NFL: There are No Other Players with Dementia
As is often the case, it started with this short note we received from Elizabeth Pierce last week:
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My father was a former NFL player who passed away after 20 years of dementia.
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As is often the case, it started with this short note we received from Elizabeth Pierce last week:
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My father was a former NFL player who passed away after 20 years of dementia.
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In our last post, we uploaded the 88 Plan Summary which was 32 pages long (click HERE to read that earlier post).
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Dr. Daniel Amen has just allowed us to post a great interview in which he discusses his interest in studying the current debate and issues, how his clinic is studying the problem, as well as some of the new findings that have started to come out of these ongoing studies. (The entire interview is only 13:00 minutes long and covers a lot of topics so please take a few minutes to watch this for yourself and your loved ones.)
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More momentum on the concussion front as the brain injury story continues to makes its way upstream into the mainstream media. This seems to be one story that’s becoming harder and harder for the NFL to suppress or spin – Thank you, Doctor No!
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One of the presentations that drew a lot of attention during The Summit was from Bruce Laird of Fourth and Goal. Fourth and Goal has been in ongoing discussions with the NFL to use the NFL Alumni organization as a possible platform for advocacy of disability and pension reform. At the conclusion of The Summit, the group voted to continue moving forward without embracing any single organization at this early stage while encouraging and supporting all organizations that will advance retired players’ issues. (You can look at the evolving Summit blog by clicking HERE and you’ll find Bruce Laird’s presentation under the PowerPoints tab – or click HERE.)
Bernie Parrish has already voiced some of his strong opinions in no uncertain terms (HERE and HERE) and this is definitely going to make it a very hot summer topic. There’s no middle ground or gray area on this one. Do the retired players embrace an existing organization that has been looked on as another business-as-usual club for elite members or will they be embracing an organization that’s been reborn into something that can actually serve the membership at large with complete transparency and representation for each and every one of its members? Only time will tell and everyone’s watching closely.