6 ms·

Aaron Hernandez Found to Have Severe C.T.E

50 points by coloneltcb 9y ago

nxsynonym 9y ago
>>Those who died after the settlement was approved in April 2015 are not eligible for an award, but Hernandez’s family could argue for an exemption. An exemption should only be made if the money goes to the families of the victims. Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? Even if it is proven the the CTE somehow cause him to commit the murders (which is a long shot), why would his family reap the benefits of the settlement?
- smitherfield 9y ago
  Not to mention that (IIRC) several of the murders he's thought to have committed occurred before he'd ever played in the NFL.
- chickenfries 9y ago
  I don't think it's about if CTE caused him to commit the murders, it's about if CTE caused him to commit suicide. Since CTA can only be diagnosed posthumously, I can see the argument that he had CTE before 2015 but was not properly diagnosed despite the clear risk of CTE to NFL players.
  - nxsynonym 9y ago
    I see your point, unfortunately it will be hard to parse what the extent of the CTE was and how it affected him in combination with the results of his trial. I just know that if I were in the shoes of the victims families, it would be crushing to see the family of the murderer walk away with a payout.
    - chickenfries 9y ago
      I agree, it's a difficult argument but I think regardless of Hernandez's guilt it's clear that the NFL has not done enough about CTE. As for his family, I don't see why his family should not be compensated by the NFL for his CTE, regardless of his crimes. If my scumbag family member was killed because of negligence by their employer, I would still want their employer to compensate our family... two wrongs don't make a right, and we should still hold the NFL accountable.
- watty 9y ago
  It has nothing to do with murder and everything to do with suicide. The family is arguing that CTE caused or contributed to his suicide.
  - nxsynonym 9y ago
    If he wasn't put in jail with a lifetime sentence would he still have committed suicide? Maybe. Maybe not. There's no was to know his thoughts leading up to the suicide.
    - criddell 9y ago
      For a civil case you don't have to prove it, you just have to be able to convince a jury that it's probably true.
- nilved 9y ago
  > Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? Even if it is proven the the CTE somehow cause him to commit the murders (which is a long shot), why would his family reap the benefits of the settlement? Because the NFL is the murderer. Aaron was made ill by them to the extent he is not responsible for his actions. This is before you even get to the suicide.
  - nick_ 9y ago
    They mean to raise the concern of the family receiving that money, instead of the state or a CTE research group, for example.
    - nilved 9y ago
      Good questions. The NFL has enough money for everyone affected.
  - nxsynonym 9y ago
    How is the NFL responsible for those murders? He didn't start in the NFL until 2010, after he had already been involved in a double shooting and bar fight. Also, there is no direct evidence that CTE leads to murdering people.
- x0x0 9y ago
  Because his daughter, by being deprived of her father's presence and income, was also hurt by the actions that were quite possibly induced by the CTE he suffered. And while no one can know CTE caused Hernandez to kill people, it is known that CTE causes cognitive impairment, impulsive behavior, and emotional instability; aggression is a suspected symptom [1]. I don't think the idea that CTE made Hernandez' bad behavior more likely and/or more severe is easy to dismiss out of hand. [1] http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/basics/symptoms/con-20113581 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-trauma...
  - kolbe 9y ago
    I'm not sure how employable Aaron was without the NFL.
    - x0x0 9y ago
      Other sports perhaps? He really was a phenomenal athlete. His seasons with the patriots really did suggest he'd be an all time great TE.
      - Clubber 9y ago
        He could lose a bunch of weight and lose to Floyd Mayweather. :)
  - jessaustin 9y ago
    Hernandez would never have gotten out of prison, and certainly not while still capable of playing ball professionally. How much could his income possible have been? The argument that he could have been a wealthy pro athlete without suffering CTE if only the NFL had done things differently, seems to contradict itself in several ways.
- Clubber 9y ago
  >Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? Well, for one thing, unlike North Korea, we don't punish people's innocent family members for their crimes.
  - nxsynonym 9y ago
    How is not awarding millions of dollars for no reason a punishment?
    - loeg 9y ago
      If they would otherwise be entitled to the award, then restricting that award is equivalent to punishment by fine of the same degree.
    - Clubber 9y ago
