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CTE Update... 4 players willing to take CTE test. Testing living players possible soon

strummingram

strummingram

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As the process of evaluating and diagnosing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living patients inches closer to becoming a reality, current athletes face the possibility of knowing whether they have the disease...

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Dion Jordan said he wouldn't take it. He also didn't think many active players would do so.

Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Artie Burns offered an interesting response to the question.

"I definitely know I have it," he said. "I'm going to [test positive for] CTE. I don't need a test. Is it going to tell me how much I have? We play a physical sport, man. Humans are not made to run into each other."

Cousins noted if he took the test and it came back positive for CTE, he would walk away from the NFL immediately

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...rs-discuss-potentially-testing-for-having-cte

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...te-tests-while-active/?utm_term=.1a5bd41c7501




Video discussion at this link is good:

https://www.si.com/nfl/2017/12/13/nfl-cte-test-living-patients
 
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The day is coming when there will be dozens of players diagnosed with cte who arent suffering symptoms and will want to play. Will the nfl allow them to sign off on a liability release to play or will we see major talent drain and ratings decline as every team loses stars to the diagnosis?
 
heelmanwilm said:
The day is coming when there will be dozens of players diagnosed with cte who arent suffering symptoms and will want to play. Will the nfl allow them to sign off on a liability release to play or will we see major talent drain and ratings decline as every team loses stars to the diagnosis?
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I think you will start to see them move towards another sport when they are young. Youth participation is down already. The NFL should be focusing on the issue on a youth and high school level instead of trying to hide the problem at the professional level. If the roots go, the tree dies.
 
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heelmanwilm said:
The day is coming when there will be dozens of players diagnosed with cte who arent suffering symptoms and will want to play. Will the nfl allow them to sign off on a liability release to play or will we see major talent drain and ratings decline as every team loses stars to the diagnosis?
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Well, when you are seeing players, who have already banked enough, prepared to leave if they have it at all, that doesn't bode well for the game.
 
tarheel0910 said:
I think you will start to see them move towards another sport when they are young. Youth participation is down already. The NFL should be focusing on the issue on a youth and high school level instead of trying to hide the problem at the professional level. If the roots go, the tree dies.
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That's helping to hasten the demise. The NFL's denial and refusal to address it early has only made it worse.
 
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Heels Noir said:
Football's demise is all in your head, strum.

The good news is the Winter Olympics begin soon and you'll be able to enjoy all the injury-free women's figure skating your little heart desires.
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I love how this topic brings out your conservative side... big time. You're like the NFL- Nothing's wrong, just some random examples.

I actually enjoy the hard hits and the knockout clashes. I love seeing them collide and then go unconscious. I'm watching it, partly, for the ferocity and the potential for some slammage. But, it's coming to an end.

It's not in my head, either. It's in the player's heads. In fact, according to the heads they have examined, it's been in every one of them.
 
strummingram said:
You're like the NFL- Nothing's wrong, just some random examples.
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As I've clearly stated before, I'm not in denial. I'm aware of what the research shows. But no matter how many concussions occur, no matter how many players are paralyzed, no matter how many or how severe the injuries are, history shows us that football is here to stay. Get over it.

I like fukking with Heels Noir.
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So you don't actually think football's days are numbered? WTF?
 
Hark_The_Sound_2010 said:
Nancy Kerrigan says hi.
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Great, so now we're going to lose women's figure skating, too?! If strum has anything to do with it pretty soon we won't have any sports to watch.

What about curling? Has anyone dropped the stone on their toe and given investigators cause to outlaw that sport as well?
 
Heels Noir said:
Great, so now we're going to lose women's figure skating, too?! If strum has anything to do with it pretty soon we won't have any sports to watch.

What about curling? Has anyone dropped the stone on their toe and given investigators cause to outlaw that sport as well?
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I mean he's not pulling for the demise... Its just his opinion that football is in decline. I would probably tend to agree, while also noting that football could easily survive just fine with less than half the support and participation it currently gets. So it may very well be in decline, but probably won't die completely.
 
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uncboy10 said:
I mean he's not pulling for the demise... Its just his opinion that football is in decline. I would probably tend to agree, while also noting that football could easily survive just fine with less than half the support and participation it currently gets. So it may very well be in decline, but probably won't die completely.
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Yeah, I'm sure people will still keep playing on some level. I just think the days are numbered as far as how we see it now.

