In Football and Hockey, Players Fear Concussions

Terribly sad stories recently. Two football suicides have been connected to brain injuries, that of 21 year old Penn State player Owen Thomas and of retired Chicago Bears pro player Dave Duerson.

"Duerson sent text messages to his family before he shot himself specifically requesting that his brain be examined for damage, two people aware of the messages said. Another person close to Duerson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Duerson had commented to him in recent months that he might have C.T.E., an incurable disease linked to depression, impaired impulse control and cognitive decline."

"Owen Thomas was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a disease that has been linked to depression and impulse control, primarily among NFL players."

The NFL has donated $1 million -- which is pocket change for the league -- to Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

The NHL should match the donation, because it has the same problems. NHL professional fighter Bob Probert died at 45. "Hockey's enduring tolerance for and celebration of fighting will almost certainly be tested anew now that Probert, more pugilist than playmaker, has become the first contemporary hockey player to show C.T.E. after death."

Probert knew that something was wrong. "Probert, however, knew the 16 seasons of pounding he absorbed as one of the league's foremost pugilists as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings had taken a toll. Before he died of a massive heart attack, Probert asked family members to forward his brain to researchers known best for studying concussions in football players."

The NHL needs to act. Clearly, appeals based on the health of the players and of the sport won't work, so journalists who care are pointing out that the NHL should act in order to preserve its own financial health.

The first thing that the NHL should do is to enforce the rules clearly and consistently, and to fire the man who's currently in charge of enforcement, the corrupt Colin Campbell.