Chris Bowland a successful NFL linebacker who, demonstrated his good football skill with the San Francisco 49ers, announced he is quitting football because of the research which demonstrated that football players who suffer repeated concussions, can end up with Alxheimers disease or dementia. As noted on PBS last year, there is evidence to prove that players who suffer repeated concussions, are in danger of contracting one of these diseases at an early age. This study can be found at pbs.org.
Bowland, who had a very good rookie season last year, announced he is quitting football because of the potential illness caused by repeated concussions in the NFL. He values his health and will wishes to not risk the potential concussions that come with play in the NFL. It has been noted that 30% of NFL players end up, at an early age, with either alzheimers or dementia. So Boland is giving up the potential fame and monies that comes from pro-sport thus ensuring that he will not be a victim of brain disease at an early age.
This article can be found in the Niagara Falls Review. It was published yesterday in the Toronto Star and, The National Post.
Whatever.. The Canadian Soccer Association wants to ban heading the ball until kids are 16... This will just get worse every year... Obviouly, this kids parents are loaded...999 out of 1000 people damage their bodies more at work everyday when based on a dollar per dollar work damage basis.. A secretary that earns 1 million dollars in her entire career will have carpel tunnel as well as back and neck problems... This kid is spoiled and should have sucked it up atleast until he bought his mama a house... Oh.. His mama already has a house...
What kind of dumb comparison is that? I’ll take carpel tunnel and back problems over Alzheimer’s and dementia any day. Not to mention, Alzheimer’s and dementia make up only half the picture; let’s not forget the physical damage and injuries that football players (and athletes in general) must often toil through to actually have careers in sports.
And what does money have to do with this? Are you implying the guy can’t make a living doing anything other than football? That’s absurd. Who are you to judge him for valuing his health over his football career? You truly can be so ignorant at times.
Oh.. Im sure he can go out and make 100K/year with his education... The more likely scenario is that he is connected through rich family members and does not need to work...
The reality is that most people would willingly take dementia or have a greatly reduced lifespan for the amount of money these people make.. I read one survey where people would willing do ten years in jail if they got 10 million when they came out.. It was over 80% of respondents that said yes...
Even if your own life is destroyed completely, your family would beniifit greatly.. This entire country was built, and continues to grow on the backs of people who willing move from much better places to the coldest country on the planet for the benifit of their families... I work with people from all over the world and for the majority of people...monitary compensation is the only advantage to living in Canada.. Yeah, alot of mid eastern countries have freedom restrictions, however, imigrants from Asia and South America have wonderful lives and come (giving up their own lives in the process) to give their families back home money and a better life...
Im simply stating that this kid clearly is rich already, because no average, or poor person could be that cold hearted to not want to give their loved ones a better life at any cost.
The ironic part of this story is that the average NFL career is only 3 years.. If anyone should be paying money out.. It should be the highschool, and the NCAA. NCAA careers are 5 years(if you redshirt, you still get concussions in practice) but the biggest contributer to CTE are the junior high and high schools. First just the sheer volume of atheletes, and secondly the kids have their brains damaged by highschool ball for up to 10 years(some programs start in grade 2) but more importantly, at the most criticle time for brain development.
What are people going to do when they find CTE in people who only played highschool ball? Sue all of the high schools?
There is already a few reports that put one sport ahead of all others for this type of brain injury... No it is not football... no it is not hockey, or boxing, or MMA... it is.......drumroll please......... SOCCER... Each and everytime that you head the ball you sustain a "micro concussion" Because soccer is played almost year round and because games are often twice a week and because heading the ball is still done in practices, this is actually worse than other sports where you spare without taking shots to the head, or where you practice with only light body contact. Soccer teams actually have practice drills where everyone lines up and practices heading the ball... They are literally lining up for a concussion!!!! These thousands of micro concussions are actually more devestating over time than massive concussions sustained in sports like MMA where after you are diagonosed with a concussion, you are banned from competing for a minimum of 3 months.
The great irony in this whole story, is that this kid had already sustained 15 years worth of brain damage... Another 2 years(average NFL career is 3 years don't forget) would not have changed anything... The 8 figure salary he would have made would change most people's lives.. Obviously, it would not have changed his life because he (or his family) already has 8 figures.
I greatly respect the decision of Chris Bowland to value his health over the glory and money of pro football. I had an eight year old youngster whom we retired from soccer after a concussion. I would not allow any child of mine to play football unless he was a P/K specialist or perhaps a wide receiver. I would support any suggestion from the football world that might prevent serious injuries such as rule changes to make the game safer. Hockey players are another vulnerable group for the development of these illnesses , yet fighting is still allowed and hockey also has its victims.
Time to bring out the bubbles....
7 posts. 4 by you advocating players exposing themselves to injury for your entertainment.
He is obviously lucky that he has the choice to not have to risk his health, but criticizing him for it is just Neanderthal-ish.
What do you mean by, "our entertainment' ...
