now. I would contend that if you take ANY group of fity 70 year olds, you could find 8 affected with "cognitive imparement" and none would have played a violent contact sport for often over 2 decades. (between HS, Coll, and Pros)

Granted we all know that hitting your head in violent collissions over and over again is NOT great for your brain, but so is getting into your 70's. Now I know I'M don't have nearly the mental dexterity of even 10 years ago. But I have to question is that because of the 10 years I played football in my life, or is it the diabetes, or the heart disease....or just getting old.

Believe me, allowing your teenager to drive or be driven by another teenager is more likely to cause serious injury or death than allowing your kid to play HS and college football. But I don't see any ground swelling of support to raise the legal age to drive.

I just read where over 700 mothers in America die each year due to preventable complications in child birth, thus giving the US the highest death rate in the entire industrial world. I know I'm ranting now, but I'm just making the point that there is more outrage about eight 70 year olds who are having some cognative issues, than about 700 preventable deaths per year in childbirth.

 

[deroc5050]

The average NFL player made 23k a year in the 70's which is a little over 100k in todays money.

People risk a lot more for a lot less than that. Couldn't possibly care less. Although somehow I find a way when it comes to players that made even more than that.

Even though football is hard work and violence and strategy.. it is competition and if your a former athlete you know how fun and euphoric competition can be. Would you sacrifice potential issues when your in your 60's to live a fun life? My Grandmother never played a sport in her life and she started getting early signs of dementia when she hit 80. At 87 she has full blown dementia.

While football can increase your chances of being disabled as you get older or maybe you age 1o years older.. or maybe you do end up with chronic pain in you knee or back.. Those same things happen to every day workers too.

Personally if I was big and fast enough to play in the NFL I would have. By the time your 65 the best parts of your life are over. When you hit 65 you basically have 20 years left and who knows how you go back to the mud. Life is to short play, risk and enjoy your life. Chances are anyway with todays technology that medical advancements could cure all kinds of things by the time a 30 year old today is 80 50 years from now.

Of course the way the world is going.. I have a feeling even 30-40 years from now with Artificial Intelligence and machines taking jobs from people the world could go through some massive changes.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Slow your roll here for a second. All of those 50 players are likely to be in their 70's now. I would contend that if you take ANY group of fity 70 year olds, you could find 8 affected with "cognitive imparement" and none would have played a violent contact sport for often over 2 decades. (between HS, Coll, and Pros)

Granted we all know that hitting your head in violent collissions over and over again is NOT great for your brain, but so is getting into your 70's. Now I know I'M don't have nearly the mental dexterity of even 10 years ago. But I have to question is that because of the 10 years I played football in my life, or is it the diabetes, or the heart disease....or just getting old.
.

I know your post is not intended to diminish the impact of concussions on brain health. Your point about geezers is spot on. I've seen way too many older people afflicted with serious cognitive impairment, people who did not play football. It's awful whatever the myriad causes. Where the NFL players are notably different from population averages is their inability to move fluidly (back, knees, etc.) some starting as early as in their 40s.
Back to concussions. Anything that increases the probability of getting dementia or accelerates its arrival is NOT a good thing. I would not choose to play NFL football were I magically transformed back into the studly yut of my early 20s.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Slow your roll here for a second. All of those 50 players are likely to be in their 70's now. I would contend that if you take ANY group of fity 70 year olds, you could find 8 affected with "cognitive imparement" and none would have played a violent contact sport for often over 2 decades. (between HS, Coll, and Pros)

Granted we all know that hitting your head in violent collissions over and over again is NOT great for your brain, but so is getting into your 70's. Now I know I'M don't have nearly the mental dexterity of even 10 years ago. But I have to question is that because of the 10 years I played football in my life, or is it the diabetes, or the heart disease....or just getting old.

Believe me, allowing your teenager to drive or be driven by another teenager is more likely to cause serious injury or death than allowing your kid to play HS and college football. But I don't see any ground swelling of support to raise the legal age to drive.

I just read where over 700 mothers in America die each year due to preventable complications in child birth, thus giving the US the highest death rate in the entire industrial world. I know I'm ranting now, but I'm just making the point that there is more outrage about eight 70 year olds who are having some cognative issues, than about 700 preventable deaths per year in childbirth.

Thanks for a very thoughtful perspective. It's good to step back and put difficult issues in context. I guess I'd probably quibble that we're talking about a lot more than "eight" guys here, but that doesn't alter the fact that there are many other people in difficult circumstances.

A group of athletes, some of whom were highly paid by the standards of their time and who were injured playing a game that they loved, has to be viewed in the broader context you suggest. You remind us that that can be done without diatribes.

Thanks for a thoughtful and reasonable post that can help all of us put this in a broader perspective.

