Why shouldn’t a player accused of domestic abuse use CTE as a legal defense? Wouldn’t it be the same as being drugged without your consent?
3
With more awareness of the impact on the brains of our children eventually the NFL will die a slow death.
I had the coach of the Arizona Cardinals tell me he doesnt mind his kid playing tackle football because "they dont hit that hard".
this is the kind of ignorance I hope to see wrung out of society.
If Football was not a sport it would be considered child abuse to put kids through what they endure playing this sport.
14
What is so hard for you all to understand? Coaches see the phenomena so much they don't bother paying any attention to it. Players who dominate in high school at half speed using their physical advantages of size and strength all of a sudden come up against other players who are just as big and strong in college. And then, they find there are certain players big and strong who are quick and speedy, too, NFL quality players if they're smart enough. The athlete's problem then becomes how to keep going, keep competitive, and the answer is encouraged by coaches; become more hostile, literally beat your head up against that endless brick bone and muscle wall of superior strength, size, and speed. And, there's always somebody bigger, faster, stronger. What is so hard for you all to understand about this? When coaches become worth their hideously greedy stupendously stupid multi million dollar salaries, they'll stop brain damaging young men, and you'll finally understand and stop watching valuable young men ruin their minds for your selfish beer drinking entertainment. You are the problem. Go look in the mirror.
10
He had CTE at age 21? Anyone need anymore proof that football is a killer and that parents should not let their kids play it.
Dead at 21 from football?
15
@Carl Zeitz
Yes I do need more proof in light of the irrefutable evidence that football players have a lower rate of suicide than non football players. My father died of cancer in 1988. My mother was positive it was caused by high voltage power lines. She was wrong. Need more evidence?
1
As a father I just feel so badly for this kid. He’s 18. Why should he have to “grow up in a hurry”? For a game? He’s still grieving a terrible loss. Is he in therapy? Continuing to play may provide him a measure of solace (and, sadly, an acceptable outlet to retaliate against the inexplicable cruelty of some truly inhuman individuals) but what about those quiet moments when he has no choice but to be by himself with his thoughts? And there is simply nothing to convince me that any of the football factories care anything about him as a boy dealing with the loss of his brother.
11
American football - the opiate of our people. And no price, apparently, is too high to pay for our collective heroin.
10
@NYC299
And who said there was no war on football?
I am touched by Tyler's life, as my cousin is on Washington State's staff. Also, 25 years ago, I lost my then 23 year old brother to suicide. He never played football; there was alcohol and a bout with mental health. WE - doctors, family, friends and EXPERTS don't know what drove TH to this permanent decision, but telling others to NOT PLAY, may be equivalent to telling them to "not breathe."
Football, while a game, is a vehicle and industry. If we look at policing, criminal justice, etc., I believe it has a high rate of suicide, but we don't tell others to leave it because of the rate of suicide. We need police officers, soldiers, marines, welders, etc..
C.T.E. may be prevalent in these post mortem scans, but if you take football away from people, what are you accomplishing? Let's tackle SUICIDE, no pun intended. What is the answer to addressing it, for the next generation?
1
@Paul S
Suicide rate is lower for football players. Period.
This story was well covered in the SI article published earlier this year. That article stated Tyler had stage 1 CTE, and the brain of a much older man.
Sadly it seems their lives revolve around Tyler. I hope the family can find peace and move on to life after football.
15
My wife and I have 2, now grown, sons. Both were, if I can be forgiven the immodesty, exceptional athletes. Both were heavily recruited by their middle and high school football coaches. Neither played the game. My wife and I watched Pop Warner games our friends' sons played in.
The atmosphere went a long way toward convincing us our sons would not play, ever. If the violence in a game played by 10 year olds with snarling parents in the stands wasn't stomach turning enough, the diagnostic encyclopedia of lingering orthopedic injuries acquaintances, friends and relations who played carried with them into middle age sealed it.
Both still have all their faculties. One is an officer in a fire department, the other is a software engineer. Both frequently thank my wife for adamantly refusing to even discuss their playing football.
They ended up playing baseball. One played in college. Every time the subject comes up I think of George Carlin's ode to baseball. The last line says it all. "In baseball the object is to go home! And to be safe! - I hope I'll be safe at home!"
23
As a parent, and WSU alum, this breaks my heart. I can't imagine the grief this family feels, and the hope they have to keep in their hearts for Ryan's safety.
3
Ryan and his family are rationalizing his decision. He's putting his health and future on the line to satisfy his ego and wants. The tragedy of his brother's death could be used as a lesson for those who live on...don't put your playing football ahead of your future. Alas, it's proof that you can't teach anyone who doesn't want to learn...even a grieving family.