The hundreds of millions of kids around the world who sustain micro concussions on a daily basis are not playing soccer for our entertainment... The kids who are in grappling sports who sustain concussions and the hundreds of thousands of kids who sustain micro concussions in this county are doing it to stay in shape and healthy.. To over compensate and to start banning sports is a complete and over reaction. Kids living in ghettos in the US suffer from an extremely high rate of obesity and to start to make it difficult for these kids to remain active is wrong... There are pros and con's to everything and I believe that sports still offer more positive benefits than negative... Go ahead and put your kid in a bubble! Then watch him/her become weak and become alergic to pollen and grass and end dieing of obesity.
I guess we could change the rules of football so that you only have to be in someone's grasp to be called tackled, but this will still not stop the majority of the concussions that occur on the line , in the trenches
kids sustain multiple concussions to stay healthy? now that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.
Mr. Bungle wrote: Kids living in ghettos in the US suffer from an extremely high rate of obesity and to start to make it difficult for these kids to remain active is wrong... There are pros and con's to everything and I believe that sports still offer more positive benefits than negative... Go ahead and put your kid in a bubble! Then watch him/her become weak and become alergic to pollen and grass and end dieing of obesity.Contact sports are not the only way for kids living in the ghetto (or elsewhere) to avoid obesity and stay active you know.
Mr. Bungle wrote: To over compensate and to start banning sports is a complete and over reaction.some of the more savage sports should be banned or at least tweaked to mitigate permanent and debilitative injuries.
Soccer is the worst offender... You are going to make a low scoring and boring game even more low scoring and more boring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibvIrWle_yI[i]Niagara Als » Thu Mar 19, 2015 7:06 pm
… Bowland, who had a very good rookie season last year, announced he is quitting football because of the potential illness caused by repeated concussions in the NFL. He values his health and will wishes to not risk the potential concussions that come with play in the NFL … So Boland is giving up the potential fame and monies that comes from pro-sport thus ensuring that he will not be a victim of brain disease at an early age…
Mr.Bungle » Thu Mar 19, 2015 11:47 pm
Whatever … Obviouly, this kids parents are loaded … This kid is spoiled and should have sucked it up at least until he bought his mama a house… Oh… His mama already has a house…[/i]
Bowling doesn’t want to play to protect his health, only reason for him to have to do so would then be for our entertainment.
The main reason people work is to provide for their families.. Working up in Ft Mac, people sacrifice their lives and live in virtual prisons while flying 10000 kms exery 3 weeks just to see their families for 4 and half days, and they do this to for a measly 100-200K... This guy would have six months off a year and earn 20 to 50 times as much as these people.. They are not playing for our entertainment, they are playing for obcene amounts of cash and a better life.. Mark Messier was asked one time why he kept playing and his answer was quite honest... He said in his prime with Gretz, he was making 200K/yr. Years later with his skills greatly diminished he was pulling in 3 million...
You really are an A-hole right now.
I'm not trying to be an a-hole.. I just don't agree with some spoiled rich kid throwing an entire sport under the bus because he doesn't see value in risking injury for amounts of money that most people would literally kill for or suffer great personal agony.. He might be afraid of getting a brain disease down the road... However , many many people would chose instant death if it meant they could leave their families tens of millions of dollars..
He should of quit the team and just shut his mouth.. I suspect he could possible be into steroids anyways and he quit before he got caught... I have never seen a 24 year old that bald before.
Your honour, if she didn’t WANT to get raped what was she doing in those clothes?
Makes as much sense as your tar the messenger approach.
The “spoiled rich kid” made a decision in his own best interests and was honest about why.
And you are offended.
The main reason people work IS to provide for their families, no doubt.
But the amount of money he could make is no reason for him to accept the risks associated with that money if he doesn’t want to do so.
And that obscene amount of cash is only there to be paid out because they play a game for our entertainment. No entertainment, no ticket sales, no TV revenue, no cash. Ergo, all professional athletes play for our entertainment; it is what makes them professional.
A few players backing out over concerns about head injuries, no big deal, there's loads of excellent players out there who will play gridiron even for peanuts. . But if it ever got to no one wants to play gridiron, then that's a problem for the sport as we know it. Not going to happen though.
We're at the point where going forward CTE is an established side effect of the job. What repercussions that may have in the college/university/junior/etc ranks is TBD. However now in the professional ranks where players are getting paid, they have to make the decision whether to accept that risk and take the job. It will be considered similarly to the hazards associated with any other job, such as a high rise window worker, police officer, fireman, soldier, construction worker, etc. And while it's now an accepted fact that you'll have some level of CTE from playing the sport, there's clearly a range of how much damage occurs player to player.
So what should happen is a more enlightened proactive approach to include routine scanning of players as part of their physical. This will give you a baseline, allow you to follow the player year to year and if there are significant changes then maybe the player and/or team can make a more informed choice as to whether it's worth continuing their career. This may not happen without a fight though, given there will be some costs associated with it but preventative costs are always cheaper than dealing with the damages and lawsuits after the fact.
- You have no proof that he has access to wealth beyond what he's earned in the NFL.
- Even if the above were true, it remains his decision to step away. The NFL will keep rolling and making billions, and those people who want to risk brain injury, dementia, and depression for millions of dollars can continue to do so.
- I credit this kid for being smart enough to prioritize quality of life over ludicrous amounts of money. You can't take it with you. And I'm sure his parents are happy to see him walk away from a violent contact sport that permanently damages over 30% of its athletes.