ESPN: LB Belcher (25 yrs. old) showed signs of brain damage
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The brain of former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher -- the 25-year-old player who shot and killed his girlfriend in 2012 before committing suicide -- showed signs of pervasive brain damage like that found in other deceased NFL players, according to a neuropathologist.
In a report obtained by "Outside the Lines," Dr. Piotr Kozlowski writes that he detected neurofibrillary tangles of tau protein, which is identified with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The tangles were distributed throughout Belcher's hippocampus, an area of the brain involved with memory, learning and emotion.
Dozens of former NFL players have been diagnosed posthumously with CTE, a neurodegenerative disease linked to dementia, memory loss and depression. The disease, researchers say, is triggered by repeated head trauma.
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/11612386/jovan-belcher-brain-showed-signs-cte-doctor-says-report
Small correction: he was a linebacker, not a running back.
Still very sad. I don't plan on letting my kid(s) play football when they arrive.
Still very sad. I don't plan on letting my kid(s) play football when they arrive.
But it's too soon to say whether or not brain damage is bad, let's wait until the facts are all in before changing the crunchy helmet sound which plays such an important part in the fabric of our culture.
I can't imagine anyone will want their children playing football in the future. I can't watch games anymore because the head injuries scare me when I see them and the reports seem to just keep getting worse.
are other high contact sports like rugby having this problem?Rugby players do, but no where near the extent of the NFL. It's mainly a restricted group of players who have had head knocks. From either a bad tackle that went wrong, or their head got slammed into the ground during a tackle.
The NFL is a much higher impact sport, it's very anaerobic. Big bursts of high energy for extremely short periods. Where the Rugby codes have that, but its balanced with a fair bit of aerobic too.
The players are big, but they all have to be fit, and they tire, because both sports require a really high amount of moving around for sustained periods. Then you add in the wrestling in the contact zones. So they can't spend all their time on just anaerobic exercise, it has to be balanced.
In Rugby Union you'll tend to find guys who are even bigger than in Rugby League, but they have scrums. They're incredibly draining on the really big, really powerful guys on the field. Sustained periods of extreme exertion. Recently, they've made changes to even reduce the initial contact impact on scrums.
Here's a video of Argentina embarassing NZ. Both packs weigh about 900kg (about 2000lpbs).
Both codes also have very stiff rules for even touching another guy in the air trying to catch the ball. Unless you're contesting the ball in the air (i.e. no attempt at tackling the player in the air), it's an immediate penalty, and you'll get suspended.
Same goes if you make contact with the head area during a tackle.
Both codes also have banned shoulder charges. You have to use your arms in a tackle, you can't just go into it with your shoulder. You genuinely have to be trying to make a tackle. That's reduced some of the impact.
You also don't tend to get blindsided as much in both rugby codes, as the ball can only be passed backwards, so all players tend to be facing each other. It can still happen in certain circumstances, but it's no where near as frequent.
You can't raise a player past vertical in a tackle either. Do so and it's a penalty, possible suspension.
You can't take out a guy with out the ball (in general). Late tackles will be penalized pretty quickly.
Here's some stuff from youtube. Video 1. Video 2.
In general, the tackle zone contact is MUCH more controlled in Rugby. In the NFL, it's pretty much a free for all.
Both Rugby codes also limit the amount of subs/interchange players per game. I think League (13 players on the field) has a limit of 8 or 10 interchanges a game . In union (15 players on the field), once a player has been subbed off, he can't go back on, and you only have an 8 man bench . So players have to be on the field for 80 minutes.
In general, if Rugby players don't sustain head knocks, they tend to be fine. Both Rugby Union and Rugby League could improve on their concussion rules. How they deal with it on the field, mandatory time off afterwards, etc.
The other thing is that they don't have ridiculous amounts of padding and helmets enabling them to hit harder with less fear of injury.
Plus as giri said Union players and League players to a greater extent have to move for long periods of time and generally won't have as much strength to hit hard later in games.
Plus as giri said Union players and League players to a greater extent have to move for long periods of time and generally won't have as much strength to hit hard later in games.
are other high contact sports like rugby having this problem?
Hockey is. The NHL seem to be more receptive to dealing with it than the NFL have been though. Their sport also doesn't revolve around head-on contact so it's easier to deal with.
The other thing is that they don't have ridiculous amounts of padding and helmets enabling them to hit harder with less fear of injury.
Plus as giri said Union players and League players to a greater extent have to move for long periods of time and generally won't have as much strength to hit hard later in games.
Plus, speed around the park for ALL players is actually really important in both sports. They can't be slackers.
The modern prop in Union has to be able to pack in the front row of a scrum, and be a really high impact ball carrier / defender around the ground, and they have to be there and ready to do so very quickly.