13
Kid. This is madness. You sound like a person who has actual contributions to make. Give up the sport that already took one of your parents' kids away from them and stands a terrifyingly large chance of harming you. And try again with therapy. Keep on being the "brave warrior," and one day you'll be the subject of a much sadder article about a guy who washed out of the NFL at age 24 with a lot of injuries, drifted away from his parents, took a lot of painkillers, assaulted a girlfriend or two, and ended up dead in a bathtub, only to be found posthumously to have had his mind horribly ravaged by CTE. (I'm not trying to be mean--the Times itself has run such stories.)
17
i just want to say, what is wrong with people? what kind of a person goes up to a kid who lost his brother and hands him a flier for a suicide hotline.
these people really need to look inside themselves and heal their souls, because to me is the most horrible part of this really tragic article.
7
Mike Piellucci's editors should have held this story until January. Kurt Streeter's story re Isaiah Woods and his mental health issues as a college athlete was compelling but two stories within a few weeks on depression and suicide is painful to absorb. It's a topic the Times should cover on a regular basis but as a parent and grandparent of athletes I need a break from the sadness and time to have conversations with family and friends.
1
In breaking news just published by WashPo, talented Univeristy of Richmond football player Gus Lee just killed himself at 20 years old and his brain has just been donated to Dr. Ann McKee at the BU brain bank. I guarantee you that CTE will be found in the 20 year old brain of Gus Lee. I implore Ryan to walk away from football. The gridiron is a death zone.
16
We cannot wait to have you in SC. Come to Summerville, Ryan. It is the birthplace of Sweet Tea!
Is football worth damaging your brain?
11
Two severe concussions in high school, an M.D. degree in 1980 , then a diagnosis of Alzheimer's this year, too much down the drain. Don't play football, even in the backyard.
14
Cruelty in our society has become so pervasive it's painful to think about. To mock Tyler's tragic suicide on social media and to torment Ryan while playing the game is beyond disgraceful. Where do they learn such cruelty? Is it fun to torment a young man over the death of his beloved brother? Do you feel cool, manly? My hope is that Ryan has a successful college career and then walks away. He was a wise young man not to choose a football powerhouse.
7
When my big, blond, athletically built brother was 12 years old, my mother grudgingly allowed him to join the football team. The coach practically did back flips.
Two weeks later, he came home with a broken finger and that was the end of that.
Instead, he ran track, played tennis and went on to Cornell with academic scholarships.
What is wrong with parents? Especially now when we know about CTE? Get them on the swim team.
18
Let's be honest here, as others have said, it is child abuse, pure and simple, to have children under 18 play gladiator sports like football.
And since college football rests on the shoulders of high school football, and pro football rests on the shoulders of college players, without the high school athletes destroying themselves, the insanely abusive gladiator activity of pro football would die off.
As it should.
Hugh
13
@Hugh Massengill
Where is Obama on this subject? No one has more credibility with young African Americans that suffer more than any other group percentage wise from CTE. He needs to step up.
3
I feel for this child, and he is a child, and his family because it sounds to me as though they honestly believe football is what is keeping them together. He broke down after throwing a touchdown pass, broke down after losing a game. It mentioned that him and his brother went to therapy but it didn't mention that he went alone.
I'm from Texas, football is King here, but it's obvious the sport can't save what this family is going through. We call these kids "strong" because they're braving emotions that are wrecking them on the inside.
I hope their fresh start works for them but I fear they're just taking their ghosts to a place where football will take even more.
10
Its very hard for young men and men to walk away from sports such as football. This is due to the fact that since the ages of 3,4, and 5 they are told that football is "important", "great", "wonderful", and a way to gain "financial security". Those ideas are ingrained in the minds of young children and inevitably transform their identities. As a result, instead of seeing themselves as "young men" and "students", they first view themselves as "Quarterbacks", "Receivers", or other positions. The same applies to other sports.
Thus, although CTE is a given with football, parents and their children find it hard to leave and quit altogether. Doing so would mean erasing their identity and sense of self. So its like telling children to stop being who they are, or completely erasing who they once were. That of course is a hard thing to do. Also, the feelings surrounding it would be more powerful than the promise of permanent brain damage. Hence they all continue to play.
In all truth, CTE is real, but there are these social-cultural factors that constantly work against the player and their parents. This is why more haven't walked away from it today. However as time goes on, and in 20 years, I do believe that the football in America will be extinct. Unfortunately though, more cases like this have to happen first in order to open the eyes of people.
