Through my dying day, and beyond: Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program

Her father was the founder of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team, and she herself later served as the company president. Somewhere along the line, Gay Culverhouse took note of the frequent long-term disabilities that NFL players suffer, and she took it to heart.

In October, she testified critically to Congress' Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives about the NFL’s lax policy toward concussions and overall player safety. She vowed publicly to set up an organization to seek out former players in need, arrange their doctor visits, and help complete their paperwork.

She delivered. The fledgling Gay Culverhouse Player Outreach Program first sent an advocate to help Jerry Eckwood, a popular running back for the Buccaneers from 1979 to 1981. Jerry, now 55 years old, is unable to go grocery shopping, handle his checkbook, function on his own, or often even to speak coherently. His doctor strongly suspects he has dementia, after Jerry’s multiple concussions as a football player.

Gay has worked quickly to build the nonprofit program, which is based in Tampa, Florida. "I have to be made obsolete. The NFL is hoping that I made a one-shot deal in Congress and now I’ll go away. I’m going to fund this through my dying day and beyond. This thing can't die when I die."

Gay's selflessness and drive are particularly laudable because she herself is terminally ill with myelofibrosis, a disorder of the bone marrow that causes severe anemia and kidney failure. Former players admire her toughness and compassion. Former All-Pro tight end Jimmie Giles said, "I've never heard of anybody in football stepping up to the plate like this. This lady, she's like Gandhi to us."

Read another NFL concussion story. Thanks to Alan Schwarz for the source story in the Jan. 22 issue of the New York Times.

Advice to health advocates: Live like Gay Culverhouse.

He retired at 34: Concussions in football receiver Wayne Chrebet

At age 34, Wayne Chrebet retired from his football career with the New York Jets because of post-concussion syndrome, after suffering at least six concussions. He sometimes had returned to games in which he had been knocked unconscious. He was the third star pass receiver on the New York Jets to retire because of post-concussion syndrome, along with Laveranues Coles and Al Toon.

Wayne has recently acknowledged he has bouts of depression and memory problems so severe that he cannot make the routine drive from his home in New Jersey to his restaurant in Long Island without a global positioning system.

The Jets' team physician has drawn criticism because he is both the leader of the National Football League’s commission on concussions and because under his care, three of his team's star receivers have had multiple concussions that ended their careers and left them with permanent disabilities. The team physician's desire to both help his team win and care for the players' health poses an innate conflict of interest.

Advice to parents of football players: Make sure you get your son's family physician to independently verify the team physician's clearance for him to resume play.

Browse for related stories in the index at the very bottom of this page, or read another football story.

Thanks to Alan Schwarz for the source story in the NY Times of Dec. 22.

The team doctor cleared him to play: Laveranues Coles' concussion treatment

New York Jets football player Laveranues Coles had sustained a concussion on Oct. 28 in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Jets coaches held him out for one game, and he presumably passed the neuropsychological tests that the league made mandatory this year. Apparently the team doctors cleared him to play, and he returned to the football field for several games.

While discussing his reputation for playing hurt, he said, "Sometimes I may need somebody to step in there at certain times and say, 'Laveranues, I think you need to do what's best for you.' But it is what it is."

Pete Kendall, a former Jets lineman now with the Washington Redskins, said he was "concerned for Laveranues. He seemed more subdued [when playing later that season] than normal." Lethargy is a common sign of an unhealed concussion.

Pete questioned whether critical decisions should be made by team-employed doctors, saying "I see guys playing in games that I don't think a personal advocate would allow them to do. The doctor who is supposed to be looking out for you is also the same guy who may put you into a game that the team has to win. You're mixing business with medicine."

Advice to the parents of injured athletes: Get a second opinion to verify the team doctor's opinion of your athlete's readiness to play.

Browse for similar stories in our index at the very bottom of this page, or read a athlete’s story.

Thanks to Alan Schwarz for the source story in the Dec. 22 issue of the New York Times.

Concussion is the white elephant in the room: Safer football helmets

Years ago, as a quarterback wearing the uniform and helmet of the Harvard University football team, Vin Ferrara sustained several concussions. Now his photo appears in the newspaper, helmet in hand, again, in a very different way.

Vin has developed a radically different football helmet through his company, Xenith LLC. Instead of using foam inside the helmet to cushion impacts, this helmet uses shock absorbers filled with air. The helmet seems better at preventing concussions than are the standard foam-filled helmets. Mike Oliver, the head of the helmet certification agency, said, "Concussion is the white elephant in the room right now when it comes to helmets, and I'm cautiously optimistic about how low these numbers [from the impact tests] are."

This is important because high school athletic programs usually use reconditioned old helmets with degraded foam padding. While these helmets continue to prevent skull fractures, they fail to prevent many concussions. Studies find that 10% to 50% of high school players each season sustain concussions, whose effects range from persistent memory problems and depression to coma and death.

For example, Max Conradt, a high school player in Yachats, Oregon, was wearing a 20-year-old helmet when he sustained hits that left him comatose for two months and left him permanently impaired.

Hopefully the new helmet will keep football players safe.

Vin Ferrara had concussions, and from that experience, he developed a product to prevent others from getting the injuries he did. He joins other entrepreneur patient advocates in businesses aimed at preventing or reducing the harm of multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and other conditions, as described on this blog. Now that’s worth cheering for!

Advice: Consider if there are ways you can help others beat your disease.

Read one of our football concussion stories, or read more from the source article by Alan Schwarz in today’s New York Times.