Like I said, I love seeing dramatic hits, cold-cocked dudes laid-out with the birdies chirping around their heads, and fights breaking out. I'm not watching football for the alcohol and food... I don't drink. I like seeing the sport played well, of course, and for the team I'm pulling for to win. I think it's barbaric and archaic, but I will definitely watch it. I'm not rooting for its demise. I'm actually just the bearer of bad news. I don't LIKE that this is happening. But, I know that it will keep on happening, and get worse. I'm actually bummed-out about it.
 
Heels Noir said:
As I've clearly stated before, I'm not in denial. I'm aware of what the research shows. But no matter how many concussions occur, no matter how many players are paralyzed, no matter how many or how severe the injuries are, history shows us that football is here to stay. Get over it.
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Actually, there is one thing history has shown us... NOTHING STAYS THE SAME! Everything is ALWAYS changing. You suck at liberalism, dude!

As far as football injuries, specifically, the past has never dealt with brain function issues. CTE is an unprecedented condition. Arthritis, bad knees, all of the skeletal/muscular problems and infirmities that are customary to contact sports are sorta like masculine badges of honor. When your mind isn't working and you become a threat to yourself and others, your sanity is taken? That's a whole different thing. I'm sure there are some men who don't care if they lose their brain function. So, maybe you're right. It may dwindle to the point of lower IQ individuals who just enjoy it and can only do that.

Heels Noir said:
So you don't actually think football's days are numbered? WTF?
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I know they are. And, I like fukking with you about it because I like seeing the guy on here who portays himself to be so liberal actually exhibit extreme conservatism- the refusal to accept change.
 
A few years ago I never thought football would slow down, let alone be in fear of going away. But I’m starting to believe. Let active players starting getting concrete diagnoses and many will quit. Parents will steer their kids away from the sport. It’s always been violent but it’s getting worse. The players are bigger and faster than ever before and it’s only a matter of time before we see someone die on the field.
 
One thing that may help the NFL is to offer fully guaranteed contracts to all it's players similar to the NBA and MLB. If that happens, maybe players would decide to play pro footbal even with knowing the CTE risks, play a few years and then retire. Their careers may be shorter, but at least the league could still have a steady pool of talent.
 
The NFL will not exist in 20 years. If it does, we will not recognize the game being played because it is so different than what we have come to know. @strummingram is right on this every time it comes up.

@TarHeelNation11 always says that the only thing that can save football is taking the helmets off. I think he’s right.
 
MWHeels said:
One thing that may help the NFL is to offer fully guaranteed contracts to all it's players similar to the NBA and MLB. If that happens, maybe players would decide to play pro footbal even with knowing the CTE risks, play a few years and then retire. Their careers may be shorter, but at least the league could still have a steady pool of talent.
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This is probably the most important thing. Look, I keep beating the same drum when discussing the NFL, but I'll go through my spiel again:

The NFL is the most hypocritical sports league and possibly the most hypocritical entity in all of business that exists in America. It also continually shits on its employees with every single decision it makes.

  • The league now preaches player safety (after years of trying to sweep player safety concerns under the rug) as a paramount concern, yet institutes a Thursday night game each week and PUTS IT ON ITS OWN NETWORK. Players despise the Thursday night games. TNF is horrific for the players' recovery processes, the quality of play is usually terrible, and the number of injuries spike during these games. Player safety, my ass. ETA: Oh, and they're going to add more teams to the playoffs soon AND extend the season....but yes, player safety! Oh, and now they make teams play in London. But yes! Player safety! We totally value it guys !!111!!!!
  • As @MWHeels points out... player contracts aren't guaranteed. The American sports league that makes the most money by far pays its (non-QB) players the least compared to baseball and basketball, and doesn't guarantee contract money. The sport is so dangerous and damaging to the body, that contract money should be guaranteed, period. Demaruice Smith and every other NFLPA head before him must be the biggest retards in this country for not getting this done.
  • Building on this point, players don't make enough of the money. If salaries soared to baseball levels for the majority of NFL star and B-level players (not just your QBs, but your WRs, CBs, LBs, RBs, DTs, etc.), people would shut the hell up about CTE and give everything they had to be an NFL player.
  • In short, if football players were paid like baseball players, including guaranteed contracts, the discussion would totally change. Players would absolutely take the risk of long-term health impairment in exchange for earning millions and millions every year and having it guaranteed.
And my bulleted list doesn't even get into the retardedly bad NFL refereeing, the gotdamn catch rule catastrophe, moving TWO teams to L.A. when there's no demand for a local team there, a haphazard player discipline judge, etc. etc.