7
There is a direct link between playing football and CTE. There should be a warning label on every helmet, stadium entrance, and jersey . Having said that I have no idea why any truly loving parent would allow their child to play football when there are so many other team sports out there that do not provide the same level of risk. In the face of these facts it comes down to a responsible parent's decision...
12
@Harley Leiber
There has been a warning label on the helmet for decades warning of the injuries that can occur playing football including head and neck injuries.
1
So many of these comments target football, but Tyler killed himself with a gun. Maybe part of the conversation should be about the higher risk of suicide among gun owners, and I hope the Hilinskis have decided as a family not to have guns in their home. I feel for the Hilinski family and Ryan -- he has taken on himself a heavy, heavy, burden, and I pray that he takes advantage of regular counseling of some kind when he settles in South Carolina, whether through his college or his church. I wish he were going to an Ivy League school where you can decide to walk away from the sport that brought you there without losing your financial aid, as some of my friends did. My son is a junior in high school and plays quarterback. He's not the starter. I am relieved that he may not play next year and certainly will not play in college.
Ryan, the South IS a warm, welcoming part of the country, and I'm sure you and your family will be welcomed with open arms and maybe even some pies. My family moved here from the North and we love the South's diversity and warmth. I hope you will remember that you don't have to be a hero, football or otherwise, 24/7. The best thing you can do for Tyler is live the long, happy, healthy life, embraced by your family and friends, that he did not see.
5
@Dean actually, in the video documentary I watched about Tyler, he had never personally owned a gun, and had only shot one for the first time with his college friends 1-2 days prior to his suicide. I'm as anti-gun as they come, but I don't think that would have made a difference here.
7
Without going on to comment on football, its known dangers, the long term effects it has ... let me say simply ... such a brave and resilient family ... such great and loving brothers ... such a good and caring young man in Ryan ... I wish only the best for him and his family.
4
Isn't it time to ask the larger, basic question of why are we still playing this game when the body of CTE research indicates we should not play it? Of course, the answer to this question is money - money for billionaire NFL team owners and future NFL earnings for collegiate players. Yet, the money paid to professional players cannot buy them new brains and there is no cure for CTE. Why are we still playing this game?
9
Because some people like to?
A friend of mine has a 12 year old son, and he plays football because he enjoys it. It really is that simple.
1
“There's definitely a line. If it goes too far, I've got to stop. I won't be some guy out there who doesn't know what sideline to go to.”
The problem is you don’t know when you’ve crossed that line. The movie “Concussion” came out in 2015. Every parent and player, especially young starting players, should have watched that movie, looked soberly in the mirror, and said, “Is it worth it to scramble your brain for a kids game.” It might take 25 years before you start slobbering but it very likely will be WELL short of a full life. With what we now know, I don’t understand parents letting their kids play. It’s American gladiator.....sanctioned child abuse....and big bucks for promoters.
81
@Fearless Fuzzy You are opposed to football, Fuzzy, but the reality is most football players do not end up with CTE.
@RA Hamilton
Every single football player who played at even the high school level has CTE. When we can diagnose the disease in the living, we will all see this truth.
19
This is one really sad story about what must be an extremely addictive activity that, for the participants if not their supporters, is as risky and dangerous as doing hard drugs.
10
Continuing to play football is a lot like doing drugs. It’s not going to end well.
10
Can we just stop with the mass delusion that is tackle football? Just stop the tackling; it’s still a running passing blocking sport, without the ‘hits’. Yeah, “touch football” or some well organized variant - it’s still exhilarating to play, and exhilarating to watch. And a whole lot less stupid. And a far greater cohort of athletes who could enter into it, with less fear of life ending injuries.
13
@MG
I suggest what Bob and Ray talked about years ago that would fill stadiums. A professional hide and go seek league. That has to be as popular as touch football.
1
Football will never disappear for these simple reasons: football gives its players fame and social status, women are attracted to men with social status, and men want women to be attracted to them. As long as girls on high school and college campuses continue to throw themselves at football players, you will never see the sport end.
7
Ryan, you sound like a wonderful, smart, thoughtful, talented young man. For the love of God, drop football and let your multitude of talents define you.
11
For some football seems to be as adictive as any opiod. Why else would an otherwise rational adult engage in this activity. The football establishment regards its sport with religious ferver and cannot bring itself to face obvious problems. Problems that could be alleviated by the application of more common sense like a shock ABSORBING helmet instead of a shock TRANSMITING helmet. NASCAR and other motor sports embraced this concept long ago and it has paid off for all concerned.
