A few days ago Jr Seau, former NFL linebacker (19 years) shot himself in the chest and died. I rarely jump ahead of formal news reports, but the evidence is suggestive and because it is, awareness is important.
I have pulled some statements from football super agent Leigh Steinberg’s blog. You can read his full blog at How Many Deaths Will It Take? → I wanted to help players, coaches and parents understand that we are all part of the problem and the solution. Don’t get me wrong. As a sport psychology consultant, I’m a tough guy. I love contact sports. I love aggressive behavior for both males and females in sport, but I believe in teaching sportsmanship, good technique and common sense. I also believe that we need to be aware of the issue and our awareness will keep players safer. This is not about scare tactics. It’s about protecting are players and our sport.
Leigh’s statements are in red.
Normally, speculation as to causation would be premature, but these are not normal times. The specter of head injury and the disastrous lifetime ramifications call for emphatic action. There is a largely undiagnosed health epidemic which has surrounded contact sports at the youth sports, high school, collegiate and professional level and it is a ticking time bomb.
What are the long-term ramifications? How many head injuries are too many? How long should a player sit out after suffering the hit?
The players themselves were in a state of denial concerning physical health. They had been taught since Pop Warner to ignore pain — hide injury so as to not lose their starting position or jeopardize their status on the team. They didn’t want to be known as “training room” players and be stigmatized and isolated from their peers.
I just wrote about this for juniorhockey.com because ice hockey is no different; in fact hockey has a reputation of believing hockey players are tougher than football players. My previous post here was about SHAME. It contributes to the problem. Read more »