The NFL is run like a Mickey Mouse organization but succeeds in spite of itself.
 
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gunslingerdick said:
The NFL will not exist in 20 years. If it does, we will not recognize the game being played because it is so different than what we have come to know. @strummingram is right on this every time it comes up.
False.

@TarHeelNation11 always says that the only thing that can save football is taking the helmets off. I think he’s right.
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It's the easiest solution and would have wide-sweeping benefits, including but not limited to:

  • Drastic reduction in major head injuries because no one will be dumb enough to spear someone any more. Tackling (from a safety standpoint) will improve dramatically overnight.
  • NFL players, unless they're a select few guys, suffer from anonymity. Fans only know them as the number on their jersey, and wouldn't recognize them if they saw them walking the street. Removing the helmet will instantly make NFL players more recognizable, thus helping them build their brand. Compare it to soccer. Same number of players on the field, but soccer players can build their brand a lot easier because you can see their faces.
  • Would make the game of football cheaper for smaller colleges, schools, and youth leagues to play. Helmets ain't cheap.
The "drawback" would be the audience would have to see blood (oh the horror!!). Guys would have bloody noses and broken noses and teeth falling out and shit like that and that might "scare" some folks......whereas now, the unwashed masses can remain naively ignorant as two dudes slam their heads together and...."hey, both their brains probably just scraped the inside of both sides of their skull, but there's no blood to be seen so I feel okay watching this!!!"

I'm cynical af this morning.
 
TarHeelMark said:
^ Thursday games should either be discontinued, or at the very least only schedule teams that are both coming off a bye.
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Yep, Thursday Night Football is the biggest indicator that the NFL is 100% a money whore who will do anything for an additional dollar, no matter what it means for their employees.

Hey but don't worry, they're gonna compensate for adding more games to the regular season by cutting out two preseason games!! Thus giving players even less time to get reps in the preseason (meaning more injuries, especially for QBs who will be behind unpracticed offensive lines) and giving fringe players less opportunity to show out and earn a roster spot. Hooray!
 
One idea I've heard a lot to deal with the player safety / Thursday night game issue is to lengthen the season by a week and give each team two bye weeks. One of the byes would be before the Thursday game.
 
strummingram said:
Yeah, I'm sure people will still keep playing on some level. I just think the days are numbered as far as how we see it now.
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That's called backpedaling, strum.

Like I said, I love seeing dramatic hits, cold-cocked dudes laid-out with the birdies chirping around their heads
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So you enjoy seeing players suffer these severe injuries? You are actually celebrating injury? Wow! I love to see hard hits but I always want the guy to get back up, even when it's the opponent. You're a very strange motherfu*ker, strum.

I like fukking with you about it because I like seeing the guy on here who portays himself to be so liberal actually exhibit extreme conservatism- the refusal to accept change.
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First of all, you're not "fukking" with me. I disagree with you and your asinine ideas on the topic, but if anything you're just having fun fu*king with yourself.

Second, I don't claim to be "so liberal." I'm rather moderate on most things as a matter of fact.

And last, I accept change with the best of them. I welcome change, even rule changes to make the game of football safer for the players. Two things that aren't changing, at least in my lifetime: road trips to Chapel Hill and attending Panthers games in the fall.
 
ticket2ride04 said:
It’s always been violent but it’s getting worse.
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What games are you watching? Football is actually becoming less violent.

Click on this: The Old NFL vs. the New NFL

MWHeels said:
If [guaranteed contracts] happens, maybe players would decide to play pro footbal even with knowing the CTE risks, play a few years and then retire. Their careers may be shorter, but at least the league could still have a steady pool of talent.
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Huh? There is no shortage of players wanting to sign NFL contracts. Unlike years past, players today are made aware of the studies and the risks they face. And yet, no one is walking away from the game, guaranteed contracts or not.

I'm not disagreeing with your idea about player contracts, but the what ifs are totally irrelevant here.

TarHeelNation11 said:
In short, if football players were paid like baseball players, including guaranteed contracts, the discussion would totally change. Players would absolutely take the risk of long-term health impairment in exchange for earning millions and millions every year and having it guaranteed.
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As to my note above, players already take those risks without higher pay and guaranteed contracts. More pay and better contracts sounds good, but that's the job of the NFLPA.