      >Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? He is suggesting even with a settlement, the family shouldn't get any because of what Hernandez' crimes were. Without a will, immediate family is the default recipient of that sort of thing.
    - emodendroket 9y ago
      Well it wouldn't be "no reason", would it?
- criddell 9y ago
  So the Hernandez family's ability to sue should be linked to what kind of person Aaron was? How does that makes sense?
adamnemecek 9y ago
There's a hypothesized link between C.T.E. and violence. http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/does-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-really-make-people-more-violent/ http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/does-chronic-traumatic-e...
Clubber 9y ago
He only played 3 seasons in the NFL. I agree with the findings that continuous head trauma causes CTE, but could other things cause it as well? For someone with only 3 seasons to have that severe a case of CTE is cause for concern that there might be other things that cause it.
- adamnemecek 9y ago
  You are ignoring the probably like 10 years of football he played before going to NFL.
  - colecut 9y ago
    Isn't the lawsuit doing that too?
  - bllguo 9y ago
    He's ignoring that intentionally, in the context of evaluating the merit of the lawsuit
  - S_A_P 9y ago
    probably closer to 15. Parents these days start their kids in pop warner/little league starting in 1st and 2nd grade. I find it to be asinine myself, given that there are cases of mild CTE found in high school football players...
  - Clubber 9y ago
    Yes, intentionally. Each level gets much faster and the players get bigger and momentum = mass * velocity. I believe most of the CTE cases involve NFL players and it is odd that someone could have such a severe case of CTE with only 3 years of NFL. Florida was a really fast and strong team when he played, but a fraction of the NFL speed and size.
    - adamnemecek 9y ago
      Cte is found amongst high school and college players as well.
smaili 9y ago
> C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, can be diagnosed only posthumously. Just thinking out loud, does anyone know if this could ever be diagnosed while the person is alive? I'm not very familiar with the disease but just knowing you have it while you're alive would give people at least an opportunity to try and do something about it before it's too late.
- erentz 9y ago
  Not a doctor. But based on what I've read and seen a diagnosis requires tissue samples of the brain and analysis through a microscope. So it might be possible with some kind of brain biopsy, given there is no treatment for it cutting open someone's head and cutting out some brain to diagnose it is pointless. Without taking tissue sample diagnosis could only be based on behavior.
- justboxing 9y ago
  > does anyone know if this could ever be diagnosed while the person is alive? I don't believe that's possible (yet) but the good news is that several Research Institutes are said to be conducting on going research into diagnosing C.T.E while the person is still alive.. > At this time CTE can only be diagnosed after death by postmortem neuropathological analysis. Right now there is no known way to use MRI, CT, or other brain imaging methods to diagnose CTE. The CTE Center is actively conducting research aimed at learning how to diagnose CTE during life. Find out more about our research here. Source: Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Research Center => https://www.bu.edu/cte/about/frequently-asked-questions/ https://www.bu.edu/cte/about/frequently-asked-questions/
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    This article indicated Boston University is making progress using PET imaging [1]. [1] http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/new-brain-scan-leap-cte-research-article-1.2636640 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/new-brain-scan-leap...
- wl 9y ago
  I was recently talking with a neurosurgery fellow who claimed CTE is a bit of a controversial diagnosis to begin with. Not only can it only be diagnosed posthumously, but it cannot be diagnosed by autopsy alone. According to him, many brains display the pathology characteristic of CTE. What makes it CTE or not is a history of concussive/subconcussive injuries. Of course, I may have misunderstood him and/or his opinion may not be in sync with the consensus in the field. Still, it's not something I've heard in these discussions.
purple-again 9y ago
Anyone know if there is a similar rash of problems or study on CTE with professional boxers? Surely they face comparable levels of head trauma throughout their training/career.
- erentz 9y ago
  That is where it "started" so to speak: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_pugilistica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_pugilistica
- criddell 9y ago
  I have read that CTE is more closely correlated with a high number of smaller (sub-concussive) hits than any number of concussive hits. Do boxers fit this profile? After football, I think soccer players might be next in line for CTE risk.
