http://www.boston.com/sports/blogs/thebuzz/2012/05/report_junior_s.html
- OH MY GOD are you kidding?
One of my favorites, one of the all-time-best.
Terrible news. He owned a restaurant, had business acumen. Was an active, prolific player for a very long time. Handsome as well.
I'm so sorry to hear this, and I'm sorry for his family.
sad news
- Sadly, I'm not kidding. Sports forums are exploding. Of course, it may not be the case he has brain damage, but it's going to be really bad for the NFL. He's the thrid player who has done this in the very recent past. NFL hasn't been terribly proactive about it and there are lots of injured/addled ex-players out there.
- Did he do it for Alex Karras?
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/story/2012-04-13/Alex-Karras-dementia-lawsuit/54254024/1
Webster
- Whatever will The Jets sing at the funeral?
Not%20Crush%20on%20You%2C%20please
- Sad.
This traumatic brain injury thing is obviously very real. If you remember Chris Benoit, the WWE wrestler who killed his wife and child, then offed himself with a weight machine (from Wikipedia):
[quote]After the double-murder suicide, former wrestler Christopher Nowinski contacted Michael Benoit, father of Chris Benoit, suggesting that years of trauma to his son's brain may have led to his actions. Tests were conducted on Benoit's brain by Julian Bailes, the head of neurosurgery at West Virginia University, and results showed that "Benoit's brain was so severely damaged it resembled the brain of an 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Benoit
- The NFL's scared to death about the lawsuits that are coming over this, that's why they've gone after the Saints like they have.
It's a joke, it's like the scene in Casablanca where Claude Rains is shocked to discover there's gambling going on.
- That's really sad. Good looking guy, still young.
- [quote]Seau is the eighth member of the 1994 San Diego Chargers, the team that lost Super Bowl XXIX to the 49ers, to die at a young age. The other '94 Charger players that have died: Chris Mims, David Griggs, Rodney Culver, Lewis Bush, Curtis Whitley, Shawn Lee, and Doug Miller.
Wow, that is a lot of deaths in only 18 years. These guys mostly wouldn't even be 45 by now had they lived.
- Has the ass of Drew Brees, former New Orleans Saints quarterback, commented on this tragedy yet?
- The other Charger teammates who also died young:
LB Lew Bush - apparent heart attack, only six days after his 42nd birthday
DL Shawn Lee heart attack at 44
DL Chris Mims 2008, complications from having an enlarged heart, 38.
OL Curtis Whitley 2008 of a drug overdose at age 39
LB Doug Miller 1998, struck by lightning, 28.
RB Rodney Culver 1996, crash of ValuJet Flight 592, at age 26.
LB David Griggs 1995 in a car accident, 28.
- Sorry, that didn't format right.
- The is really sad. The NFL has made some changes - most of which has been strongly resisted by die hard fans. And some players. But most of the players want even more changes made. The last NFL Players walkout had a lot to do with changes they wanted made. They got some of them. Less contact hitting during practice games, no increase in number of games, more fines for illegal hits, etc.
I don't know how much they can change without greatly changing the sport. But this is just tragic and yes - there will be more.
- Do steroids cause heart problems? Quite a few heart-related deaths on r10's list.
- I wonder how rugby players fare over time. The sports not played here but in there are plenty of leagues overseas. They have no protection, padding or helmet, yet you don't here about hits resulting in paralysis and that sort of thing in the international press (plenty of lost teeth, though). They must have stringent rules and officiating.
- Junior's death wil make a huge impact assuming it was a suicide related to head injuris.
He is the biggest star player to end his life because of this.
A week or so ago a former NFLer named Ray Easterling killed himself. He was one of the guys involved in the first lawsit brought against the NFL. He played for the Falcons. I live in Richmond, VA. He played at the University of Richmond. He lived in the Richmond area. It was reported locally, but hardly registered a blip on the national radar. There are way more Ray Easterlings than there are Junior Seaus.