 

[Kontradiction]

The notion that people in the 70's lacked the common sense to know that football is dangerous and that getting pounded in the head is bad for your head is preposterous. The term CTE was not then current, but the reality to which the term refers was indeed as patently obvious then as it is now. I am happy to "show compassion." as their travails, though foreseeable and therefore their repsonsibility, are indeed unfortunate. As to the subsidization of their efforts to address their problems, please do feel free to do so on your own dime if you wish - I have different charitable priorities. As to their employers' responsibilties in the matter, though I have not followed the matter very closely, I have seen nothing in their actions or representations which would make them liable at all.

As to where I post what, you may suggest whatever you like, but expect to be ignored.

These guys were given smelling salts and put back into the game after sustaining concussions which would then allow them to get a worse concussion. Yes, they knew the game has various hazards. No, they had no clue just how dangerous it was. The last two sentences of your post are the funniest. You haven't followed the matter that closely at all but you don't see any liability that lies with the employers. If that were the case, they NFL wouldn't have spent years and millions of dollars trying to cover up the research that recently came out.

 

[SEA_Pat]

Now I know I'M don't have nearly the mental dexterity of even 10 years ago. But I have to question is that because of the 10 years I played football in my life, or is it the diabetes, or the heart disease....or just getting old.

Don't worry PFK - you were making these sorts of simple grammar errors more than 10 years ago and you haven't spelt someone's name correctly in at least 20.

I just read where over 700 mothers in America die each year due to preventable complications in child birth, thus giving the US the highest death rate in the entire industrial world. I know I'm ranting now, but I'm just making the point that there is more outrage about eight 70 year olds who are having some cognative issues, than about 700 preventable deaths per year in childbirth.

The problem with this point is that we're talking about 700 known deaths of mothers based on proper statistics and data from hospitals whereas the 8 old dudes are indicative of a larger problem with the entire population of people who played football but we don't have any actual data on its extent and prevalence.

 

[SalemPats]

Slow your roll here for a second. All of those 50 players are likely to be in their 70's now. I would contend that if you take ANY group of fity 70 year olds, you could find 8 affected with "cognitive imparement" and none would have played a violent contact sport for often over 2 decades. (between HS, Coll, and Pros)

Granted we all know that hitting your head in violent collissions over and over again is NOT great for your brain, but so is getting into your 70's. Now I know I'M don't have nearly the mental dexterity of even 10 years ago. But I have to question is that because of the 10 years I played football in my life, or is it the diabetes, or the heart disease....or just getting old.

Believe me, allowing your teenager to drive or be driven by another teenager is more likely to cause serious injury or death than allowing your kid to play HS and college football. But I don't see any ground swelling of support to raise the legal age to drive.

I just read where over 700 mothers in America die each year due to preventable complications in child birth, thus giving the US the highest death rate in the entire industrial world. I know I'm ranting now, but I'm just making the point that there is more outrage about eight 70 year olds who are having some cognative issues, than about 700 preventable deaths per year in childbirth.

Agreed. It seems like some here would rather not even have a SB, but rather give participation awards at the end of the year.

Also, if they have cognitive impairment, they can still works in a profession like politics

 

[Mack Herron]

People interested in understanding the toll of head injuries will appreciate Marc Savard's story.

 

[Ring 6]

These guys were given smelling salts and put back into the game after sustaining concussions which would then allow them to get a worse concussion. Yes, they knew the game has various hazards. No, they had no clue just how dangerous it was. The last two sentences of your post are the funniest. You haven't followed the matter that closely at all but you don't see any liability that lies with the employers. If that were the case, they NFL wouldn't have spent years and millions of dollars trying to cover up the research that recently came out.

Other than liability the NFL has a PR issue, which I think is even a stronger motivation.
Even on this board of rabid fans many call for players to retire from the game.
The NFL is aware that the debilitating nature of the game is threatening its popularity.
Liability is a murky thing. It is very arguable that every injury sustained was done voluntarily meaning, as I understand it, liability would only exist if the employer was aware of the risks and expressly hid them from the players.
It seems to me that prior to Goodells shenanigans there really wasn't liability but he created it.

 

[PatsDeb]

Ken and PWP took the thoughts right out of my head. Among 55 70-yr-olds in the general population, you are bound to find 8 that suffer some kind of cognitive impairment, or diminish-ment, Heck I turn 53 in the next month and I have become painfully aware of how many times per day I sit there and say, "what was I doing now?" to myself, or even out loud. My kids tell me I forget things that they already told me before. I laugh it off, but it's a little scary. I can only imagine how much worse I might be if I took repeated blows to the head in my youth. In this one instance being a non-sporty geek worked out for me. I am not sure what the answer is, other than to stop playing completely or go to some kind of flag football. Purely as a fan, I would not find that too exciting. However, I do feel some guilt in continuing to be a big fan of professional football and hockey, knowing all the scary stuff being published in the last 10 years or so.