Bart Starr doesn’t remember Packers career; Autopsy reveals CTE in Frank Gifford's brain

[mountaineer]

Two related stories, so I'm posting both on one thread.

Bart Starr doesn’t remember Packers career
David Kenyon
MSN Sports

Bart Starr is a legendary NFL quarterback, but age and disease have robbed the Green Bay Packers icon of his football memory.

According to ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Starr’s wife Cherry said she hopes Thursday’s ceremony retiring Brett Favre’s jersey will trigger Bart’s ability to recall his former life.

“I hope when Bart walks on the field that it will bring back a lot of really nice thoughts and experiences. I just think it will be really stimulating to him to see all the lights and all the people and to hear the cheering. I hope it brings back memories for Bart, even if it’s just for that moment. It’s been a long road to get to this point, and we’re all very excited about it.”

Demovsky notes stem cell treatments allowed Starr to recover from a heart attack and multiple strokes in order to be healthy enough to travel from Alabama to Wisconsin for the occasion.

A 17th-round pick in 1956, Starr quarterbacked the Packers for 16 years. He completed 57.4 percent of his passes and tossed 152 touchdowns in an era where the running game still ruled.

Starr earned five NFL championships, earning MVP honors in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II and helping Green Bay claim the moniker “Titletown.” He also coached the Packers for nine seasons from 1975-1983.

Green Bay fans will get the chance to see Starr, Favre and Aaron Rodgers in the same building, perhaps for the last time. That alone would be worth the price of admission.

Reported today by the Associated Press (via MSN):

NEW YORK (AP) — The family of Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank Gifford says signs of the degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy were found in his brain after his death.

In a statement released through NBC News on Wednesday, the family said he had "experienced firsthand" symptoms associated with CTE but did not offer specifics. Gifford died of natural causes at his Connecticut home in August at age 84.

His widow, Kathie Lee Gifford, is a host for NBC's "Today."

The statement said that the family "made the difficult decision to have his brain studied in hopes of contributing to the advancement of medical research concerning the link between football and traumatic brain injury."

"Our suspicions that he was suffering from the debilitating effects of head trauma were confirmed," the Giffords added.

CTE, which can be diagnosed only after death, has been found in the brains of dozens of former players. Linked to repeated brain trauma, it is associated with symptoms such as memory loss, impaired judgment, depression, and, eventually, progressive dementia.

The statement said the family found "comfort in knowing that by disclosing his condition we might contribute positively to the ongoing conversation that needs to be had; that he might be an inspiration for others suffering with this disease that needs to be addressed in the present; and that we might be a small part of the solution to an urgent problem concerning anyone involved with football, at any level."

A running back, defensive back, wide receiver and special teams player, Gifford was the NFL MVP in 1956 when his New York Giants won the league championship. A crushing hit by Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik in November 1960 flattened Gifford and likely shortened his football career. Bednarik was pictured standing over the unconscious Gifford, pumping his fist in celebration. Gifford was in the hospital for 10 days and sidelined until 1962.

Gifford later had a successful second career in broadcasting, most notably on ABC's "Monday Night Football," where he famously served as a buffer between fellow announcers Don Meredith and Howard Cosell.

[jmyrlefuller]

Honestly, it's looking more and more like CTE is a quack diagnosis. When was the last time ANY CTE test ever came back negative?

It looks more to me like CTE is being used as the fault any time an athlete has dementia in old age.

[sinkspur]

Honestly, it's looking more and more like CTE is a quack diagnosis. When was the last time ANY CTE test ever came back negative?

It looks more to me like CTE is being used as the fault any time an athlete has dementia in old age.

I agree.  Gifford was 84 and Starr is at least 80.

Notice CTE is never the CAUSE of death.  It's just a condition they have.

[truth_seeker]

Quack diagnosis? I seriously doubt that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy

[mountaineer]

According to an article at ESPN:

Over the past decade, the disease has been found in the brains of 87 out of the 
91 dead NFL players who were examined. In late February, a BU (Boston University)-hosted "consensus conference" concluded that CTE is a distinct neurodegenerative disease found only in patients who experienced brain trauma. The NFL rejected its link to football for years.

I don't think anyone says it's the cause of death, but perhaps it causes or contributes to  dementia and other neurological problems in those whose bells were rung a few too many times. It's also possible that the brain trauma in question isn't necessarily related to football.

