Junior Seau dead, probable suicide

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Gunshot to the chest. Which means he preserved his brain, allowing it to be studied.

That is an unusual way to commit suicide. Sounds more like an accident.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by Frosty

That is an unusual way to commit suicide. Sounds more like an accident.

Not the first time.

SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. — The words came up on Alicia Duerson’s cellphone as blithely as text messages typically do, but this one was different: her former husband, the former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson, asked her to donate his brain for research.

In a suicide note, Dave Duerson repeated an earlier request he made in text messages to have his brain donated for research.
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Duerson in 1989 with Chicago, where he won the first of his two Super Bowl titles. In 1999, he showed his organ donor card at a memorial for Walter Payton, who died from liver disease.

She texted back and heard nothing, then called their son, Tregg, who was just ending his workday as a bank analyst in Chicago. They called again and got voice mail.

The next and last message they received from Dave Duerson was meant for them, their family and perhaps all of professional football. It was written in his hurried hand, repeating his text message in case it had not been received, and found in the South Florida condominium where he placed a gun to his chest and shot himself to death last Thursday.

“Please, see that my brain is given to the N.F.L.’s brain bank.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/sp...pagewanted=all

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Think about that the next time Jamie Harrison takes a cheap shot and then starts roaring about how he's just a warrior when he gets suspended. If a shot like that ever puts someones lights out on the field, just go ahead and start the death clock for the NFL.

I'm no expert, but I don't believe it's the big shots that are the concern, it's the prolonged battle in the trenches that is causing the most damage. Not that big shots aren't having potential long term effects on guys, but the constant brain rattling is the focus.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

I'm no expert, but I don't believe it's the big shots that are the concern, it's the prolonged battle in the trenches that is causing the most damage. Not that big shots aren't having potential long term effects on guys, but the constant brain rattling is the focus.

For this particular issue, I think you're right.

But lets say that Harrison or someone else uses himself like a missile, goes up high and doesn't just hit someone in the dome, but at a bad enough angle to make him a vegetable or flat out kill him. The speeds involved in the game today make it possible, though still unlikely.

The specter of that happening on the field combined with stories like these is going to make the 'gladiator' element of the sport too difficult to just ignore anymore.

A bunch of retired players offing themselves may never get it done (we have an obsession with football in this country), but if someone ever actually dies on the field or shortly thereafter, the image will be too much for the NFL to recover from IMO.

[Jenson71]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

A bunch of retired players offing themselves may never get it done (we have an obsession with football in this country), but if someone ever actually dies on the field or shortly thereafter, the image will be too much for the NFL to recover from IMO.

Most of the country stops smoking cigarettes now. How much could a class action cig case bring?

If the NFL has to fund a multi-billion dollar health care pension, plus pay billions in damages for past torts, they might just fold up.