Dave Duerson’s Death
posted: February 27 , 2011, 11: 41 am


I have absolutely no idea what the results of the post-mortem testing on Dave Duerson’s brain will tell us about what caused him to kill himself.
What I do know is that when Dave Durerson decided to blame the inherent hazards of football for his life’s problems, he also decided to become the poster boy for chronic traumatic encephalopathy(CTE), post concussion syndrome (PCS).
Will we ever know if Duerson’s suicide was caused by CTE-PCS? Probably not. But what his death will do is fuel the debate about whether or not professional football is too violent. It’s a rhetorical question. Of course professional football is too violent.
But here’s the deal. More people watched Super Bowl XVL then any other television event in the history of TV. Football is not going anywhere. Just the opposite. Currently they’re trying get players to agree to adding two more concussion filled games to the schedule.
Now that we agree football is here to stay, people far smarted then me are going to have to sort out what the long-term effects of CTE-PCS are and the expected quality of life for those diagnosed.
Athletes aren’t conditioned to think long term. They know they have a compressed period of time to pursue their dream. They often develop mental tricks to avoid thinking about the dangers that exist in the games they play.
Just like we know NASCAR is dangerous. But the reality is that if your going to be a NASCAR driver then you’re going to drive fast. Last I checked they’re still driving fast, even with restrictor plates. And, occasionally a driver dies.

If you play professional football you’re going to get hit. We can do everything to protect players: no contact to the QB’s head, no hits on a defenseless receiver. But there are only a handful of those types of hits a game. What are we going to do about the other 90 plays?
How about goal-line and short yardage? Because that’s where the real violence takes place. Do Offensive and Defensive Linemen deserve less protection? Do running backs have a magic shield I don’t know about?
The truth is the only way to protect players from the violence of football is to ban football.
I don’t think Dave Duerson would want football banned. I hope he doesn’t become part of a slogan for concussion awareness. I think that would be tragic because he was more than that. He was an incredible football player that in his death reminded all of us that professional athletes are human and that they often have their most difficult times once the cheering has stopped.