- Seau is the eighth member of the 1994 Chargers, who lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, to die at a young age. Linebacker Lew Bush died of an apparent heart attack last December. Running back Rodney Culver died in a 1996 plane crash; linebacker David Griggs died in a 1995 car crash; linebacker Doug Miller was struck by lightning in 1998; center Curtis Whitley died of an overdose in 2008; defensive end Chris Mims died of an enlarged heart in 2008; and defensive tackle Shawn Lee died of cardiac arrest in 2011.
- Ray Easterling was a cutie.
http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1066021.1335196294%21/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/image.jpg
- Not to be a killjoy on the 'Blame the NFL' thread we seem to have here, but unless a qualified, unbiased (on either side) group does the stats and interviews people extensively, there's no way to know whether or not it's the head-injuries from violent, legal collisions or the steroids.
The business practices of the NFL are nefarious at best, but it's a lot more complicated than blaming the League.
The society itself has a lot to answer for for what is basically athletic sharecropping of black American men. The fans who want the violence and have a win at any cost mentality are also ultimately the ones who bankroll the owners.
- He was HOT. TO. DEATH.
Liked him better with the mustache.
But, seriously, very sad. Dave Duerson took his life because of a brain injury and said in a sucicide note that he shot himself in his chest to preserve his brain for study.
But, I hadn't heard anything about Seau suffering from the same ailment. Do, we know that he didn't kill himself for other reasons?
The brain stuff is horrible for the NFL, but there's no way around it. There's not much you can do short of playing touch football. And, it takes a while to manifest itself - all of those repeated traumas adding up over a long time. And, it doesn't, obviously, happen to everyone.
- [quote]Do steroids cause heart problems? Quite a few heart-related deaths on [R10]'s list.
Studies indicate there's a relationship. This may occur mainly due to adverse changes in blood lipid profiles (much lower HDL and higher LDL) and through direct changes of the left ventricle of the heart.
The NFL really has the worst of all worlds here, that is to acknowledge widespread anabolic steroid abuse in the game or that they may be responsible for some instances of brain trauma.
- R18 There is a doctor at West Virginia University who is doing just that. Two of these suicides have left their brain directly to him.
- r20, the steroid option would probably end up being the one they take.
They can claim they have a anti-drug policy in place and probably get away with limited, if any liability.
The NHL is another matter. PEDs have ruined the game. It will be interesting to see how the fallout from the NFL's problems affect other sports.
- Sad. He was so handsome and had a beer can thick penis. :(
- Sad. I have a friend who is a retired, Stanley cup winning, NHL player. He is in his 30s, and has brain damage from all of the fighting and blows to the head. The NHL actually wanted him to continue playing, but he was having blackouts, headaches, and mood swings, so he went to another dr for an independent evaluation. The other dr told him that any more head trauma could leave him a vegetable, and that the damage already done was severe. Several years later, his condition is the same or worse. He hardly ever goes out in public anymore, and has his wife take care of everything. He cannot even hold a normal conversation. It is so sad to think that the teams care more about winning than the health of the players. He might be able to sue, but he is afraid of losing and them taking away his pension.
- How can they assume it was a suicide?
- Really. The girlfriend calls and says he shot himself in the chest and it's a suicide?
Who was he dating?
- R23, how do you know he has a beer can thick penis? Proof?
- R24, who are you talking about?
- r27 my sister's gf dated Junior @ USC. Funny thing is she didn't call him that but his fellow teammates gave him the nickname "beer can". She confirmed it though.
- Steroids. Poor guy.
- That's part of the problem, though r21.
The samples might not be enough to make a significant study. Some of them didn't even have a control group. (Although it might not have been mentioned in the articles I read.)
AFAIK, no one has looked at the drug issue, either. These studies I've read about are all trying to answer the question 'Does the violence inherent in the sport (head trauma) cause permanent brain damage?'
- R29, thanks for the confirmation. Truly sad story.
This is right after Sledge Hammer's death. Something in American is killing off people with extra large penis.
- What about the helmet's? Do they not work?
