I would think the connection between brain injuries and depression /suicide will definitely becoming a talking point around this sad news.
Very sad for this ex-USC player who I enjoyed watching for many years. He dominated his position for a long time in a league that chews up and spits out it's players.
Apparently, he left a note saying that he'd like his brain donated to science, because he felt that the hits to the head he took contributed to a diminished mental state.
WOW. I know Dave Deurson did that. Seau did as well? I read somewhere that in 20 years football/NFL will not exist because of head injuries.
Four or five of these now just in the past few years, and who knows how many that didn't make the headlines. And some ungodly number of former players are suing the NFL; hundreds and hundreds. Goodell's walking a fine line keeping the cash cow going and having his own little come-to-Jesus-like epiphany the outward manifestation of which is and will be a bunch of lip service--because you gotta ultimately protect the cash cow, which ironically isn't players but the Madison Avenue-created image. Blue, the NFL never will be legislated out of existence. If the same millionaires (players) and billionaires (owners) were involved in the drug trade, the drug trade would be legal. It's one thing to mandate helmets and seatbelts -- after all, gotta protect those who aren't smart enough to do it themselves ... What would be next? Auto racing. Hockey. Boxing and that UFC shit? We're not smart enough to protect from exploitation those who can't protect themselves -- rodeo, horse racing, dog racing -- so self-selected carnage by humans is a god-given right, but only in some arenas. And to think, the wingers fight tooth and nail against every assisted-suicide law.
That makes eight members of the 1994 Chargers Super Bowl team that have passed away. As a comparison I believe not one player from their opponent, the 49ers, has passed. Bizarre. I wonder how far back a championship football team has had eight players die. Probably the 60's. http://rosterwatch.com/?p=3162
Sad news for sure. Sounds like Seau tried this before by driving his car off of a cliff shortly after getting arrested for domestic violence a year or 2 ago. Awful and quite sad.
This brain related death stuff is too much. No one gets curious when someone at my large company commits suicide. Was it the air quality? sitting in front of a computer all day?? Plus When you are getting paid millions a year, these are the risks you take.
As the days go by, I feel worse about it. Someone else said it best. JS didn't live in San Diego. He was San Diego. Born and raised. I can not imagine an athlete more revered in any city than JS. I know I knew nothing about his personal life, but it still doesn't add up that he could commit suicide without having some sort of brain damage related to football. I am convinced his suicide was a copycat of Dave Duerson. He shot himself in the heart. It is well known that suicide is committed by shooting yourself in the head. There is too much of a chance of survival when shooting yourself in the heart. Part of him must have known that his depression was concussion related and he saved his brain for examination. His brain will be examined by Boston University for concussion related brain damage. I am 90% sure the examination will show some type of brain damage from football.
i agree it doesn't make any sense. and no note? honestly it wouldn't be that hard to stage something like this to look like a suicide. i don't think we'll ever know.
I am also convinced that if he had sought help, he could have been saved. It is difficult for anyone, let alone an NFL player that always had to show toughness, to seek help. One thing really struck home with me. His mother said he did not know about any of his problems. This was similar to what I went through in life. For various reasons, I never had parents to talk about problems with. It is tough. A parent should create a relationship with their children where the children can talk to them about anything. I have a feeling that JS did not have the type of parents he could talk out his problems with.