  - hkmurakami 9y ago
    Yes, since the left jab to the head is a key part of a boxer's offensive foundation.
  - IkmoIkmo 9y ago
    > Do boxers fit this profile? Uhh well yeah, much more than soccer players that's for sure. You typically throw around 50 punches in a round, with about 35% landing, typically more than half are thrown to the head, and punches which don't land (i.e., don't count in boxing rules) typically still land on the guard in front of your head and cause an impact on the head nonetheless. In a typical 12 round fight or equivalent sparring match you tend to get hit about 200 times or so, i.e. take 100 punches to the head from people who punch for a profession. If you've never been in a boxing gym, it's absolutely ridiculous how much harder a boxer punches versus a really strong and tough looking guy with no boxing training. In that sense it's no different from someone who's been playing a guitar for 5 years, and someone who hasn't for a single second, what they can produce is world's apart, despite punching being a seemingly natural thing anyone can do. Getting hit by a pro 100 times in about half an hour (12 rounds of 3 minutes) is absolutely terrible, and there's lots of research that shows this (as well as many famous cases of brain damage). The top professionals fight about 40 or so times as a pro, but can easily rack up 100-200 fights during their amateur careers, all of which are preceded by by tons of sparring. Typically top fighters spar about 150 rounds prior to a pro match of 12 rounds. All in all, it's probably safe to assume a professional boxer will fight a couple thousand rounds in his life, in each of which he gets hit with on average at least 10 hard punches to the head from a professional puncher. It's an absolutely savage sport, it's hard to reconcile that with my love for the sport. (the level of this sacrifice and sports glory are so intertwined though, they make for legendary rivalries and careers) Boxers wear protection but it doesn't really help for brain damage. Gloves were invented not for protection of the head, but rather the hands, as the hands tend to break quickly. Head gear in sparring protects a little, but that too is partly against cuts.
swang 9y ago
1. Murder sucks. CTE sucks. NFL sucks. 2. His girlfriend should not get a single dime. She was complicit in dumping evidence for Hernandez. I don't know how it would work but their daughter should be the only one who gets to touch any money from this case. 3. Someone tell me otherwise but I thought initially the reason Hernandez killed himself was because he thought that his death would payout some money to his girlfriend and his daughter. 4. Going back I don't see any severe head injuries that could have led to concussions. Not saying CTE is impossible but I wonder if the NFL could argue that...
- lazyasciiart 9y ago
  Severe head injuries are not required for concussions.
  - travmatt 9y ago
    I've heard of people getting small concussions from riding jet skis across choppy water
- simcop2387 9y ago
  for 4, you'll have to include all injuries sustained during practice too. I don't know the medical stuff about it, but I don't believe CTE requires injuries severe enough that it puts him out of commission, just constantly repeated ones. Even if they'd be below the threshold where you'd normally report on them, i.e. getting hit repeated and being dazed from it over and over.
- wavefunction 9y ago
  His daughter shouldn't get anything either. His gf can get a job and raise the kid like any other single parent.
- MrMember 9y ago
  You don't need to suffer a major concussion to get CTE. Linemen for example still suffer from it and it's believed that the tens of thousands of "micro-concussive" events (ball snaps, rush forward, hit defensive lineman) they accrue in a lifetime of playing football add up to be just as bad or worse than suffering multiple major concussions. Tight ends like Hernandez are often used in blocking situations so he could have suffered something similar.
joekrill 9y ago
At this point the surprising headline should be when NFL players are found to NOT have C.T.E. I really don't understand how the NFL is getting away with this so easily. I guess they have good PR? People just like football so much that they are willing to ignore it?
- slamdance 9y ago
  the legal and medical question that comes up is "when did it start?" Pee-wee football? high school? college? certainly before they get to the NFL. While I don't defend them for hiding the issue for so long, at this point, now that its common knowledge, its pretty much like boxing or MMA. Its people's choice to do it. The consequences are plain to see, and still they continue. Others may be in the situation that football (and the incurring injuries) are all they have, or all they know and that maybe its too late to turn back or 'fix' the problem. its not just the NFL. It's also the NCAA which makes far more money off these kids than the NFL.