3
Why would you continue to play?
7
It's hard to say, "Don't do it." Every young man or woman needs to find his or her own place in the world. But I sit here today, having suffered at least two concussions playing football in Texas in the 1960s, aware that I can't go in a room now without having to take a few seconds to ask myself, "Why did I come in here? . . . Oh, yeah." My two oldest grandsons in Texas played pee-wee football. They're dad had played HS football, as I did. But the boys have decided, on their own, not to. One -- who will have the size to be a lineman -- is in his middle school choir; the other, who eschews eating meat, loves mountain-bike racing and FFA. I never said a word to them about not playing football, but I'm so very proud of them. Playing football is young Mr. Hilinski's choice; only he can make it for reasons that are only his. I wish him the best, but also the courage to just walk away whenever he believes it's just too much. Some may think less of him, call him a "quitter"; I will not.
8
The only ones who need to have their heads examined are parents who (still) let their children play football.
13
It's not "raw and complicated".
American football exists only in America because it appeals to the country's id: violence, misogyny, racism, "us vs them". I cannot find a shred of respect for a game where cold-clocking your wife and deflating a football both merit a four game suspension, and the whole CTE thing is a bee in the bonnet, worthy of sweeping under the rug.
10
I’ll tell you what you could have done: say NO to football and every other sport (soccer, Lacrosse) that destroys the brain. You’re still his parents, aren’t you? How many lives will it take for the football fanatics in this country, including and especially parents, to say no to this barbarism?
8
Recently, via an ESPN College GameDay interview, a well known football player revealed that he was the victim of years and years of physical and psychological abuse at the hands of his father. Based on the player's statements, the abuse continues to this very day.
During the same broadcast the father was interviewed and readily admitted his abuse of his son, even laughing about it.
There was no public outcry. No investigation. No sanctioning of the father.
What have we become as a society to allow disclosures like this to pass without a public examination of our acceptance, nay craving, for the sport of football that causes the deaths and life long injuries of players?
And what else have we become as a society when we place such a high value on these players that we adopt the "whatever it takes to win" attitude toward the injuries they suffer?
Isn't it past time that we stop this madness?
59
My heart goes out to the the Hilinski family, along with a huge Thank You for allowing their story to be told. I lost my kid brother to suicide years ago. I can understand the emotional toll on Ryan and his family.
As I read their story I felt torn between wishing Ryan would have told himself "Enough with this game, I'm not playing any more," while at the same time trying to understand a younger brother's desire to play in memory of his sibling. America's love affair with football continues to gloss over the ugly truth of its very real and proven dangers to the players. And I continue to hope young Ryan will seek other avenues, rather than football, to honor the brother he lost.
69
The best thing this young man could do for himself and the rest of our young men is to be an example and walk away from this dangerous sport. All he is doing will have been for naught if he ends up with CTE. A family member of mine recently passed away at the age of 55 from early onset Alzheimers due to CTE. His decline was horrible for him and the rest of the family.
95
As an alumni of Washington State, this hits so very close to home. I can't imagine going through a tragedy such as this, especially as publicly as the Helinski family has had to endure.
How long will we as a culture risk the health and well being of our kids in the name of sport? Tyler was never paid as a player for the NCAA - you can't simply make the argument that he "knew the risks" and was well compensated for them. He wasn't a full grown NFL player. Tyler died at 21 years old with a brain resembling that of a 60 year old.
He died for my Friday night entertainment.
96
This is so heartbreaking. I am sorry.
But why is it "complicated"? There was great courage in sending out to the Mayo Clinic to find out whether or not Tyler had C.T.E. He did. This is clarity. It points unequivocally to a need for this to stop.
I am not in their shoes, so perhaps I'm missing something. But how this grieving family isn't united in actively opposing Ryan's decision to continue playing football is really hard to understand.
Wouldn't the best way for Ryan and his family to honor Tyler's legacy be to stop taking such high-stakes risks, and set an example for other families in doing so?
207
I'm actually back in New York now, so I'll have to change the top. But, in California I covered high school football as a sports writer. It tells you all you need you know about Orange Lutheran's competition that they finished 5-6 this past season, but were still ranked No. 18 in the state.
Aside from that, I'll leave others to comment on whether or not Ryan should continue to play the sport. I do want to say that was one of the most well-written stories I've read in a long time.
1
"All you need TO know ..."
1
After Tyler took his life because of CTE due to football, the entire family uprooted their lives to move across the country so his brother Ryan could play the game?
