Good but sad article about Chris Gedney - former Card

WildBB

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Such a haunting tragedy. The injuries, serious diseases and the addictions that many athletes have faced but not all successfully. Some just need to be looked after....after all. Someone to be there in the cave, and beyond. He was Loved, but it wasn't enough. His friend was right. Fall 10 x 10 times, but you still get back up. Not just for yourself or on anyone else's time table. Harder to do dealing with so much pain and drugs. :(
 

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Speaking from experience, a big part of depression is feeling really lonely, even if you're in a room full of dozens of people.


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Krangodnzr

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I met him a number of times. Very nice guy. He actually looked to buy my parent's house in Ahwatukee.
 

NJCardFan

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I want to know is when did this become epidemic and why? Football players in general have always took shots to the head, some shots were legal at one time(head slap) but players from the birth of the game(once upon a time this game was played without helmets) to even the 80's didn't kill themselves like this. Could it be the combination of CTE and opioid drugs? This is obviously a problem that needs to be addressed.
 

Ronin

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I want to know is when did this become epidemic and why? Football players in general have always took shots to the head, some shots were legal at one time(head slap) but players from the birth of the game(once upon a time this game was played without helmets) to even the 80's didn't kill themselves like this. Could it be the combination of CTE and opioid drugs? This is obviously a problem that needs to be addressed.
And then you have a former player shooting himself in the chest, Instead of the head, so people can use his brain for research on CTE. (Seau)
 

NJCardFan

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And then you have a former player shooting himself in the chest, Instead of the head, so people can use his brain for research on CTE. (Seau)
Didn't Andre Waters and Dave Duerson kill themselves in a similar manner?
 

Matt L

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I want to know is when did this become epidemic and why? Football players in general have always took shots to the head, some shots were legal at one time(head slap) but players from the birth of the game(once upon a time this game was played without helmets) to even the 80's didn't kill themselves like this. Could it be the combination of CTE and opioid drugs? This is obviously a problem that needs to be addressed.

It's possible that there was always an issue but there's more media and more exposure.

It's also possible that the players are so much bigger and faster now that the hours have a much greater impact.
 

Krangodnzr

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It's possible that there was always an issue but there's more media and more exposure.

It's also possible that the players are so much bigger and faster now that the hours have a much greater impact.

It's pretty much been an issue for a long time, it just wasnt well understood.
 

JeffGollin

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It's pretty much been an issue for a long time, it just wasnt well understood.
The context continues to shift.

Cause and effect (i.e. physical trauma's impact on various maladies) wasn't very well understood even a few years ago. You can add to this, the tendency of most teams and their leagues to be in denial because it serves their financial purposes which, in turn makes it easy for them to operate under a built-in bias of, say, "maybe it's not concussion-related, maybe it's weed-control agents on the practice-fields."

Logical answer is to be fanatic and aggressive about employing good science and following the facts, wherever they lead.
 

NJCardFan

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It's possible that there was always an issue but there's more media and more exposure.

It's also possible that the players are so much bigger and faster now that the hours have a much greater impact.
I've been around a long time, even through the advent of the internet and I don't recall athletes killing themselves like this. Believe me, a professional athlete, especially ones like Seau, Waters, Duerson, and other high profile players, would have been newsworthy even in the 70's. And concussions aren't anything new. Athletes in football, hockey, boxing(you never hear of boxers killing themselves and they spend years getting their heads kicked in) have been getting concussions forever but athletes killing themselves seems to be a new issue. This is why I'm wondering is opioid pain meds play a part in it or even psychotropic drugs.
 

Krangodnzr

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I've been around a long time, even through the advent of the internet and I don't recall athletes killing themselves like this. Believe me, a professional athlete, especially ones like Seau, Waters, Duerson, and other high profile players, would have been newsworthy even in the 70's. And concussions aren't anything new. Athletes in football, hockey, boxing(you never hear of boxers killing themselves and they spend years getting their heads kicked in) have been getting concussions forever but athletes killing themselves seems to be a new issue. This is why I'm wondering is opioid pain meds play a part in it or even psychotropic drugs.

Maybe they exacerbate the issue, but CTE is the biggest problem.

When coroners are looking at the brain cells of 18 year olds and say they look like the brain cells of an 85 year with Alzheimers, you know there is a problem.

Like I said, I told my two oldest sons that even though I love football, I would rather they didnt play. Luckily they are both little squirts so I dont think football is for them any way. I told them to stick to Madden.
 
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Maybe they exacerbate the issue, but CTE is the biggest problem.

When coroners are looking at the brain cells of 18 year olds and say they look like the brain cells of an 85 year with Alzheimers, you know there is a problem.

Like I said, I told my two oldest sons that even though I love football, I would rather they didnt play. Luckily they are both little squirts so I dont think football is for them any way. I told them to stick to Madden.
same boat. 2 boys that like to throw the football around but steering them far away from playing
 

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