 For more on the science of it, see Boston University's page, "What is CTE?"

[sinkspur]

Nobody forces anybody to play football. 

What about professional hockey?  Lots of contact with the ice.  Has anybody studied ice hockey deaths?

This is an attempt by a bunch of busybodies to draw some parallel between CTE and death.

Of 80 year old men.

[mountaineer]

CTE has been linked to hockey and soccer, in addition to football and boxing.

[sinkspur]

CTE has been linked to hockey and soccer, in addition to football and boxing.

So let's just do away with sports entirely.

What a bunch of bullshit.

[mountaineer]

So let's just do away with sports entirely.

What a bunch of bullshit.

[xfreeper]

If you don't agree with the facts, just ignore them.

[jmyrlefuller]

Quack diagnosis? I seriously doubt that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_traumatic_encephalopathy

I don't want to imply that dementia isn't an issue among athletes: it is. But like I said, there are very few cases where a CTE test ever comes back negative. Plus, the people who study this have claimed that it's the cause of "subconcussive hits," but it has also been found in those who have only had one blunt-force trauma (hockey player Rick Martin with his 1977 concussion, Chris Henry and his death from hitting his head falling from a truck). The mechanisms of this supposed form of dementia are so vague and broad that it's hard to draw anything from it. Some of the people who had antisocial tendencies and prickly personalities had those same issues even during their playing days, and that's part of the reason they were so successful as football players. They could channel their issues on the football field.

[truth_seeker]

Wow. They didn't state they have a bunch of answers. They state they are studying things.

Cassius Clay and Junior Seau are cases in point. Getting hit in the head a lot, causes serious brain injuries.

I had an elderly friend with Alzheimer's. It is tragic. It would be good to learn better treatments.

Research is good. Prematurely closed minds are not good.

[DCPatriot]

LOL!

Bart Starr, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, played before the big money contracts.

IMO, this is simply an attempt to receive compensation.

Hey!  Some retired athletes sue.....and some change the sexual orientation.  This is ALL about the $$$

[mountaineer]

Anyone who watched the halftime ceremony during the Packers-Bears game last night would have seen how confused and befuddled Bart appeared, and it was sad. No one said the football hits caused it. No one suggested banning football (Sink, please). No one's saying Bart has CTE - that can't be diagnosed until he's dead - the story above said only that he doesn't remember his playing days. It might be due to regular run-of-the-mill old age dementia for all anyone knows.

I merely posted the articles because I thought they might be interesting. Because CTE might result from any concussion or head injury, and not just from engaging in football or boxing, the story might be relevant to a good number of us or our children.

[EdinVA]

While it is true that no one is being forced to play and is being compensated well, the issue I have with all of this is that sports is entertainment and is not supposed to be a life altering event for anyone.
What little football I played, the coached pushes for head first contact and hit to hurt.
I like watching football and boxing but I think the constant emphasis on the dramatic hit and the highlight needs to change.  Sprains/fractures are going to happen but money should not be pushing us closer to the Romans and lions.

[Relic]

LOL!

Bart Starr, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, played before the big money contracts.

IMO, this is simply an attempt to receive compensation.

Hey!  Some retired athletes sue.....and some change the sexual orientation.  This is ALL about the $$$

I disagree. In Starr's day, getting your "bell rung" was a common event. Defenses based their pass defense strategy on hitting the QB, hard and often. It was a brutal game.

I love football. I played in High School. I don't enjoy how the game has changed, but I understand it. I don't want be entertained by people being seriously damaged.

I once saw a TV interview and a pickup was parked too close to the practice field. Gerald Riggs, a running back for the Redskins, ran into the side of the truck. It crumpled the side like the darn thing was tboned by another car. Those collisions are even more violent than they look.

The changes have seriously reduced the chances of another Darryl Stingley type injury.

The players will do whatever is allowed. They are young, and in their minds bullet proof. Bringing some protection, some sanity to the game isn't fun, but it's the right way to go.

I realize there are also the opportunists, trying to squeeze money out of the NFL at every turn. The movie "Concussion" is evidence of that. The NFL is a rich target for the scammers.

