I read the article, though, and I hardly see how the sport is killing its players. It's not like plenty of people who aren't pro athletes don't commit suicide as well.
One claim made in this article I have a hard time buying: that this particular man shot himself in the chest so that his brain would be preserved; that way it could be examined for signs of football-related trauma which might have caused his depression.
I have a little trouble with someone who is suicidal thinking things through quite that far. If he was capable of that, then why was he not capable of seeking help for the suspected injuries?
I would rather suspect that a gunshot wound to the chest rather than the head would be a vanity thing- I'll be dead but still be a good-looking corpse.
A prior NFL player who committed suicide shot himself in the chest in the same manner. In his suicide note he asked to have his brain examined to determine the cause of his depression.
It appears (on the surface) Mr. Seau did it the same way . . .
Speaking as somebody who has had to deal with that level of depression in the past, people in the middle of depression don't think that way.
NO. It really is about preserving the brain for study and Seau's family have consented to that end. It's the same MO of the other player's suicide and was explained in the suicide note.