Distraction or no distraction, a way to continue to feel close to his brother or not - I wish someone would tell Ryan that there is an entire world out there that does not include football. And, there are much healthier ways to deal with the pain of losing his beloved brother than playing football.
50
@chrisnyc
Quite sadly, it appears that football is the overriding passion of the family. An activity which is literally "destruction on turf" and already killed one son. It would take great courage for the family to seek a new lifestyle completely separated from football.
15
@chrisnyc That is his choice to make, not yours.
@SUNDEVILPEG Yes, it is.
1
This says it all: "At Orange Lutheran High School, a tall red banner of Ryan hangs on a fence outside the main entrance, part of a series showcasing football players." Why the glorification of football? Isn't high school about academics? Woe to the scholars who have no interest in watching, playing, or talking about football!
Thing is, Ryan seems like a bright guy with a strong sense of morals and lots of character. Can't he and his family envision a bright future for him without football? Why risk his considerable brainpower when he has so much more to offer than his football prowess?
30
Love or hate football, the Hilsinkis’ pain and strength is unimaginable. No one need judge the wisdom of their choices. Relocating across the country to support Ryan simply floors me.
For that reason, I hope that Ryan and his family at some point meet another exceptionally talented, young former player, Chris Borland.
I met him through a most unlikely organ – my Alumni magazine. Borland, once named “the most dangerous man in football”, was profiled recently in a cover story. Football and alumni fundraising, indivisible as nachos and cheese, right? Wisconsin: Green Bay Packers are virtual deities; UW Badgers only slightly lesser gods, has been getting a lot of bad national press lately. In publishing this story, however, my old school makes me proud to be a Badger.
Quoting Borland “It’s essentially heresy to walk away from football in America.” Sometimes, heresy is called for.
Former Badger Borland left the NFL at the end of his rookie year, over the long-term risk of CTE. Crediting the research of another UW alumnus, Boston University brain scientist Ann McKee (named “one of the 100 most influential people in the world”/Time 2018) with saving his life, he now volunteers for nonprofits seeking to educate and reform practices in the sport, from high school to the NFL. He walked away from a $2.9M contract at 24, finding peace with that decision. He is not anti-football today, only anti CTE.
To Hilsinki and Borland families, the very best. On, Wisconsin!
31
You know who else left high school a semester early to go train with his college team? Aaron Hernandez of the Patriots. He too arrived at college as a highly recruited player (by Urban Meyer!), with a ton of grief and trauma. He sustained concussions, and killed himself after a murderous spree, at the age of 27.
Hernandez might be an extreme example, but why take the risk?
33
Playing football and smoking are similar in that there is very compelling evidence that each activity carries very high risk. While I feel sorry for those who have lost their health if not their lives to football, they (or their parents, coaches, teachers, medical professionals, or even legislators who fund this sport) should know better. Society should not have to pay emotionally or financially for the collective foolishness known as "football."
21
College football is almost a rite of passage for the male power elite in our society. It's a bad mindset for business, politics or foreign policy. It's disturbing to think that it could also be causing neurological damage.
20
@Sandy T
"could" be causing neurological damage? Have you been living under a rock?
1
The parents say they "have no clue" what happened to Tyler. And that 20 years from now they still won't know what happened to him. That's pretty deep denial. The "clue" lies in the autopsy that says he had brain damage from multiple concussions, caused by playing football. Tyler seems to be the closest thing to an adult this family has, and it's not close enough. I pity those boys being raised by people so short-sighted and irresponsible that they would risk the death of a son after losing one already.
36
@deepshade I agree 1000% with you. While I don't know these people, one thing is clear: if they are pursuing a high level of training they have their eye on the money prize. That is a huge motivator for some people. The millions of dollars these prized players earn straight into the NFL is driving the CTE train.
16
Sports Illustrated had an account of NFL players believed to be suffering from CTE — including Gary Plummer. Plummer’s symptoms have receded as have those of others, who now believe they are much healthier.
Boston University, which leads the way in CTE research and has earned countless millions ftom its studies, insists that recovery is impossible. (Obviously, evidence of recovery would cut into BU’s research profits.)
BU’s claims that CTE is incurable are criticized for serving its financial interests. Other institutions that have profited from similar CTE studies include the New York Times, the NFL Players Union, and the makers of the movie Concussion.
There’s a lot of money to be earned from CTE research and those who stand to get wealthy are big fans of Boston University and its claim that CTE is incurable. impossible.
The integrity of BU and its supporters has increasingly been called into question.
4
Maybe it’s curable, by why let it make you sick in the first place if you know it will?