[jmyrlefuller]

While it is true that no one is being forced to play and is being compensated well, the issue I have with all of this is that sports is entertainment and is not supposed to be a life altering event for anyone.
What little football I played, the coached pushes for head first contact and hit to hurt.
I like watching football and boxing but I think the constant emphasis on the dramatic hit and the highlight needs to change.  Sprains/fractures are going to happen but money should not be pushing us closer to the Romans and lions.

That was never the case when I played football. Now, I admit, I am much younger than most of the people on this board, but we were always taught to play a clean, fair game and NEVER to deliberately hurt a person.

[Relic]

That was never the case when I played football. Now, I admit, I am much younger than most of the people on this board, but we were always taught to play a clean, fair game and NEVER to deliberately hurt a person.

I'm old, but even back when I played we were taught to hit with our head up, never the crown of the helmet. I had a teammate who broke his neck in a drill because he used the crown of his helmet.

As for hurting someone, slobber knockers were highly prized. No dirty hits, but if you took someone out with a clean hit, that was a good thing. Never any desire for injury to the other player, but hurting him was encouraged.

[mountaineer]

Related, from The Federalist:

Brain Injuries Are About To Change Sports Forever
We don’t know how to handle the potential for sports-related brain injuries, but that’s not stopping lawmakers from wading in.
December 14, 2015
 By Nicole Fisher

Brain injuries, like any bodily injuries, are a natural part of life. Unsurprisingly, they occur during car accidents and common falls. However, recent advancements in neuroscience have highlighted just how harmful brain injury can be to overall health and cause lifelong impairment.

So what are policymakers to do about brain injuries that result from contact sports such as football, soccer, and lacrosse? Further, how do they protect those younger than 18, whose brains are still developing, while respecting individual choice?

Growing litigation and state-level legislative proposals in recent years demonstrate that radical rule changes are possible soon. These options include simply collecting data on current athletes via sensors that will inform future legislation, equipment mandates, prohibiting contact during practices, and explicitly banning contact sports for younger people.

Lawmakers Are On the Prowl

This means sports leagues need to be taking a better lead, and working diligently with scientists and policymakers to ensure the sports we love are protected, as are the humans who play them. It also means that policymakers need to know when to slow rule-making to ensure that the best science is available to them.

Sports leagues need to be taking a better lead, and working diligently with scientists and policymakers.

For example, several states have gone down the ill-advised path of mandating neurologists be on the sideline of football games. This not only does nothing for the athletes, but it costs school systems large sums of money to have an expensive person on the field who is no better at quickly diagnosing a concussion than a trainer.

Other states want to limit how quickly a player may return to practice post-concussion. However, data is so conflicted and the body of literature so young that recommended differences range from three days to several weeks. In reality, this should be an individual-based diagnosis and treatment, not a local or state directive.

We Don’t Know Enough to Regulate

Additionally, governors, senators, representatives, and even universities are calling health policy advisors with increased frequency asking about the slippery slope of mandating what students at all ages can and cannot do during a day. When many schools cannot afford new books, there is no room in the budget for things like expensive upgrades in equipment that are only marginally better at protection.

The one known in neuroscience is that policymakers are not going to sit on the sidelines.

Further, if we can tell students and parents what people under the age of 18 must wear during the day or what activities they are allowed to participate in, then the First Lady’s food initiative is certainly on the table, adding all kinds of regulation and expenses schools cannot afford.

Yet, as athletes continue to get bigger, faster, and stronger, and training begins at increasingly younger ages to enhance performance, risk of concussion and traumatic brain injury increases exponentially. For youth these often result in difficulties returning to the field and to the classroom, as well as potential life-long impact. For adults, we know that repeated brain trauma can lead to many long-term mental health issues and potentially increased degeneration.

So, while the science itself grows and evolves each day, the one known in neuroscience is that policymakers are not going to sit on the sidelines. It’s time for sports leagues, scientists, and policymakers to get on the same team so Americans make the best decisions to preserve sports and health.

Nicole Fisher is the president and CEO at HHR Strategies, a health-care and human-rights-focused advising firm.

[mountaineer]

Related: 
‘Concussion’ Movie That Implores NFL to ‘Tell the Truth’ Tells Many Lies

by Daniel J. Flynn25 Dec 2015

“Tell the truth,” a frustrated Will Smith repeats in Concussion. If only the makers of the film followed that sound advice.