50 points by coloneltcb 9y ago

>>Those who died after the settlement was approved in April 2015 are not eligible for an award, but Hernandez’s family could argue for an exemption. An exemption should only be made if the money goes to the families of the victims. Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? Even if it is proven the the CTE somehow cause him to commit the murders (which is a long shot), why would his family reap the benefits of the settlement?

smitherfield 9y ago
Not to mention that (IIRC) several of the murders he's thought to have committed occurred before he'd ever played in the NFL.
chickenfries 9y ago
I don't think it's about if CTE caused him to commit the murders, it's about if CTE caused him to commit suicide. Since CTA can only be diagnosed posthumously, I can see the argument that he had CTE before 2015 but was not properly diagnosed despite the clear risk of CTE to NFL players.
- nxsynonym 9y ago
  I see your point, unfortunately it will be hard to parse what the extent of the CTE was and how it affected him in combination with the results of his trial. I just know that if I were in the shoes of the victims families, it would be crushing to see the family of the murderer walk away with a payout.
  - chickenfries 9y ago
    I agree, it's a difficult argument but I think regardless of Hernandez's guilt it's clear that the NFL has not done enough about CTE. As for his family, I don't see why his family should not be compensated by the NFL for his CTE, regardless of his crimes. If my scumbag family member was killed because of negligence by their employer, I would still want their employer to compensate our family... two wrongs don't make a right, and we should still hold the NFL accountable.
watty 9y ago
It has nothing to do with murder and everything to do with suicide. The family is arguing that CTE caused or contributed to his suicide.
- nxsynonym 9y ago
  If he wasn't put in jail with a lifetime sentence would he still have committed suicide? Maybe. Maybe not. There's no was to know his thoughts leading up to the suicide.
  - criddell 9y ago
    For a civil case you don't have to prove it, you just have to be able to convince a jury that it's probably true.
nilved 9y ago
> Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? Even if it is proven the the CTE somehow cause him to commit the murders (which is a long shot), why would his family reap the benefits of the settlement? Because the NFL is the murderer. Aaron was made ill by them to the extent he is not responsible for his actions. This is before you even get to the suicide.
- nick_ 9y ago
  They mean to raise the concern of the family receiving that money, instead of the state or a CTE research group, for example.
  - nilved 9y ago
    Good questions. The NFL has enough money for everyone affected.
- nxsynonym 9y ago
  How is the NFL responsible for those murders? He didn't start in the NFL until 2010, after he had already been involved in a double shooting and bar fight. Also, there is no direct evidence that CTE leads to murdering people.
x0x0 9y ago
Because his daughter, by being deprived of her father's presence and income, was also hurt by the actions that were quite possibly induced by the CTE he suffered. And while no one can know CTE caused Hernandez to kill people, it is known that CTE causes cognitive impairment, impulsive behavior, and emotional instability; aggression is a suspected symptom [1]. I don't think the idea that CTE made Hernandez' bad behavior more likely and/or more severe is easy to dismiss out of hand. [1] http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy/basics/symptoms/con-20113581 http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-trauma...
- kolbe 9y ago
  I'm not sure how employable Aaron was without the NFL.
  - x0x0 9y ago
    Other sports perhaps? He really was a phenomenal athlete. His seasons with the patriots really did suggest he'd be an all time great TE.
    - Clubber 9y ago
      He could lose a bunch of weight and lose to Floyd Mayweather. :)
- jessaustin 9y ago
  Hernandez would never have gotten out of prison, and certainly not while still capable of playing ball professionally. How much could his income possible have been? The argument that he could have been a wealthy pro athlete without suffering CTE if only the NFL had done things differently, seems to contradict itself in several ways.
Clubber 9y ago
>Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? Well, for one thing, unlike North Korea, we don't punish people's innocent family members for their crimes.
- nxsynonym 9y ago
  How is not awarding millions of dollars for no reason a punishment?
  - loeg 9y ago
    If they would otherwise be entitled to the award, then restricting that award is equivalent to punishment by fine of the same degree.
  - Clubber 9y ago
    >Why does the family of a murderer get a monetary reward? He is suggesting even with a settlement, the family shouldn't get any because of what Hernandez' crimes were. Without a will, immediate family is the default recipient of that sort of thing.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    Well it wouldn't be "no reason", would it?
criddell 9y ago
So the Hernandez family's ability to sue should be linked to what kind of person Aaron was? How does that makes sense?

