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Mac Wishes Now That He'd Played Baseball.......
Super Bowl-winning quarterback Jim McMahon says he wishes he had played baseball
By Maggie Hendricks | Shutdown Corner – 4 hours ago
(Getty)
In my family, the members of the 1985 Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears team ranked just slightly behind the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost. In fact, as a 6-year-old I was taught the "Super Bowl Shuffle" by a Franciscan nun, so that ranking could be muddled at times. Walter Payton was at the top of the list, but I couldn't help but be crazy about the rebellious, mouthy, "Punky QB known as McMahon."
The way he would play football made me misunderstand the quarterback's role as a child. Aren't all quarterbacks supposed to jump over the top of the pile? Don't they all take punishing hits then pop back up for more? Why would a quarterback slide for a first down when he could get an extra half-yard by taking the big hit?
During his career with the Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and other teams, McMahon never started a full season. His tough and sometimes reckless style of play meant he suffered many, many injuries. Now, 16 years after he retired, he is experiencing an injury that can't be fixed by a surgery or therapy.
At 53, McMahon is in the early stages of dementia. He is part of the group suing the NFL that says they hid the effects of concussions. Though his career resulted in a Super Bowl ring and a Pro Bowl appearance, he still says he would have played baseball if he knew what concussions would do to him.
"Being injured, if you don't play, you don't get paid. If I was able to walk out on that field, I was gonna play," he said in an interview with Chicago's WFLD-TV at his Arizona home. "Had I known about that stuff early on in my career, I probably would have chosen a different career. I always wanted to be a baseball player anyway." McMahon played football while at Brigham Young University, but said he would have stuck with baseball had he received a scholarship for that sport.
He is a group of more than 2,000 players who need help from the NFL after concussions have filled their retirement with dementia, memory loss, and in some cases, a bitter end. McMahon's teammate, Dave Duerson, committed suicide and asked for his brain to be studied. He was found to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the same disease found in other players who have died under tragic circumstances.
The NFL has made strides in improving how concussions and head injuries are treated. Though problems still exist, like Colt McCoy being sent back in the game last season when he was not healthy, the culture around head traumas is changing.
But the retired players who sacrificed their bodies to create the exciting game we all know and love today should not be forgotten. When one of them says he wishes he didn't even play the game that won him fame, it's a cry for help that should not go unheeded.
Last edited by soulman; 09-27-2012 at 06:42 PM.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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When these issue first came up a short time ago seemingly spearheaded by Dave Duerson's suicide I didn't think that this would become as big of an issue as it has. The fallout from this could bite the NFL hard in the not too distant future if there's proof that they were more aware of the potential for these problems than they have been willing to admit to so far.
This could get really interesting when these lawsuits start to hit the courts. If they hit the courts. The NFL may use their billions to settle this quietly so they can go on as if none of it ever happened.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Originally Posted by
soulman 
When these issue first came up a short time ago seemingly spearheaded by Dave Duerson's suicide I didn't think that this would become as big of an issue as it has. The fallout from this could bite the NFL hard in the not too distant future if there's proof that they were more aware of the potential for these problems than they have been willing to admit to so far.
This could get really interesting when these lawsuits start to hit the courts. If they hit the courts. The NFL may use their billions to settle this quietly so they can go on as if none of it ever happened.
It may cost then for the past. If they came clean and the players of today know it up front, no worries for them in the future. Owners may take a hit now but then can keep the cash cow going into the future. Maybe set up a fund to help SAID players with the bills?
The passion of a few, to rule the many, that's Washington D.C.. Where else was that said before, about whom?
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How does boxing and UFC get by now that the concussion issue is coming to the forefront? It seems like those kind of sports would be MUCH more of an issue for concussions and brain damage/dementia, than the NFL.
Trestman - Kromer - Tucker - DeCamillis
I'm looking forward to seeing these guys coach. Hope they're good.
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Originally Posted by
JustAnotherBearsFan99 How does boxing and UFC get by now that the concussion issue is coming to the forefront? It seems like those kind of sports would be MUCH more of an issue for concussions and brain damage/dementia, than the NFL.
Just MY take , "punch drunk" has been around a very long time, so I'm GUESSING it was a known. As for the UFC, I'm sure the waiver they sign has something in it, I don't KNOW for sure, just a GUESS. But IF what I stated is true, that would lead ME to believe the NFL knew something for awhile now, just didn't say it.
The passion of a few, to rule the many, that's Washington D.C.. Where else was that said before, about whom?
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I don't know if we'll EVER know what the NFL knew, and when. I also don't know when concussion diagnosis and treatments became well known. I know when I was in gym in high school, a kid fell off a climbing rope and hit his head. The coach went through the typical how many fingers, what town are you in, & follow the finger routine, and told the kid he was fine. That was almost 40 years ago.
On the other side of the coin, 5 years ago I got a call from my mom. Dad was in the hospital. Nothing happened, all of a sudden he couldn't talk coherently. Turned out he had a small blood vein leak due to blood thinners, and the blood pooled under his scalp. The pressure of the pooled blood pushed his brain in a little. Well, he was in the hospital for two months. It took him a month to remember my mom's name. A week after that he remembered his own. To this day he has difficulty remembering stuff. Like what he was just doing, or what he just got up to do. Brain injuries are serious stuff, and it doesn't take much to cause a problem.
I'm surprised we don't hear more about brain injuries in sports. The NFL, and all sports, really need to address this problem.
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Originally Posted by
JustAnotherBearsFan99 How does boxing and UFC get by now that the concussion issue is coming to the forefront? It seems like those kind of sports would be MUCH more of an issue for concussions and brain damage/dementia, than the NFL.
That's a good question brother because I have yet to see a more brutal sport than than UFC. Comparing boxing to UFC is like comparing touch football to the NFL.
I can understand the big paydays for the top dogs but I can't figure out why some of these guys do it on an amateur level for nothing. One of my neighbors is ex military and they have an annual military competition here. I saw him after his bout and he had a fractured cheek bone, two black eyes, and bruises all over his face and arms. He won his match. The guys he beat sustained a fracture of the orbital bones surrounding his left eye, a dislocated shoulder, broken wrist and torn knee ligaments.
And these two were in the same unit together when they were on active duty.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Junior Member
Here is my issue with Jimmy Mac. He was chastised and eventually ordered to quit head butting his linemen after good plays. They made a point of trying to break helmets. He had to know that bashing your helmet into another player isn't not good for your noggin.
It is going to be hard to prove that the NFL knew about the risks and didn't do all reasonable things available, at the time, to prevent injuries. It is easy now, with hindsite, to say that more should have been done but McMahon's playing style tended to get him hurt. There were quite a few rules put in place to protect him, and other QBs during that time, to include the slide rule, blows to head penalties and other actions. In the end this is a contact sport that will never be completely safe. The only way to completely reduce the risk of head injury in a game like football is to stop playing it all together.
Tom 'Wklink' Cofield
Bear Fan in the PNW
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