The motion picture indicates that Bennet Omalu discovered chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), something the flesh-and-blood doctor doubles down on in a recent CNN op-ed. But a researcher first discovered the condition in boxers in the 1920s. “Name it,” a colleague implores Omalu in the movie. “Give this a name.” But it already had a name. The medical literature, as the Associated Press pointed out this week, contains the phrase “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” in articles published more than a half-century ago. Bennet Omalu surely first discovered the disease in a football player. But Hollywood, and the real-life Dr. Omalu, awards him a grander scientific achievement than what honesty compels us to grant him. Tell the truth.

One gleans the impression through a scene in a near-vacant lot that Justin Strzelczyk and Mike Webster commiserated over their neurological troubles as old friends. But the Steelers linemen never played together. There’s no evidence that they held such a dramatic meeting of the addled minds. No record exists of Dave Duerson and Andre Waters, two defensive backs who later killed themselves, partaking in a violent argument outside of NFL headquarters. Duerson never told Omalu to “go back to Africa” and no Steelers fanatic working in the Allegheny County coroner’s office ever hounded him to stop his work. But it’s Hollywood, and presumably the viewers who can grasp that Luke Wilson isn’t Roger Goodell understand what dramatic license means. But that license goes beyond expected composite characters and trivial fibs such as showing the teetotaler Cyril Wecht drinking at a bar. Tell the truth.

The filmmakers leave knowledgeable filmgoers with the sense that even the writers, producers, and director understood the script as fudging the facts. They create impressions rather than assert truths. Why else would they insert scenes of mysterious cars lurking outside of the Omalu home or an ominous car chasing the doctor’s wife without ever resolving who sat behind the wheel? The latter scene results in a miscarriage for Mrs. Omalu. “This is my fault,” Will Smith maintains. “They destroyed us.” The NFL that profited off brain trauma also murdered a baby, the portrayal leads viewers to believe. Tell the truth.

When the filmmakers appear on the verge of telling a figurative truth, they tell a literal lie. The Nigerian immigrant informs his African love interest that in America you must become the “best version of you.” He advises, “If you don’t know what that is you pick something and fake it.” He explains that he modeled himself on “an older, bald-headed white man”—his boss at the Allegheny County coroner’s office, Cyril Wecht. This rings true, and Albert Brooks shines in his portrayal of the not-camera-shy coroner. The movie then depicts a conspiracy between the two presumably most powerful three-letter outfits in America—the FBI and the NFL—to silence Omalu by indicting his mentor Wecht. A stunned Omalu tells the agents, “You are attacking him to get to me.” But this, like Wecht’s Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories, ranks as revisionist history that finds no backing in any evidence then or now. Wecht’s legal troubles, which he ultimately overcame, did not in any way involve his understudy irritating the NFL. Tell the truth.

Even when telling the truth served to make a more interesting movie, Hollywood opted for falsehoods. The real Bennet Omalu, a man described in League of Denial as favoring $6,000 cufflinks and speaking of himself in the third person, lends himself nicely not merely to the silver-screen but to a cartoon. But Will Smith plays him as a sober, serious doctor in a lab coat rather than a flashy and flamboyant capitalist wearing Italian suits. It’s like casting Morgan Freeman in full-on voice-of-God mode to play P.T. Barnum. What gives Omalu more credibility in the fictional retelling actually detracts from the movie. A colorful, natural performer preexisted the production; a staid saint emerges from it. Tell the truth.

Inherent within the plot lies an irreconcilable contradiction. In Concussion, the NFL torments Bennet Omalu and attempts to suppress his research. In real life, the NFL, or at least a scholarly publication repeatedly lambasted as the “The Official Medical Journal of the National Football League,” ran Omalu’s initial study that announced finding CTE in the brain of a deceased player (Mike Webster).  ...

Rest of story

[Scottftlc]

"Even when telling the truth served to make a more interesting movie, Hollywood opted for falsehoods."

That's the way of Hollywood leftist campaigns - the truth is never enough to convince (see, LGBT or climate change), so you embellish and embellish using heart-strings to capture your audience.  Can you imagine, if their politics were 180 degrees from where they are, the movie they would do on Planned Parenthood?