adamnemecek 9y ago

There's a hypothesized link between C.T.E. and violence. http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/does-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-really-make-people-more-violent/ http://www.traumaticbraininjury.net/does-chronic-traumatic-e...

Clubber 9y ago

He only played 3 seasons in the NFL. I agree with the findings that continuous head trauma causes CTE, but could other things cause it as well? For someone with only 3 seasons to have that severe a case of CTE is cause for concern that there might be other things that cause it.

adamnemecek 9y ago
You are ignoring the probably like 10 years of football he played before going to NFL.
- colecut 9y ago
  Isn't the lawsuit doing that too?
- bllguo 9y ago
  He's ignoring that intentionally, in the context of evaluating the merit of the lawsuit
- S_A_P 9y ago
  probably closer to 15. Parents these days start their kids in pop warner/little league starting in 1st and 2nd grade. I find it to be asinine myself, given that there are cases of mild CTE found in high school football players...
- Clubber 9y ago
  Yes, intentionally. Each level gets much faster and the players get bigger and momentum = mass * velocity. I believe most of the CTE cases involve NFL players and it is odd that someone could have such a severe case of CTE with only 3 years of NFL. Florida was a really fast and strong team when he played, but a fraction of the NFL speed and size.
  - adamnemecek 9y ago
    Cte is found amongst high school and college players as well.

smaili 9y ago

> C.T.E., or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, can be diagnosed only posthumously. Just thinking out loud, does anyone know if this could ever be diagnosed while the person is alive? I'm not very familiar with the disease but just knowing you have it while you're alive would give people at least an opportunity to try and do something about it before it's too late.

erentz 9y ago
Not a doctor. But based on what I've read and seen a diagnosis requires tissue samples of the brain and analysis through a microscope. So it might be possible with some kind of brain biopsy, given there is no treatment for it cutting open someone's head and cutting out some brain to diagnose it is pointless. Without taking tissue sample diagnosis could only be based on behavior.
justboxing 9y ago
> does anyone know if this could ever be diagnosed while the person is alive? I don't believe that's possible (yet) but the good news is that several Research Institutes are said to be conducting on going research into diagnosing C.T.E while the person is still alive.. > At this time CTE can only be diagnosed after death by postmortem neuropathological analysis. Right now there is no known way to use MRI, CT, or other brain imaging methods to diagnose CTE. The CTE Center is actively conducting research aimed at learning how to diagnose CTE during life. Find out more about our research here. Source: Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) Research Center => https://www.bu.edu/cte/about/frequently-asked-questions/ https://www.bu.edu/cte/about/frequently-asked-questions/
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  This article indicated Boston University is making progress using PET imaging [1]. [1] http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/new-brain-scan-leap-cte-research-article-1.2636640 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/new-brain-scan-leap...
wl 9y ago
I was recently talking with a neurosurgery fellow who claimed CTE is a bit of a controversial diagnosis to begin with. Not only can it only be diagnosed posthumously, but it cannot be diagnosed by autopsy alone. According to him, many brains display the pathology characteristic of CTE. What makes it CTE or not is a history of concussive/subconcussive injuries. Of course, I may have misunderstood him and/or his opinion may not be in sync with the consensus in the field. Still, it's not something I've heard in these discussions.

purple-again 9y ago

Anyone know if there is a similar rash of problems or study on CTE with professional boxers? Surely they face comparable levels of head trauma throughout their training/career.