4
@michjas It's said that brain cells can't regrow. That dead brain tissue can't be brought back. This in contrast to a tendon or ligament. I read the SI Plummer story. I also watched Concussion & read stories like this NYT piece. It almost sounds like you're saying the revealing evidence re football & CTE are hype. Man, you'd be wrong! I'm happy for Plummer's turnaround. But that almost read like a puff-piece. You should mingle w/ those impacted from CTE. Ex-footballers who are not right. Do this w/o thinking of gain or loss @ BU.
3
@michjas
Perhaps symptoms of CTE can be alleviated but a cure is impossible. Brain damage is permanent. Simple science. Once the brain is damaged, all that can be done is to find a way for the brain to cope with the damage more effectively. Just a single concussion and the resultant life-long brain damage is a horrible, ghastly thing.
Just look at former NHL #1 draft pick, NCAA champion, Stanley Cup winner Joe Murphy who is now penniless and homeless and living on the streets of Kenora, Ontario. A single, terrible concussion damaged his mind permanently. The Boston Globe did a feature on Joe in October.
There are tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of players like Joe in all the major sports, but players who only made it to the college or even high school level, and who are silent and forgotten and suffer symptoms and brain damage which are very real, but not quite as dramatic and visible, yet.
8
Football is not only dangerous due to CTE, destroying knees and other debilitating injuries, it encourages and rewards violence in players and this violence is celebrated by fans. Take the violence away and, like rugby, eliminate helmets and pads. Celebrate the speed, agility and finesse of the game. Penalize any overly aggressive action including macho or taunting celebrations. As a society, male aggression and violence are a problem going well beyond the issue of CTE in football.
25
As a Gamecock fan, I welcome you and your family to our "middling" school and hope you find some peace and happiness here. My family are also WSU fans, so we felt sorrow at your brother's loss also for you and for your family as well as for the Cougar family. Can't wait to see you in garnet and black!
8
So sad and thought provoking. Regarding CTE, what's stopping us from getting to the bottom of things? Why can't we examine the brains of wide cross-sections of the population to narrow down whether football is the culprit? Also (I'll get some flak for this) although the stigma for depression and mental illness should indeed be removed, our society, culture, etc., isn't so sympathetic. A young interviewee would be foolish to reveal he/she suffered so. As a lawyer, I see the credibility of witnesses and divorce and custody clients continually undermined by a psychiatric diagnosis. Laws won't change such, only legitimate empathy will work.
5
I come from a family that loves the Green Bay Packers, but we have all lately stopped watching the NFL. Our watching the game and commercials leads to the exploitation of the athletes. I now watch the Premier League soccer from England. The games are over in two hours, few commercials, commentators that just say the name of the person who has the ball, normal body type athletes and continuous action. Try it out. It is on NBC every weekend.
18
Mountaineering is another sport that kills people, yet there is no surge of outrage or calls to ban attempts on K2.
4
@Frank Knarf
A death in mountaineering is an accident. A death from repeated blows to the head is at the core of professional football sport. Until they change it to TAG football there is no way to avoid the fact that it is a brutal violent sport.
10
@Frank Knarf if you do come home from mountaineering your brain won't turn out to have been destroyed years down the line.
5
I would think it should be possible to do an epidemiological study of high school football players vs. non-football players. The records should be there in the high schools, or yearbooks. Are they more likely to commit suicide as this article suggests? Do they tend to develop cognitive problems earlier or more frequently? There's always this implication that high school football is bad for you, but no studies other than posthumous brain examinations.
7
As long as schools and coaches profit off the lives of these young men the odds of things changing for the better are low.
23
We have millions of games preserved on videotape. Before long, that's all we will have.
Methinks big time football will disappear from the gridiron.
6
Parents should not allow their minor kids to engage in this barbarity for this very reason.
I personally will not have anything to do with football. If I watch it or attend games where people are putting their lives at risk in a effort to entertain me and I partake of it then when harm inevitably result I bear some culpability.
I was stupid. I gave my son permission to play middle school and high schools football. Son, I apologize.
14
If I knew him I might suggest that once he's settled in at the University of South Carolina that he transfer his talents, his energies, his body and his mind to the golf program.
14
There is no way to cushion the brain bathed in CSF in a hard cranium. Helmets do nothing to soften the blows. We were not built to whack our heads. So we shouldn’t. Physician husband and I gave up football when we watched special on brain injury and the NFL denial. That isn’t sport.
21
@Molly Ciliberti
You are very correct. Football is not a sport in any civilized sense of the word. It is destruction on turf.
