My oldest Brother was a great high school football running back. He was big, fast, and strong.
One night he had broken through the line and linebackers with only the safety left. The safety hit him right in the middle of the chest with the front of his helmet. He literally stopped Joe for a second. Then Joe got his feet going again and ran right over him.
A few days later Joe told me that the guy had hit him right where the shoulder pads lace up and it still really hurt. Joe died of a heart attack at age 59. I always wondered if that hit, had damaged his heart and eventually caused the heart attack. I really don’t know tho.
I’ve no idea. I don’t know how well the heart is able to repair itself if it takes damage. 59 is still well within heart attack range however. It’s one reason to start taking better care about 45 or so.
I wondered that about Tony C. Nine years after he took that hit to the head, he had a heart attack and went into a coma/vegetative state from which he never woke up to his death.
In 66 I went to scout quartz hill hs In the pressmen warm ups they were practicing form tackle. One player hit another with hid helmet and pushed food up somehow. The player died on the field when they could not get his lungs to expand and contract.
Growing up a Detroit Lions fan, I’ll never forget when Chuck Hughes collapsed and died on the field...I still see the image of a frantic Dick Butkus signaling for someone to come to his aid.