Posted on 05/03/2012 4:17:30 AM PDT by No One Special
The loss of this great athlete, and, by all accounts, exemplary human being is tragic - and doubly so since it gives ammunition to the “zero tolerance for risk”, “wrap in cotton cradle-to-the-grave” proponents...
But trying to imply that football was responsible is total bs. The rate for teen suicide is higher than any other group, but using this guys logic implies that you just should’t be a teen.
To compare apples to apples, how does the suicide rate among former NFL players compare to that of former major league baseball players? I don’t know but would be interested in finding out.
To indicate my bias, I detest football, it’s an ugly game in my view. And I think baseball is the finest sport ever conceived by the mind of man. But that’s just me.
Nobody took more blows to the head than Muhammed Ali, He may be punchy , but he hasn’t killed himself.
That is not accurate. According to NIMH, the highest rate (14.3 per 100,000) is for people 65 and older. The next highest is ages 20-24, followed by 15-19.
The author's logic is correct, as far as it goes. If men from age groups that are less likely to commit suicide are doing so in unexpected numbers, then perhaps they have a significant factor in common: a factor such as head trauma. This reasoning doesn't prove the causation, but the article says physical studies and other research are being done on the subject.
-—Seau was 43 when he took his life, barely three years after the end of a 20-year NFL career in which he was a 12-time Pro Bowl selection.——
My guess is post-retirement depression (which usually manifests itself in a new career of drug-dealing). His first suicide attempt came the year after he retired.
I heard Fred Smerlas talk about the phenomenon this morning.
If I were trying to ruin America...I’d blame the NFL for every former player’s suicide.
How long ago was he divorced and what role does the divorce play in the suicide? Seems that would be a far more proximate cause than football.
(Please note that concussions do need to be watched out for, and I believe the NFL is doing a better job of that. I don’t believe that concussions lead directly to suicide for these guys who have everything else going for them though)
I’m with you, OP. I LOVE baseball. Football, not so much.
Nobody took more blows to the head than Muhammed Ali,
A good response to this article. And something else could be related to the demise of some of these pro’s.... all the wealth poured up-on these athletes should be considered. Not many can grasp or hold on to money. Often, many end in debt’s (phy) they cannot repay.
And why did he love the game? And why was he so good at it? Yah, he was one tough SOB willing to give it as much as take it. Pro football is not for the faint of heart, but if they change it so that it is for the faint of heart in order to try and prevent CTE....well...guys like Seau probably won't want to play it, and a lot of fans won't want to watch it.
Ali didn’t box weekend after weekend after weekend, year after year after year. Bad comparison.
I’m not one to tell people what to do with themselves, as long as their actions don’t unduly affect others, but the human body wasn’t made to endure football. Anyone who doesn’t recognize that is in dreamland.
Even if I thought it was fun to watch, I wouldn’t. I consider it to much like the roman gladiator games. I wont amuse myself that way.
“..guys like Seau probably won’t want to play it, and a lot of fans won’t want to watch it. “
It’s almost unwatchable now, with a rule book that rivals the US Tax Code for convolution and complexity, compounded by Instant Replay — and, increasingly, the involvement of lawyers in the minutae of the game...
Ali didn’t wear a helmet either.
You and I, both. And the denial here shown by some is disturbing.
That said, I'd be at least as worried about the effect of playing football on the developing brain.
First — it’s very sad to hear of his death. He seemed like a good guy.
Second — who thinks they can repeatedly hit their head on something(s) and come out ok afterward? Esp. when it happens for weeks on end, year after year. It does not take ‘studies’ to figure out that, gee, multiple concussions can’t be good for brain matter.
So, on the one hand: lots of money, fame, etc. On the other, brain damage. I think NFL players picked their poison.
George Chuvalo (The Rock) certainly did, and many of them at the hands of Ali, whom he fought twice. Despite that, George's speech and thought is still as clear as a bell.
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