4
I would like to know if the rate of suicide among US males is higher among football players than other sports and higher than the population that doesn’t play sports. I can’t find the answers.
11
@Shamrock
Shamrock, it may very well be true that former and current football players commit suicide less often than the general population. I am not sure. I doubt it, but I am not sure.
However, focusing on the suicide aspect of this issue is missing the bigger picture somewhat. Suicide is a dramatic and tragic outcome, but it is only one outcome of brain trauma. It is not the only measure of the damage done. Dementia, Alzheimer's, ALS, CTE, substance abuse, are some of the many diseases and disorders former football players have faced and are facing, without necessarily committing suicide.
This is not even to speak of the loss of intelligence, executive functioning skills, academic potential and professional potential that many players silently deal with for the rest of their lives, perhaps without even knowing it, at great expense to our society.
I played HS and Pop Warner. I get that football is a powerful force in an individual's life. It is the closest you will get to being in the military, without being in the military. You are treated like a soldier, and trained to think nothing of hurting other human beings, and potentially hurting yourself in the process.
The difference is, the military has a purpose, supposedly. Football is meant to be recreational, a game played for fun. There are better ways the compete than through organized, violent contact sports like football. Our society will have taken a big step forward when football becomes a thing of the past.
13
I’m a sportswriter, now i my 60s, and I recall the last decades when boxing was still a big part of the American sporting life—Ali, Fpreman, Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard. There was an assembly line from Golden Gloves to the Olympics to pro fighting. Now it’s gone away, the barbarism of boxing stuffed into a niche sport of Ultimate Fighting, but most of the blood lust poured into the gladiator sport of football.
In the 20th century each succeeding generation of immigrants became boxers—English, Irish, Jews, finally African-Americans. Now African-Americans make up the overwhelming majority of players i the NFL. We wring ur hands about the newly-named CTE, and we discourage of young boys from taking up the sport, but we continue to feed African-American young men into the NFL, and we tune in eagerly each week to watch the gladiators battle their brains out...literally.
This contradiction—hypocrisy—will either lead to the diminishment of football in American sporting life, or not. And if not, the same hypocrisy that allowed the brain battering sport of boxing to thrive will continue to pump billions of dollars and thousands of young men’s lives into a deadly sport. What are the American values that horrific compromise stands for?
16
What a torturously sad situation for them.
Personally, I would never let my sons play football.
8
To truly honor the memory of his brother, he should quit football immediately and never look back.
Football killed his brother. It caused permanent and terrible brain damage.
There is no honor in football.
Players suffer all the burdens and risks for transient glory, and the coaches bank all the riches, while sharing none of the brain damage.
In Dr. Ann McKee's brain bank, even a kicker was diagnosed with CTE. Think about that for a second. A kicker, who was rarely tackled, had CTE. Heart-stopping.
I dare say that every single player that ever played football at even the high school level has brain damage of some level.
I dare say the same for every hockey player, every lacrosse player, every rugby player, many soccer players, etc.
Football needs to be banned at every educational institution immediately.
Brain damage will no longer be sanctioned on school property and at school-sponsored activities.
The NCAA is the most corrupt institution in the world, even more corrupt than the Vatican, and even more sanctimonious.
NCAA bureaucrats get rich while young people permanently destroy their brains.
Absolutely sickening, horrifying, and so utterly insane, and speaks volumes about our culture and society.
Where is the leadership, where is the will, where is the courage to stand up to this madness and say No More!
107
While I will acknowledge every individual's reasons may vary for continuing with the sport, broadly speaking the vice grip football has on people is unbridled passion and an 'American' reverence for tradition. And for players, the more important reason is the vast amount of opportunity football affords them. Many of these top athletes obtain otherwise elusive university educations that will drastically change their lives. It's not as simple as 'stop playing'.
10
Don't look now but youth football is rapidly being replaced by flag football, a sensible and safe alternative. It is proven that it is impossible to engineer a helmet that protects against CTE. Given that fact, there is 100 percent probability that there will continue to be CTE related deaths until tackle football becomes extinct.
13
1. Under these tragic circumstance I hate to see this family judged
2. Ryan's choice has a certain logic to it. He's willing to risk a terrrible fate for fame and fortune. He's hardly the first person in history to make such a decision.
11
Maybe we should consider rugby as an alternative to football. I don’t think there is nearly as much head trauma and to be honest it’s more enjoyable to watch. I think rugby players are tougher than football players.
6
@jeff bunkers In the last few years 2 rugby players have been killed playing the sport. It's also terribly dangerous.
2
@Viola
Rugby is not "also terribly dangerous". I know this because I play the sport and am deeply familiar with it.
