[Article] Antwaan Randle El feeling mental effects from football

The NFL looks like it will always be on top to us

Boxing used to be wildly popular too - athletes pursue other sports that are seen as less dangerous (before there was CTE there was "punch drunk syndrome"), public interest wanes for reasons including the sport is increasingly seen as barbaric, and the downward spiral accelerates

SoCalFan wrote:

Well the NFL needs to implement these new helmets IMMEDIATELY! They need to make EVERY player wear these, including baby Brady who refuses to wear the latest helmets. Watch this vid, there is a drop test with the new Vicis helmet pitted against the latest Riddell SpeedFlex. The sure future of the NFL, college football and probably even hockey!

This is exactly what I was talking about in my earlier post. There is much more that can be done with helmets to help protect the brain.

Thanks for posting this. I hadn't done any research on the latest helmet technology. I was simply speaking from an expectation of progress and common sense. Science has many more solutions to help with this problem if the focus and resources are dedicated to improvement in the safety of player equipment.

I don't know enough about this to know if these helmets are the answer, but it is a good sign that there are people trying. Let's hope the money is there to make something like this happen.

A shameless bump of an article I put out more than a few years ago on this subject. Thought it might be worth looking at with a new crowd and deals with the subject of CTE/concussions and some of our old Steelers.

http://www.steelersxtreme.com/t2211-the-harrison-problem-xtreme-commentary

@kirklandrules Very good, and thanks for bumping

SoCalFan wrote:

Well the NFL needs to implement these new helmets IMMEDIATELY! They need to make EVERY player wear these, including baby Brady who refuses to wear the latest helmets. Watch this vid, there is a drop test with the new Vicis helmet pitted against the latest Riddell SpeedFlex. The sure future of the NFL, college football and probably even hockey!

Yeah the NFL going out of pocket to address this. I'll believe it when I see it. But this would be a very simple but profoundly efficient way of addressing the problem.

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

Yeah the NFL going out of pocket to address this. I'll believe it when I see it. But this would be a very simple but profoundly efficient way of addressing the problem.

Nobody wants to get to the bottom of this more than the NFL

NFL health officials confronted NIH about researcher selection

Three of the NFL's top health and safety officers confronted the National Institutes of Health last June after the NIH selected a Boston University researcher to lead a major study on football and brain disease, Outside the Lines has learned.

The new information contradicts denials by the NFL and a foundation it partners with that the league had any involvement or input in the fate of a $16 million study to find methods to diagnose -- in living patients -- chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease found in dozens of deceased NFL players

Outside the Lines reported in December that the NFL, which in 2012 promised an "unrestricted" $30 million gift to the NIH for brain research, backed out of funding the new study over concerns about the lead researcher, Boston University's Dr. Robert Stern, who has been critical of the league. In the story, a senior NIH official said that the NFL retained veto power over projects it might fund with its donation, and it effectively used that power in the Stern study. Almost immediately, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy deemed the report "inaccurate."....

Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, told Outside the Lines this week that the NFL raised several concerns about Stern's selection during a June conference call that included Jeff Miller, the NFL's senior vice president for health and safety; Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, co-chairman of the Head, Neck and Spine Committee; and Dr. Mitch Berger, chairman of the sub-committee on the long-term effects of brain and spine injury....

An NIH advisory council concluded unanimously in September that there was no basis to the NFL's claims, Koroshetz said. He called the selection of Stern's group "highly meritorious."

Ultimately, the NIH decided to use taxpayer money to fund the study, Koroshetz said, because the research is so important and there was no indication that the NFL -- which had trumpeted the project in its own health and safety report -- was still willing to pay for it.

Link to full article

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/14609331/nfl-says-did-not-intervene-nih-study-selection-nih-official-says-three-league-members-tried-do-so

It makes me wonder what it says about me that I enjoy so much watching a sport that I know traumatizes its players (we all knew Ben had enough painkillers in him last Sunday to take down a rhino) - but I fly my Steelers flag outside my house on game day and log in my bets online

sad man i always liked el

Sounds like someone had a friendly chat with Randle El suggesting he walk back any suggestions post-NFL life has its unpleasant aspects

Antwaan Randle El says “regret football” comment was overblown

When former NFL wide receiver Antwaan Randle El said he has some health problems and now regrets playing football, it became a major media story. But Randle El is now going on a media tour to say that story was overblown.

After that story came out, Randle El appeared on The Dan Patrick Show to say he’s healthy and happy in retirement. Although he had mentioned that he is sometimes forgetful, he said that could just as easily be because he lives a busy life as because he suffered concussions playing football.

“I want people to realize, I’m in no way dying, keeling over, struggling to get around, anything like that,” Randle El said. “The memory thing, it could be that I’ve got six kids, I’ve got a lot going on.”

On ESPN today, Randle El said that he doesn’t have major memory problems and is doing well enough mentally that he recently finished work on a master’s degree at George Washington University.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/01/21/antwaan-randle-el-says-regret-football-comment-was-overblown/

Atlanta Dan wrote:

Sounds like someone had a friendly chat with Randle El suggesting he walk back any suggestions post-NFL life has its unpleasant aspects

Antwaan Randle El says “regret football” comment was overblown

When former NFL wide receiver Antwaan Randle El said he has some health problems and now regrets playing football, it became a major media story. But Randle El is now going on a media tour to say that story was overblown.

After that story came out, Randle El appeared on The Dan Patrick Show to say he’s healthy and happy in retirement. Although he had mentioned that he is sometimes forgetful, he said that could just as easily be because he lives a busy life as because he suffered concussions playing football.

“I want people to realize, I’m in no way dying, keeling over, struggling to get around, anything like that,” Randle El said. “The memory thing, it could be that I’ve got six kids, I’ve got a lot going on.”

On ESPN today, Randle El said that he doesn’t have major memory problems and is doing well enough mentally that he recently finished work on a master’s degree at George Washington University.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/01/21/antwaan-randle-el-says-regret-football-comment-was-overblown/

good for him