- [quote]my sister's gf dated Junior @ USC. Funny thing is she didn't call him that but his fellow teammates gave him the nickname "beer can". She confirmed it though.
And with that news, this story is officially elevated to DataLounge Tragedy status.
- Actually, R33, the helmets seem to exacerbate the problem. They give the players the illusion that their head is protected and so they tend to use it as a weapon -- a battering ram -- leading to many more injuries.
No matter how well the helmet is designed, it's not going to stop the brain from sloshing around inside the skull. It's physics.
- thanks r35
r33
- That's why I asked about rugby upthread at R14, R35. They are unprotected, but we don't hear about catastrophic injuries to them.
- Rugby concussion rates are high too. Maybe even worse than for football: (From Time magazine)
"Take the helmets out of football, some people claim, and players would be less likely to use their head as a weapon. Concussive episodes, and the long-term damage we're learning they cause, would decline.
"That argument, however, doesn't actually square with reality. Rugby, as it turns out, has plenty of problems with head injuries. According to one study, in South Africa about 14% of high school rugby players and 23% of professional and club players annually are diagnosed with concussions. Further, Michael Keating, the medical director for USA Rugby, says that a review of the scientific literature indicates that the number of incidences of concussions among rugby players and American-football players are similar. Some data suggest rugby incidence is 5% higher."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0%2C8599%2C2027053%2C00.html
- R38, in addition rugby players are far, far more likely to engage in violent and spontaneous, impulsive behavior off the field than players from the AFL (the other major football code here). The brain damage us evident even as early as while they're playing.
Wouldlove to hear more about your friend, R24. It sounds terrible.
- I flatly predict that Aaron Rodgers will retire after his contract expires in 2016 because he wants to preserve his brain.
With the exception of his inexplicably stupid outburst in defense of Ryan Braun- ("exonerated", wtf?) Rodgers is very smart and has interests beyond football.
That we know of, he's already suffered two concussions. Rodgers already has enough dough-ray-mee for life, and by 2016 he'll hang it up.
Della
- Wtf are you talking about, Della? There was nothing "inexplicably stupid" about his comments re Braun. He's right and chain of custody is at the heart of debates over testing. I'm no union hack but I do get that. If you don't, why run your mouth about it.
- R16, meet R10 đź”´
- r41. A dismissal of a case based upon a chain--of-custody issue is NOT exoneration. The arbitrator dismissed on a procedural issue. Those two things are very different animals.
I stand by my position that both Braun and Rodgers, two multi-millionaire popular pro athletes, instead of calling into question the actions of an obscure urine collector, should have shut-the-fuck-up.
Braun's initial urine sample showed elevated levels of a banned substance.
Della
- Della is so tiresome.
- tragic big penis bump
- tragic big penis, good looking, thanks for verifying the beer can rumour so I can grieve, bump.
- It was officially ruled a suicide today.
- Local news was reporting today that the Seau family has agreed to donate Junior's brain to a research facility to study traumatic brain injury. The reports I saw though also said there was disagreement though over which researcher to use.
But when I surfed to find the story to link here, I see that today his sister (the one who spoke briefly right after his mother broke down) denied that the family has agreed to the any such donation.
Since Junior apparently didn't leave any instructions, even as non-legally binding as a suicide note like Dave Duerson did, so far it's only been speculation by everyone that Junior took his life the way he did in order to preserve his brain for study.
Of course it's reasonable and fair speculation, but hopefully something will come to the surface that actually shows Junior did what he did to further the study of post concussion syndromes in sports.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/may/04/seaus-sister-no-decision-brain-study/
Vincent
- R29, was he uncut?
- Surfer paddle-out celebrates the life of Junior Seau
May 6, 2012 | 2:37 pm
Several hundred surfers took part Sunday in a memorial paddle-out in the ocean in front of Junior Seau's Oceanside home to celebrate the life and mourn the passing of the football star and civic benefactor.
“Junior, Junior, Junior,” the surfers chanted, followed by “Fifty-five, fifty-five, fifty-five,” Seau’s number at USC and during 20 years in the NFL.
