Report: Junior Seau Dead

[VottoFan54]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Fundamentally change the sport?

How about a return to iron man football wherein players must play both sides of the ball?

Use less pads? Would James Harrison be making head to head contact if he had a less protective helmet?

http://espn.go.com/racing/story/_/id...-espn-magazine

the NFL, along with the NHL, MLB and every league struggling to keep players healthy, should keep this in mind: Making a sport safer often leads athletes to behave more recklessly.

It's anybody's guess how many players have been deluded into thinking they're protecting themselves from concussions with particular helmets when they're actually not.
In the ongoing battle to make sports safer while keeping them real, there's only one thing worse than doing nothing: giving athletes a false sense of security.

[blumj]

The forensic pathologist who first identified chronic brain damage as a factor in the deaths of some NFL players flew to San Diego on Thursday to participate in the autopsy of former All-Pro linebacker Junior Seau, two sources with knowledge of the case told ESPN.com.

It is expected to take 4-6 weeks to determine whether Seau suffered from CTE, and at this point, it is unclear who will make that diagnosis. Seau's brain remains with the San Diego Medical Examiner and is not expected to be buried with Seau, according to sources.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/78...r-seau-autopsy

[Todd Gack]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

It might actually.

Just a question, have you ever been involved with someone that is mentally ill in your personal life? There's a very good chance that he had no ability to control his actions. It's possible he didnt even have the ability to be selfish.

We simply do not know.

So when an alcoholic drives drunk and kills someone, I'll be sure to blame the illness and not the man.

[blumj]

Originally Posted by Todd Gack

So when an alcoholic drives drunk and kills someone, I'll be sure to blame the illness and not the man.

Alcoholics may be incapable of choosing not to drink, I have no reason to believe they are incapable of choosing not to drive.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by Todd Gack

So when an alcoholic drives drunk and kills someone, I'll be sure to blame the illness and not the man.

You're embarrassing yourself.

[cincrazy]

Originally Posted by Todd Gack

So when an alcoholic drives drunk and kills someone, I'll be sure to blame the illness and not the man.

Look, I'm not going to demonize you. I don't know anything about you, I'm sure you're a good person. You happen to share the same opinion as my own father. One I disagree with, and one I simply think you're uneducated on, with all due respect. Have you ever dealt with a suicidal person? My friend thought that she was doing ME and others a favor by taking her own life, because she was a "burden." And I'm sure Seau had a lot of the same thoughts.

Is it a selfish act, on the surface, for leaving children behind? Of course it is. But you've got to look deeper than that. You have to understand it's an illness. I'm not going to judge you, because maybe you've had a personal experience of some kind that has shaped your mind in this regard, as was the case for my father. But it's really unfair to demonize someone for this, and offensive to people like me that love people who came close to taking their own life.

My friend is compassionate. She's loyal. She's loving. She does charity work. Always gives her time to others. Is quick to smile. You tell me how that makes her a bad person.

[bucksfan2]

Originally Posted by cincrazy

Is it a selfish act, on the surface, for leaving children behind? Of course it is. But you've got to look deeper than that. You have to understand it's an illness. I'm not going to judge you, because maybe you've had a personal experience of some kind that has shaped your mind in this regard, as was the case for my father. But it's really unfair to demonize someone for this, and offensive to people like me that love people who came close to taking their own life.

If an father left his children and ran off with another woman what would we say about him? What if he left his children and never returned, never spoke to them, was out of their life forever?

I don't want to pass judgement on Seau and his own personal demons. But I know that if a father left his children and never to return we wouldn't think so highly of him.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

If an father left his children and ran off with another woman what would we say about him? What if he left his children and never returned, never spoke to them, was out of their life forever?

I don't want to pass judgement on Seau and his own personal demons. But I know that if a father left his children and never to return we wouldn't think so highly of him.

It's simple. In your example he had "an illness" and as long as he did charity work and was compassionate he's a good person.

My opinion on Seau is that he was bummed at life after football. Whether it reached the point of disease or not I can't say. If he did have a mental illness then that is the root cause of him being selfish and self destructive.

He was a Hall of Fame caliber football player so it's high praise to say that he was a better person than he was a fotball player as some people gushed on ESPN and I think that's a disservice to those like Anthony Munoz who truly are .

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by RichRed

You're embarrassing yourself.

I admire his politically incorrect honesty that he's willing to expose on RZ. I'm sure there's a lot of folks (especially non ORG posters) who see where Gack is coming from but wouldn't voice it here for fear of stirring the masses. Say what you want about Todd but he's not afraid of taking the heat

[Todd Gack]

Originally Posted by RichRed

You're embarrassing yourself.

Thanks for your opinion. But I think it's rather embarrassing people are defending suicide.

[Patrick Bateman]

Originally Posted by Todd Gack

Thanks for your opinion. But I think it's rather embarrassing people are defending suicide.

Again, there are so many variables at play, and lack of evidence available at this point that it's not possible to make a judgement as to whether his suicide was defendable.

I can say that as someone that has a moth with paranoid schizophrenia, if she ultimately killed herself some day, I would not be mad at her for one moment and not defend her. She is simply one of millions of people whom have no control over their actions and live in a completely different reality than us. It's scary, scary stuff, and completely haunts an individual every waking second of the day.

I reallu urge you to read up on some of this stuff before pidgeon holing every suicide taker into one neat group.

[medford]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

If an father left his children and ran off with another woman what would we say about him? What if he left his children and never returned, never spoke to them, was out of their life forever?

That is a very interesting question, taking it one step further, what if he had a mental problem, and thought the best thing for his children was if he walked away and never showed up again in their life (both physically and financially)? Certainly we would call that guy a schmuck, yet many (including myself) wouldn't have thought once to call Seau a schmuck when news first broke.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

He was a Hall of Fame caliber football player so it's high praise to say that he was a better person than he was a fotball player as some people gushed on ESPN and I think that's a disservice to those like Anthony Munoz who truly are .

But all we really have to go on are the words of the people who came into contact with him. I realize there can be a tendency to embellish someone's good traits after he or she has passed away, but there are too many positive stories out there, like this one, to dismiss:

http://deadspin.com/5907297/the-nigh...with-a-ukulele

Of course, it's naive and simplistic to say Seau was a great guy all the time, but I don't think committing suicide for reasons we don't understand (yet) should automatically cancel out the good he did while living.

[RichRed]

Originally Posted by Todd Gack

Thanks for your opinion. But I think it's rather embarrassing people are defending suicide.

I think it's awful that he committed suicide and I wish he could've found another solution to whatever was troubling him. I feel horribly for his family because they're the ones who have to live with this.

But since we don't yet fully understand what drove Seau to kill himself, and knowing what we know - even at the tip of the iceberg - about CTE and depression, it just seems absurd to conclude that he was "worthless scum."

[Razor Shines]

Originally Posted by RichRed

I think it's awful that he committed suicide and I wish he could've found another solution to whatever was troubling him. I feel horribly for his family because they're the ones who have to live with this.

But since we don't yet fully understand what drove Seau to kill himself, and knowing what we know - even at the tip of the iceberg - about CTE and depression, it just seems absurd to conclude that he was "worthless scum."

Aaron Taylor was on a local station today and he was friends with Seau. He said that Junior suffered multiple concussions while he played but he never missed any games because of them and almost certainly suffered from CTE.


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