The NFL is in full swing. College football is in full swing- Auburn defeated Georgia(#1) yesterday, and Notre Dame lost). The injury list among players gets longer by the week. Retired players are resurrected from their Barca-loungers to don the pads and hit the field. The ever presence of QB Tom Brady does not give much reassurance to a crippled league, side-swiped by players protesting, players getting arrested for numerous felonies, and coaches unable to articulate the causes of their team's failures to execute effectively at game time.
And then, this happened. With startling photographs of x-rays, of pathologists in the lab at work, and a detailed description of that work, a reporter announced the findings of the effort to the public on Friday, November 10th. Millions of us. The New York Times did athletes, especially football players(not soccer players) a great service. The journalist provided evidence that can no longer be kicked under the rug by the NFL and the team owners, the Great Deniers of the 21st Century. The fact is: football is killing young players.
Throughout most of the article, the story unfolds: suicide victim is brought to coroner for autopsy; the body is dissected; the brain is removed from the skull; the brain is examined; the brain tissue is placed under the microscope and viewed at that level; the evidence is found: CTE.
Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist, presented her findings at the CTE Conference for Neuro-pathology at Boston University. A Power Point presentation identified the key points in her findings. She remarked that this particular brain will be studied for many years as a textbook example of CTE found in a 27 year old man who committed suicide while serving a prison sentence in Massachusetts for murder. This was the brain of Aaron Hernandez.
Today is Sunday. If you watch any games today, think of Aaron Hernandez and his brain.
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