At one point, the surfers formed a circle and held hands while a prayer was said for Seau, who commited suicide last week at age 43.
Among the surfers was Drew Brees, who played quarterback for the San Diego Chargers while Seau was the star linebacker and emotional heart of the team. Brees now plays for the New Orleans Saints.
On the beach, hundreds of fans and well-wishers gathered while the surfers paddled out about 200 yards. Many brought flowers and other mementos of Seau’s long career. Hearts with Seau’s name inside were common.
Along with surfers were outrigger canoes, kayaks and a paddleboarder. An Oceanside lifeguard boat was nearby and news helicopters buzzed overhead.
“Seau brought an enthusiasm and energy to every play of every game,” said Chuck Lockett, 60, wearing a white Chargers hat and a wet-suit. "He was the reason I went to Chargers games."
Although gathered for a somber occasion, the spirit of the crowd, in the water and on the beach, was joyous. There was some sobbing but there was more cheering.
Seau was found dead Wednesday morning in his bed. The medical examiner confirmed that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. A gun was found near his body but no note.
The house next to Seau’s home had a Chargers flag hanging at half-mast. Seau was a surfer and could frequently be seen enjoying the waves in front of his home along The Strand.
The Chargers are planning a celebration of Seau’s life on Friday, at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, starting at 6:30 p.m. The parking lot opens at 2 p.m. Because a large crowd is expected, the team has suggested that people form carpools or take the San Diego trolley.
Another remembrance is planned for Saturday at Oceanside High, where Seau was a star athlete. The school’s athletic program is one of the many youth programs that benefited from Seau’s foundation that raised $8 million for charitable projects from 1996 to 2010.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/surfer-paddle-out-celebrates-the-life-of-junior-seau.html
- I don't understand why 911 calls are released. Outside of police -for purposes of investigation- there's no reason for the public to hear it.
- If someone has the presence of mind to commit suicide in such a way as to leave their brain intact for research later, their mind can't be in that bad a shape. Methinks this condemnation of football is a tempest in a pot of tea. The poor guy obviously had issues and decided to off himself. End of story.
- Attached is a clip of the local news coverage of the paddle-out. While they say that hundreds of surfers took to the water, there were thousands of people that lined the street just outside Seau's home to participate without getting wet.
There are so few local San Diego heroes that have the profile that he did. The number of souls in attendance at the event today is testament to the impact of his life and his loss.
Although it's not included on the news clip (and contrary to the text of the attached that states the family announced on Friday that his brain would be donated), the anchor reiterated that his family says no decision has been made on making a donation for research.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/18154728/paddle-out-memorial-for-junior-seau-on-sunday
- I totally agree, R51.
George%20Zimmerman%2C%20at%20an%20Undisclosed%20Location
- No one cares what you think, R52. End of story.
- The results of analysis of Seau's brain are available.
To the surprise of nobody, he showed signs of the same brain injury (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) that we expected.
So now what?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/sports/football/junior-seau-suffered-from-brain-disease.html%3F_r%3D0
- Junior was never once diagnosed with a concussion during all his years of playing. Yet he demonstrates the same brain injury that other players with multiple known head injuries had. It speaks to the entire culture of the sport that head injuries were not taken seriously and players allowed and encouraged to not self-report any issues.
I don't see how the NFL will be able to avoid paying out multi-million dollar settlements for years and years to come.
- Has the ass of Drew Brees, former New Orleans Saints quarterback, commented on this finding yet?
- [quote]Drew Brees, former New Orleans Saints quarterback...
Are you breaking some trade news, r58?
Who%20dat%3F
- Oops, R59. I copied and pasted from an earlier post which should have read "former San Diego Chargers quarterback".
R58
- And now the inevitable news. Junior's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the NFL.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/seaus-family-sues-nfl-over-173338006--nfl.html
- Junior Seau had the AIDS you know. That is why he ended it all.
- Maybe r61 Alex Karras' family will follow suit.
And the half dozen other families whose NFL player has committed suicide over the past year or so.
-
