SanJoaquinSooner
12/5/2010, 01:50 PM
Interestingly, it doesn't appear to be so much based on the number of concussions, but the frequency of being hit.
Offensive linemen have it the worst.
Quotes from an article:
Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Joseph Wu, clinical director of the UC Irvine brain imaging center, examined the brains of 105 current and former NFL players this past year. All but two - a former backup quarterback and a former long snapper - showed signs of brain damage.
Amen and Wu performed two types of brain-imaging scans and tests designed to measure cognitive function. The results will be published in the Journal of Nueropsychiatry in February.
Amen said he was surprised to find that the number of concussions a player sustained didn't correlate with the amount of brain damage shown in the scans.
"The damage is not from the big hits. It's the multiple little hits," Amen said. "The offensive linemen had the worst brains because they're getting hit every play. Second-worst were the linebackers, then the defensive linemen and then the running backs. The best place to be is quarterback or defensive back because, even though quarterbacks do sometimes get the big hits, they don't get the repetitive little hits."
Eric Williams (former Redskin), along with his father and nephew, participated in the brain-imaging study at the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach. That study and the sometimes-troubling personal stories of the current and former NFL players who were examined there adds to a growing body of research suggesting football faces an epidemic of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries.
Williams, who is retired and living in Tyler, Texas, doesn't know how many concussions he sustained during his football career, but he fractured his neck in 1985 and remained unconscious through two commercial breaks, at least five minutes, after being knocked out in a 1989 game. He said he feels anxious in public settings because he sometimes doesn't recognize people he knows.
Two other members of his family, father Roy Williams and nephew Kyle Williams, also played in the NFL and participated in the brain-imaging study. All three showed signs of brain damage.
"They were not healthy brains," said Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist, brain-imaging physician and medical director of Amen Clinics. "They showed damage like many of our other players did."
"I just forget," said Williams, 48, who spent 10 seasons in the NFL and started at defensive tackle for the 1991 Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. "I don't know if that's because of football or what, but I have some major, major memory issues, and it scares me."
"You always have this dream of your son playing the game," Scott Williams said. "Just be careful what you wish for because it may come true. That was always his dream, but then he gets hurt and you wonder, 'Was it worth it?'"
Offensive linemen have it the worst.
Quotes from an article:
Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Joseph Wu, clinical director of the UC Irvine brain imaging center, examined the brains of 105 current and former NFL players this past year. All but two - a former backup quarterback and a former long snapper - showed signs of brain damage.
Amen and Wu performed two types of brain-imaging scans and tests designed to measure cognitive function. The results will be published in the Journal of Nueropsychiatry in February.
Amen said he was surprised to find that the number of concussions a player sustained didn't correlate with the amount of brain damage shown in the scans.
"The damage is not from the big hits. It's the multiple little hits," Amen said. "The offensive linemen had the worst brains because they're getting hit every play. Second-worst were the linebackers, then the defensive linemen and then the running backs. The best place to be is quarterback or defensive back because, even though quarterbacks do sometimes get the big hits, they don't get the repetitive little hits."
Eric Williams (former Redskin), along with his father and nephew, participated in the brain-imaging study at the Amen Clinic in Newport Beach. That study and the sometimes-troubling personal stories of the current and former NFL players who were examined there adds to a growing body of research suggesting football faces an epidemic of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries.
Williams, who is retired and living in Tyler, Texas, doesn't know how many concussions he sustained during his football career, but he fractured his neck in 1985 and remained unconscious through two commercial breaks, at least five minutes, after being knocked out in a 1989 game. He said he feels anxious in public settings because he sometimes doesn't recognize people he knows.
Two other members of his family, father Roy Williams and nephew Kyle Williams, also played in the NFL and participated in the brain-imaging study. All three showed signs of brain damage.
"They were not healthy brains," said Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist, brain-imaging physician and medical director of Amen Clinics. "They showed damage like many of our other players did."
"I just forget," said Williams, 48, who spent 10 seasons in the NFL and started at defensive tackle for the 1991 Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins. "I don't know if that's because of football or what, but I have some major, major memory issues, and it scares me."
"You always have this dream of your son playing the game," Scott Williams said. "Just be careful what you wish for because it may come true. That was always his dream, but then he gets hurt and you wonder, 'Was it worth it?'"