Yep, Thursday Night Football is the biggest indicator that the NFL is 100% a money whore who will do anything for an additional dollar, no matter what it means for their employees.
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Which is one of the two reasons behind my argument going back to a similar thread a month or more ago of why football isn't going away. There is too much money involved, from player contracts to the return on owners' investments, to the networks and vendors and advertisement . . . it's simply too lucrative for everyone involved.

By the way, my other reason is fan support. The American public will absolutely riot and burn down cities and execute our leaders if someone tries to take our football away. True story.
 
Heels Noir said:
By the way, my other reason is fan support. The American public will absolutely riot and burn down cities and execute our leaders if someone tries to take our football away. True story.
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Yeah NFL isn't going anywhere as long as people watch in the numbers they're watching. As for my point above, I was saying guaranteed player contracts are the right move for the future from a fairness point of view. The NFL is mega popular I know, but it doesn't change the fact that it screws its employees as it's run currently.
 
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Heels Noir said:
You're a very strange motherfu*ker, strum.
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Thank you, seriously.

I don't hope for career-ending injuries, but it's oddly interesting to get to see it.

And, injuries are much more prevalent now. The rules try to discourage the harder hits, but I don't see the injuries and concussion protocols decreasing.

Bottom line: Fewer boys are playing it- Fact. Every donated brain has had the condition- Fact. If players can be tested while alive, and subsequently retire once they find out they have it, it will speed it all up.

I wasn't backpedaling. I just modified my outlook. If there are still men who can play the game, and are willing to risk their brains degenerating, and not hold anyone responsible, then maybe it will stay. That might diminish the appeal and ability to market it.
 
And, one thing that would help is to innovate better protection of the brain. The helmet isn't making a difference. The helmet is what has created the condition. They need to get internal skull implants, so the brain is stationary.
 
strummingram said:
I don't hope for career-ending injuries, but it's oddly interesting to get to see it.
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If only to lend support to your argument, I presume. That's pretty sad.

And, injuries are much more prevalent now. The rules try to discourage the harder hits, but I don't see the injuries and concussion protocols decreasing.
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You're obviously not paying attention and you're dead wrong, and thus you're losing all credibility.

Bottom line: Every donated brain has had the condition- Fact.
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To be factually correct, 110 of the 111 brains examined in the study showed signs of CTE, but it's important to note these brains were not randomly selected. They were all donated because they were already suspected of being damaged. Fact.

I wasn't backpedaling. I just modified my outlook.
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That's like saying, "I didn't lie, I just failed to tell the truth."

The helmet isn't making a difference. The helmet is what has created the condition.
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Speaking of brain damage . . .
 
TarHeelMark said:
As brutal as the game seems to us today, y'all do know that the game of football was nearly outlawed in the early 1900's due to all the deaths and gruesome injuries, don't you?

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.history.com/news/how-teddy-roosevelt-saved-football
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It's actually a pretty disgusting example of our culture, when you look at it from a certain perspective. If I am being totally objective, my opinion is much different than my "fan" side.

It sorta feeds some of our worst inclinations and more primal behaviors and even attitudes. It definitely reinforces the worst aspects of tribalism. It's funny when I see people insisting that State fans are subhuman and act worse than UNC fans. All fanbases have identical social representation.

The sport itself promotes and encourages extreme violence. And, it's commercialized and profited from in some pretty obscene ways. Look at how much value is put into this activity. I think we, as a species, have much more potential.

Then there's my fan persona. I played it through 10th grade. I watched it since I was tiny. I love it. But, I believe this condition will be the epitaph.
 
Heels Noir said:
What games are you watching? Football is actually becoming less violent.

Click on this: The Old NFL vs. the New NFL

Huh? There is no shortage of players wanting to sign NFL contracts. Unlike years past, players today are made aware of the studies and the risks they face. And yet, no one is walking away from the game, guaranteed contracts or not.

I'm not disagreeing with your idea about player contracts, but the what ifs are totally irrelevant here.

As to my note above, players already take those risks without higher pay and guaranteed contracts. More pay and better contracts sounds good, but that's the job of the NFLPA.

Which is one of the two reasons behind my argument going back to a similar thread a month or more ago of why football isn't going away. There is too much money involved, from player contracts to the return on owners' investments, to the networks and vendors and advertisement . . . it's simply too lucrative for everyone involved.

By the way, my other reason is fan support. The American public will absolutely riot and burn down cities and execute our leaders if someone tries to take our football away. True story.
Click to expand...
You think the game is less violent now? These guys are the biggest, strongest, and fastest they’ve ever been. Very few players from 30 years ago could play today. The fact you don’t understand this is concerning to me.
 
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