Hall of Fame NFL player Tony Dorsett diagnosed with brain disease

Cotton

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Hall of Fame NFL player Tony Dorsett diagnosed with brain disease with concussion link, report says
Published November 08, 2013FoxSports

Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett confirmed he has been diagnosed with signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease that has been linked to concussions and the suicides of former football players.

Dorsett's condition was revealed by doctors on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Wednesday, as were the diagnoses of fellow Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure and former All-Pro Leonard Marshall. Dorsett called in to ESPN's "Dan LeBatard Is Highly Questionable" show and talked about what he's going through, saying "My quality of living has changed drastically and it deteriorates every day."

"I've thought about crazy stuff, sort of like, 'Why do I need to continue going through this?'" he said. "I'm too smart of a person, I like to think, to take my life, but it's crossed my mind."

Dorsett, 59, opened up about his experiences with concussions last year in an interview with The Associated Press.

He described a helmet-to-helmet shot that knocked him out cold in the second quarter of a 1984Cowboys-Eagles game, the hardest hit he ever took during his NFL career.

''It was like a freight train hitting a Volkswagen,'' he said.

''Did they know it was a concussion?'' he asked. ''They thought I was half-dead.''
 

Genghis Khan

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Extremely sad. One of my heroes growing up. Hope he gets the treatment and help he needs.
 

skidadl

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This is why I'd be glad if my son decides not to play college ball.
 

Clay_Allison

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This is why I'd be glad if my son decides not to play college ball.
I think when the brain is young it is more regenerative, like the rest of the body. Playing when you are older and every part of you takes longer to heal seems like the time when you're taking a serious risk.
 

ravidubey

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He was simply awesome. Sensitivity to concussions would explain further why Landry was so conservative with him. What boggles my mind is if a guy as elusive as Dorsett has this kind of disease, what hope is there for guys like Rodney Hampton or Eddie George?
 

p1_

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And recall both Stabauch and Aikman taking many shots to the head.
 

BipolarFuk

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Extremely sad. One of my heroes growing up. Hope he gets the treatment and help he needs.
He'll get what he can afford.

I doubt the NFL and it's owners want to part with any of their vast billions to get him any top notch treatments or therapies.
 

Clay_Allison

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He'll get what he can afford.

I doubt the NFL and it's owners want to part with any of their vast billions to get him any top notch treatments or therapies.
I recall from Mel Renfro's issues a while back that the way Schramm set up contracts back in the day put more away for health care and retirement than most NFL players got at the time.
 

NoDak

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He'll get what he can afford.

I doubt the NFL and it's owners want to part with any of their vast billions to get him any top notch treatments or therapies.
~wipes tear~

~lights candle~
 

Simpleton

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He was simply awesome. Sensitivity to concussions would explain further why Landry was so conservative with him. What boggles my mind is if a guy as elusive as Dorsett has this kind of disease, what hope is there for guys like Rodney Hampton or Eddie George?
If I had to guess I don't think everybody is equally susceptible to this condition.
 

hstour

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And the thing that I find most interesting, is that until his last years, Tony was so good at never taking a solid hit. He had a way of just not presenting a clean target to a defender.

Now I didn't watch him much at Pitt and certainly none in high school. Wonder if taking hits at those levels is what taught him how to not take a shot and contributed to his current state. Are some people more susceptible to actual brain injury due to genetics, other factors?

There is a lot more research that needs to be done.
 

L.T. Fan

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And the thing that I find most interesting, is that until his last years, Tony was so good at never taking a solid hit. He had a way of just not presenting a clean target to a defender.

Now I didn't watch him much at Pitt and certainly none in high school. Wonder if taking hits at those levels is what taught him how to not take a shot and contributed to his current state. Are some people more susceptible to actual brain injury due to genetics, other factors?

There is a lot more research that needs to be done.
Maybe research would help as to some sort of treatment but it's been obvious for years that blows to the head causes problems. Boxers have been a prime examples of this. It should be a logical conclusion that repeated blows to a player in any sport is subject to the same outcome. There is such a thing as rational choices as well as irrational ones. Those who choose to engage in crontact sports for an extended time should know it will likely end up bad.
 
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