Damn, this just gets sadder and sadder.  I regret my remarks about Aaron before any of this CTE information was released.  I feel he is strongly exonerated by the current medical findings on brain damage in the NFL.


http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/news/...te-w511556

You know what is going to happen?  At some point, a kid who only played in high school is going to be diagnosed with CTE - and because of current medical limitations such a diagnosis can only be made by autopsy - is going to have his family sue a school district for negligence.  At that point, the insurance industry will shit bricks and either pull the plug on contact sports in high schools or jack up the premiums to the point where schools cannot afford them.

It might be tough for a few years, but the country could come to love a sport that doesn't extract such a vile toll as professional football.


Is there any doubt Aaron had detectable damage before his NFL career? He had to be rough and tumble and talented to attract their attention, he was already wounded before the NFL even heard of him.

Come on you guys! All these silly rules and safety regulations ruin the spirit of the game!!! Says, ya know...Trump...☹️

(November 10, 2017 at 7:48 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: Damn, this just gets sadder and sadder.  I regret my remarks about Aaron before any of this CTE information was released.  I feel he is strongly exonerated by the current medical findings on brain damage in the NFL.


http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/news/...te-w511556

He's exonerated and the NFL just became implicated.

I'd like to see his conviction vacated, or whatever the right legal term is.

I was lucky enough to see the whole program when it aired, V.  This is just the trailer.

And it is still shocking.  Back in '85 I was still a football fan and had no idea what was going on.

I don't know if Aaron Hernandez was a shit before he started playing football or not. What IS clear though is that there is a major issue with American football that needs to be addressed. This feels like the 1960s when there weren't even medical warning notices on packs of cigarettes. It took more than 20 years before society made the adjustment and started banning smoking in public places. Maybe it will take as long or even longer with American football but I have to think the writing is on the wall. This sport is ultimately doomed without major changes.

I'm too lazy/drunk at the moment to provide a link but Mike Ditka (coach of the 1985 Chicago Bears - perhaps the best team of all time) and one tough son of a bitch said in an interview that if he had a teenage son, he would steer him clear of football. When a hardcore dude like Mike Ditka says that - wow.

Face it football fans, something will have to radically change to make this sport viable in the future. Maybe the game itself will change or maybe they will find a way to improve equipment like helmets that will mitigate the brain injuries but something will have to give. As it stands now, the NFL is little more ethical than gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. All these guys you're cheering for on Sundays for entertainment - they're being maimed. You can't see it but we know it's happening. On every play, people's brains are being destroyed. It's slow and it's cumulative. We KNOW now that it's happening.

Why do we continue to support the NFL?

It is extracting a frightful toll. I wasn't much into football before, but I could see becoming actively against it.

It's like bull fighting. It's sufficiently cruel we can't allow it.