Ex-QB Jim McMahon talks of early-stage dementia

But I'd forgotten the asshole's name was Charles Martin. In a way, this gives me some satisfaction, because, at least with me, CM did not achieve his goal of being Chuck Bednarik.

It was an interception, and while the defensive player who caught the ball is running with it trying to gain yards the quarterback is a potential tackler and can legally be blocked. Some defensive players see this chance to hit the quarterback as "fair game" but as you can see from the video Charles Martin did not "block" McMahon -- he picked him up and body slammed him (not a "legal" block).

In those days when the Bears were dominant and the Packers notsomuch, the Packers were notorious for purposely trying to hurt Bears players. As I recall, McMahon suffered a serious shoulder injury from that slam and was never quite the same.

No doubt he took a lot of other hits (some legal, some not) resulting in early onset dementia. Remember, it wasn't too long ago that Dave Duerson (a Bears safety from the Super Bowl champs) shot himself in the heart to leave his brain intact for an autopsy into the mental disorder he suffered after years of violent collisions in this sport.

In my younger days I was very fast & athletic and could have played wide receiver or defensive back in high school, but wasn't willing to commit so much time & effort to it. There were times when I regretted not giving it a shot to see if I was good enough for college ball, but now I'm glad I didn't. I'm a lifelong slowpitch softball player, still having fun and competing at age 55. Some of my teammates played college football, and though none of them are mentally impaired from the sport (far as I can tell) they have paid the price with bad knees, shoulders, etc.

The NFL has taken some steps to protect players, but ultimately they can't in a sport where extremely fast/strong players collide with each other at top speed. One hit like that would put an ordinary person in the hospital.

But I don't see our culture outgrowing this kind of violent spectator sport anytime soon. I must confess I like to watch the game.

I know where you're coming from: I watch the NFL too. I enjoy it. I guess that makes me part of the problem, but.....that's that, I suppose.

... was always a prick, but nonetheless I'm sorry he's suffering from this problem.

I hope he hangs in there. He's still a kid!

The commissioner fined him for wearing an Adidas headband, so next week he showed up with a hand lettered "Rozelle" headband. Jim *did* have an endorsement deal with Adidas. That escapade made me a fan of McMahon.

Four concussions, though! Bad news. Such makes me want to quit watching football.

More and more ex-NFL players will be having the same symptoms. Many worse than others. And the NFL? IT keeps raking in the dough. It doesnt care. Its the modern day gladiator fights. Keeps the masses entertained.
I'm guilty os watching the replays of parts of games. But I really cannot get into it any more.

That exact play gave me an idea for a new rule on situations like that. If you drew a personal foul on a play that caused an injury, your suspension is at least as long as it takes the player you injured to come off the DL. If your foul ends their
career, yours is over, too.

This play could have EASILY ended JM's career, and I think it shortened it.

i know kids who play ball in high school who have had four or five concussions already god i am so so glad my kid no longer plays

Sounds like Anterograde amnesia. Which can be caused by aTBI. There's really nothing to be done about it, AFAIK.

She's 56 and showing all the signs, we think it's due to her having lyme disease years ago.

We are hoping she doesn't end up in a nursing home when she's in her 60's.

- Early Onset Dementia and Alzheimer's aren't necessarily caused by injury or anything other than a defective gene. I know of a woman who was a teacher that was hit with it in her early 50's. His career may have absolutely nothing to do with this. Either way, it's terribly sad.

(chronic traumatic encephalophathy), given the recent medical insights into the prevalence of CTE among NFL players. And the risk of dementia has been found to be five times higher for former American football players than for the general population, with as many as one in three retired football players experiencing some form of cognitive impairment: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20110719/dementia-risk-for-retired-football-players

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/NFL-Players-Raise-Risk-of-Alzheimer-s-and-ALS-3842233.php

He had an inspirational quality; guys played better because he was on the field with them.

Some, combat-related

Some, just life...

I rarely remember last night.

Thankfully, I have a partner who "gets it".
DBH

Junior seau
The nc guy
The ATL guy
That saints kicker

I love football but they have to do something .

Factoid..Lou Gehrig gotten beaned at least 8 times during his streak where he never missed a game.

Jim McMahon was a great quarterback. Fun to watch in action. Dirty players should be ejected from the NFL, instead of just one game.

From the OP: "When I'm home, I'm usually sitting in the back of my room just watching TV in the dark and when I come out it's to the kitchen to get something to eat."

Even without brain injury, not using your brain will open you more to lower brain function. Keeping your brain active will improve it.

My uncle was never one to use his brain for more than every day activities. For more than a decade before he passed away he had dementia, severe enough that he had trouble recognizing family members.

On the other hand, my father keeps his brain engaged even though he cannot be physically active. He reads continuously, books, articles, and on the internet. He and Mom do four crossword puzzles a day and several word games. He's now outlived his younger brother by a decade and at 89 is still mentally very sharp - despite having to take a lot of pain medications which he complains make him foggy.

Sitting in a dark room watching TV is no way to keep your brain working. Mr. McMahon should work at keeping his brain in shape the way he used to keep his body in shape for his sport!