erentz 9y ago
That is where it "started" so to speak: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_pugilistica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_pugilistica
criddell 9y ago
I have read that CTE is more closely correlated with a high number of smaller (sub-concussive) hits than any number of concussive hits. Do boxers fit this profile? After football, I think soccer players might be next in line for CTE risk.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  Yes, since the left jab to the head is a key part of a boxer's offensive foundation.
- IkmoIkmo 9y ago
  > Do boxers fit this profile? Uhh well yeah, much more than soccer players that's for sure. You typically throw around 50 punches in a round, with about 35% landing, typically more than half are thrown to the head, and punches which don't land (i.e., don't count in boxing rules) typically still land on the guard in front of your head and cause an impact on the head nonetheless. In a typical 12 round fight or equivalent sparring match you tend to get hit about 200 times or so, i.e. take 100 punches to the head from people who punch for a profession. If you've never been in a boxing gym, it's absolutely ridiculous how much harder a boxer punches versus a really strong and tough looking guy with no boxing training. In that sense it's no different from someone who's been playing a guitar for 5 years, and someone who hasn't for a single second, what they can produce is world's apart, despite punching being a seemingly natural thing anyone can do. Getting hit by a pro 100 times in about half an hour (12 rounds of 3 minutes) is absolutely terrible, and there's lots of research that shows this (as well as many famous cases of brain damage). The top professionals fight about 40 or so times as a pro, but can easily rack up 100-200 fights during their amateur careers, all of which are preceded by by tons of sparring. Typically top fighters spar about 150 rounds prior to a pro match of 12 rounds. All in all, it's probably safe to assume a professional boxer will fight a couple thousand rounds in his life, in each of which he gets hit with on average at least 10 hard punches to the head from a professional puncher. It's an absolutely savage sport, it's hard to reconcile that with my love for the sport. (the level of this sacrifice and sports glory are so intertwined though, they make for legendary rivalries and careers) Boxers wear protection but it doesn't really help for brain damage. Gloves were invented not for protection of the head, but rather the hands, as the hands tend to break quickly. Head gear in sparring protects a little, but that too is partly against cuts.

swang 9y ago

1. Murder sucks. CTE sucks. NFL sucks. 2. His girlfriend should not get a single dime. She was complicit in dumping evidence for Hernandez. I don't know how it would work but their daughter should be the only one who gets to touch any money from this case. 3. Someone tell me otherwise but I thought initially the reason Hernandez killed himself was because he thought that his death would payout some money to his girlfriend and his daughter. 4. Going back I don't see any severe head injuries that could have led to concussions. Not saying CTE is impossible but I wonder if the NFL could argue that...

lazyasciiart 9y ago
Severe head injuries are not required for concussions.
- travmatt 9y ago
  I've heard of people getting small concussions from riding jet skis across choppy water
simcop2387 9y ago
for 4, you'll have to include all injuries sustained during practice too. I don't know the medical stuff about it, but I don't believe CTE requires injuries severe enough that it puts him out of commission, just constantly repeated ones. Even if they'd be below the threshold where you'd normally report on them, i.e. getting hit repeated and being dazed from it over and over.
wavefunction 9y ago
His daughter shouldn't get anything either. His gf can get a job and raise the kid like any other single parent.
MrMember 9y ago
You don't need to suffer a major concussion to get CTE. Linemen for example still suffer from it and it's believed that the tens of thousands of "micro-concussive" events (ball snaps, rush forward, hit defensive lineman) they accrue in a lifetime of playing football add up to be just as bad or worse than suffering multiple major concussions. Tight ends like Hernandez are often used in blocking situations so he could have suffered something similar.

joekrill 9y ago

At this point the surprising headline should be when NFL players are found to NOT have C.T.E. I really don't understand how the NFL is getting away with this so easily. I guess they have good PR? People just like football so much that they are willing to ignore it?

slamdance 9y ago
the legal and medical question that comes up is "when did it start?" Pee-wee football? high school? college? certainly before they get to the NFL. While I don't defend them for hiding the issue for so long, at this point, now that its common knowledge, its pretty much like boxing or MMA. Its people's choice to do it. The consequences are plain to see, and still they continue. Others may be in the situation that football (and the incurring injuries) are all they have, or all they know and that maybe its too late to turn back or 'fix' the problem. its not just the NFL. It's also the NCAA which makes far more money off these kids than the NFL.