Thread: You be the Commish

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Dave Duerson had a lot of personal issues...

Seems everyone was awfully quick to blame Duerson's death on head trauma. But there are a lot of Dave Duersons out on planet earth, who kill themselves when their private life and public life becomes a disaster. I'm not exactly sure I buy into all the propoganda that's floating around now with all these lawsuits. When lawyers get involved and they are going for the money train...truth becomes subjective real fast.

A lot of NFL players are prime candidates for suicide because their personal lives are a mess and they blow all their money. Naturally, a lot of these guys are going to be claiming "head trauma" from here on in. This will be the NFL's ADD syndrome for players.

Oh I don't think there's any doubt that Duerson's CTE was a catalyst as far as his committing suicide is concerned. This stuff doesn't just happen over night. It's not like a head cold. It's pretty likely that the "other issues" were a result of the brain disorder and how it muddles your thinking.

Successful business people who all of a sudden seem to "lose it" are often victims of a deep but masked depression. When the government cut the hell out of the budget for research into and treatment of mental disorders back in the 90's it was the start of an epidemic. You just don't see it because a lot of people won't admit they have a potential problem and seek help.

The statistics woefully under estimate the number of people dealing with a serious mental illness.

As Ditka said, remove the facemasks.


Mandatory use of mouthpieces and chinstraps would also help.


It used to be that players were taught to keep their head up when tackling (the reasoning was to keep your eye on the target) and actually wrap up the ball carrier. Tackling is a lost art.

Originally Posted by BearStuff

As Ditka said, remove the facemasks.


Mandatory use of mouthpieces and chinstraps would also help.


It used to be that players were taught to keep their head up when tackling (the reasoning was to keep your eye on the target) and actually wrap up the ball carrier. Tackling is a lost art.

It seems that coaches don't teach tackling skills anymore. It's frustrating to watch all the missed tackles every week and have the problem ignored by the staff.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Sorry Jimmors and Soulman, I respect your opinions but I do not believe that "head trauma" is the reason why Duerson and other NFL players have committed suicide. These guys have serious issues that going beyond anything physical. If you look at these suicides, you'll consistently find the same commone denominators. Personal life is a mess and many are also public failures with all kinds of financial issues. These guys are very depressed and dissatisfed with their lives because of the way its gone. And it is verys ad that people feel the only way out fo their circumstances is through suicide. Far too many people are quick to single out a biological issue when these guys are vexed spiritually and disappointed with how their lives have gone. It happens a lot with people of all professions. Even people who are very wealthy but poor in every other area of life. So I'm not one to believe the "head trauma" argument. Its a covenient one though considering it will produce a lot of money through a lawsuit now.

It's the old "which came first the chicken or the egg" thing brother.

Does the depression create the trauma or is it the other way around? Certainly in the case of physical trauma or a physiological illness such as a brain tumor those things were not created as a result any external issues or problems. They are medical in nature and medical research has established that these things do bring on severe depression and that depression begins to create the external problems. You're right. The trauma itself didn't cause the suicide but the depression it brought on probably did. The two go hand in hand.

When the trauma is psychological in nature and induced by emotional trauma it's pretty common to see that none of those external issues you mentioned were present before the depression began. I can give you over ten years of testimony about my personal dealings with just that. It starts a downward spiral with one factor feeding the other and just like a "graveyard spiral" in an aircraft it can corkscrew you right into the ground and kill you.

Mentally healthy people don't often commit suicide. Even in the case of an individual who finds out that they have an incurable illness that person generally enters into a clinical depression before they commit the act. As it stands we know that CTE can cause severe depression and we know that severe depression can turn into suicidal depression. Those are facts. Whether or not the NFL is to blame for that is another thing altogether and I'm guessing the courts will eventually rule on that but the medical facts themselves aren't in dispute.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Sorry Jimmors and Soulman, I respect your opinions but I do not believe that "head trauma" is the reason why Duerson and other NFL players have committed suicide. These guys have serious issues that going beyond anything physical. If you look at these suicides, you'll consistently find the same commone denominators. Personal life is a mess and many are also public failures with all kinds of financial issues. These guys are very depressed and dissatisfed with their lives because of the way its gone. And it is verys ad that people feel the only way out fo their circumstances is through suicide. Far too many people are quick to single out a biological issue when these guys are vexed spiritually and disappointed with how their lives have gone. It happens a lot with people of all professions. Even people who are very wealthy but poor in every other area of life. So I'm not one to believe the "head trauma" argument. Its a covenient one though considering it will produce a lot of money through a lawsuit now.

I think the head trauma and personal issues combined are the reason some players have checked out prematurely.

Originally Posted by BigBadPapaBear

Sorry Jimmors and Soulman, I respect your opinions but I do not believe that "head trauma" is the reason why Duerson and other NFL players have committed suicide. These guys have serious issues that going beyond anything physical. If you look at these suicides, you'll consistently find the same commone denominators. Personal life is a mess and many are also public failures with all kinds of financial issues. These guys are very depressed and dissatisfed with their lives because of the way its gone. And it is verys ad that people feel the only way out fo their circumstances is through suicide. Far too many people are quick to single out a biological issue when these guys are vexed spiritually and disappointed with how their lives have gone. It happens a lot with people of all professions. Even people who are very wealthy but poor in every other area of life. So I'm not one to believe the "head trauma" argument. Its a covenient one though considering it will produce a lot of money through a lawsuit now.

BBPB, you are talking to someone (me) who suffers from bipolar disorder. There have been many times I seriously considered committing suicide over the past twelve years to the point that on a couple of those occasions, I had to be hospitalized. I've cut on myself before, though not deeply enough to bring about scarring, and I've almost swallowed a whole bottle of Tylenol PM's back when I was 19 years old, which was about 11 1/2 years ago. I can't begin to tell you how bipolar disorder has affected my life and how miserable I've been over the years as a result of the medical side to it.

Because of my case of bipolar disorder, I have been in school for 11 years, and am only now getting ready to graduate from the University of Tennessee with a degree in History. My medication has had severe side effects that have come along with taking them, including massive weight gan, the lack of ability to remember things as I once could, etc.

There are a lot of things that depression can cause, and suicide is one of them. While my case with bipolar disorder is purely a case of bad genes, Duerson's was, in fact, brought on by head trauma, and it has been proven by doctors without a shadow of a doubt. It's not a matter of whether a former player in the NFL lived a miserable life in this case. Duerson lived a pretty good life up until the past couple of years. It's a matter of what brain damage can cause, and that is a field that is still be laboriously explored by doctors and scientists to find out what effects brain injuries can have on the human psyche.

Very good question and may end up being the answer. I alway wore my helmet correctly and still today I hav trouble walking and lose my balance. I am not saying it form Football but I am not saying it isn't from football. There a far better helmets out there the what are used i the NFL and I for one don't see why they aren't used.

Originally Posted by BigClaws

I wonder how much focus is being put into the technology of creating safer helmets and pads.