re: Former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Turley admits suicidal thoughts, depression

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They knew 20, 30, and 40 years ago that they could acquire degenerative brain conditions from playing football?

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they didn't play with helmets to protect against concussions 20, 30, and 40 years ago?

Damn dude you're an awesome troll

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And 99% of them would do it all over again if they could.

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This. Even the ones in the lawsuit would do all of it over again.

I know I would sacrifice some cognitive ability at an older age in exchange for several generations of financial well being for my family. Particularly if the alternative is poverty, as is the case with most of these guys.

Players probably knew that they would have a hard time getting around later in life but I doubt many people or really anybody knew about all of the head trauma and depression they would encounter so I do feel that bad for players 20+ years ago. However today it's hard to have much sympathy for players who come in the league hearing all the horror stories and know what they will more than likely face later in life

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Don't even get me started on the Superdome, I mean they can't even keep the lights on in there And God forbid it rains a little, or everybody flocks to the Superdome so they don't get wet.

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You are not worthy of a John Kresse avatar image.

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I have no doubts about the link between concussions and these symptoms. I have alot of doubt as to whether consussions are the cause of Turley's symptoms. Maybe they are, but he always seemed pretty unstable even before the thousands of collisions.

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I am skeptical as well, we're talking about a guy who was literally worshipped as a football player in New Orleans. He assumed a larger than life personality, was an attention seeker as a player, and had a cult following. Now he's just an ex-athlete, trying to transition to an creative industry where rejection is just part of life. I feel like if Kyle Turley's band were playing to sold out arenas, we would be hearing a lot less about his concussions and depression. Maybe no one in his family has suffered from depression, but I also doubt anyone in his family has led the sort of life Turley has led.

That being said there is without a doubt scientific basis to the fact that concussions are linked to CTE, and maybe that is indeed what Turley is suffering from. I'll definitely feel like a prick if that's that case , but for every Junior Seau that has certified CTE there are probably hundreds of ex-players that don't have that pathology.

Dude just needs to chill and listen to dee snyders house of hair on sunday nights

Not surprised, always thought he seemed like a self centered POS

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I liked Kyle Turley as a Saints and a player. I'm not trying to be douchey when I say this but, why is it people are just now assuming that if an NFL player has any issues after retirement, that it's directly related to concussions or too many hard hits?

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Because it happens at a higher rate than normally and unlike depression generally, which multiple causes and symptoms, there's a really obvious slate of physical symptoms. Here's the abstract of a journal article on the issue.

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Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that is a long-term consequence of single or repetitive closed head injuries for which there is no treatment and no definitive pre-mortem diagnosis. It has been closely tied to athletes who participate in contact sports like boxing, American football, soccer, professional wrestling and hockey. Risk factors include head trauma, presence of ApoE3 or ApoE4 allele, military service, and old age. It is histologically identified by the presence of tau-immunoreactive NFTs and NTs with some cases having a TDP-43 proteinopathy or beta-amyloid plaques. It has an insidious clinical presentation that begins with cognitive and emotional disturbances and can progress to Parkinsonian symptoms. The exact mechanism for CTE has not been precisely defined however, research suggest it is due to an ongoing metabolic and immunologic cascade called immunoexcitiotoxicity. Prevention and education are currently the most compelling way to combat CTE and will be an emphasis of both physicians and athletes. Further research is needed to aid in pre-mortem diagnosis, therapies, and support for individuals and their families living with CTE.

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Bolded = shite you wouldn't expect in general depression.

As for, it could've happened anyway. Seriously where the frick do you people get this stuff? Sure, anything can happen at any time. Cause and effect isn't usually as simple as a + b = c. People die of lung cancer without smoking, that doesn't make smoking good for your health.

Just because participating in an activity doesn't cause the same symptoms in all people all of the time, doesn't mean it won't cause some symptoms in some people some of the time. If a small yet significant number of people who participate in what is, at this point in time, an obviously neurodegenerative process suddenly start developing symptoms consistent with neurological issues, you want to jump up and down and point to the lower rate of it happening among people who don't do the same thing? WTF sort of argument is that. Seriously, some of you guys should look up how the smoking industry denied the link between smoking and cancer for so long, then tried to act like they were clueless about the whole thing.

If people want to point me to studies showing that the neurodegenerative factors in CTE cases have nothing to do with being hit in the head, then fine, whatever go ahead.

I just don't see why all the butthurtness comes out every time an ex player's life is obviously fricked up now because they're having severe issues doing the things you and I take for granted, like going through life being able to remember shite and control our emotions.

If the ex players get to discovery stage in their lawsuit, we'll have to see if it comes out that the NFL knew this was likely and decided to ignore it, or whether they were as surprised as anybody else.