Tackling is highly technical. We are taught to move our heads to the side of the opponent's thigh, lead with our shoulder, and wrap our arms around their legs to prevent movement so we can bring them down. To tackle football-style would be reckless and non-conducive in achieving a defensive goal of halting their momentum.
Injuries on my team are roughly 99% sprains or muscle damage, not the head.
2
@Viola
Would violence in American culture be reduced if we stopped our worship of bloodsports. Only when the public in general rebukes violent sports will the US be a less tester one driven society. But then again maybe humans are the most violent species on the planet. Not maybe, they are.
Football is combat by another name. Men are attracted and it must be caked into our genes. When my sons baseball coach wanted to recruit him for the football team I said no. No regrets. However I didn’t come from a football family nor did he have a younger brother who’d played. Might I or he have felt differently if he had?
7
The human brain didn’t evolve to survive daily cranial trauma. On the other hand we did evolve to seek status and accomplishment. Football is absolutely a martial sport with our sons sacrificed at the front. What a dilemma for this poor family and many others.
14
It's a sport. It is madness for this family to condone another child sacrificing himself on the football alter, and the best form of homage and respect for his brother would be to hang up his helmet, protect the family from further trauma, and find a vocation more meaningful than kicking a ball. I cannot imagine that Tyler would want his beloved brother to suffer the same fate, and I wish that Tyler, who was looking for a way out from the pressures of his life in football, had found another route. Heartbreak compounded by negligence and irresponsibility all around.
34
@Concerned Mother
Who are you to judge how a family chooses to grieve and live their lives? Ryan sounds like he is well aware of the inherent dangers in football. Life is full of risks, we all do the best we can to navigate its many trials and tribulations.
4
With sincere sympathy for the family because of the terrible loss of their son, once it was known that he had brain damage caused by head trauma, and that damage can cause the injured to kill themselves - wouldn't that change their views about football completely? It's hard to understand why they thought his metal health was to blame and that encouraging others to see mental health treatment is relevant at all. Their son didn't die of mental illness. He died because his brain was injured from head trauma he suffered by playing football. It is hard to understand why the younger son is playing and how he thinks this honors his brothers life and his memory? If his brother were here, wouldn't he tell them that if all this could have been known when he was a kid - he would have found another sport that doesn't involve repeated head injuries? Football has proven to be no less barbaric in terms of the damage it does to people's brains than boxing is. Now that we understand this, why are we still playing, watching, supporting this sport? There are many other great sports to participate in and get excited about that don't destroy people and those who love them.
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@shepardelaine
Suicide rates are lower for football than the overall population.
1
@shepardelaine
You hit the nail on the head. Their son died of brain damage, not mental illness. Anatomically and neurologically speaking, his brain was beyond repair.
His parents are in denial. If they had sense, they would be advocating for the end of football immediately. Football killed their son, not "mental illness".
Any "mental illness" was the result of structural damage to their son's brain, pure and simple.
Much of the "mental illness" exhibited by former players of contact sports is quite simply the symptoms of underlying structural damage revealing themselves.
Doesn't require a rocket scientist to understand this, but people are afraid of the truth and prefer to live in denial and ignorance.
14
CTE is a chronic condition resulting from the cummulative effect of subconcussive hits to the head. For a young man like Tyler Hilinski to have CTE it must have started in Pop Warner or Jr. High football. Maybe young people should play flag football prior to high school. It sure didn't harm Drew brees' or Tom Brady'sdevelopment.
The NFL has reduced contact in practice and some colleges like the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth have eliminated it altogether. Instead they use robotic tackling dummies and emphazie rugby tackling techniques where the head is not impacted. BTW, Dartmouth had a very successful season with a record of 10-1. The NFL's Seahawks are at the forefront of introducing rugby tackling techniques that can be safely practiced without a helmet.
A little known fact. During the Oakland raiders heyday, in the 70's and early 80's didn't have a lot of contact in practice. Al Davis didn't believe in having his players beat up on one another.
28
@Warren Parsons
According to Boston University's CTE center, where the scientists have sliced and diced the brains of 111 former NFL players:
21% of former high school players showed CTE
91% of former college players showed CTE
99% of former NFL players showed CTE.
Granted that their sample was probably skewed toward those with CTE, those are still compelling and terrible statistics. There's much more science than anecdote available on the subject. I wonder how many doctor's kids are being allowed to play...
24
How can a game - it is just a game, even if adults make a living at it and the Super Bowl is the most watched American sports event - be worth sacrificing anyone’s well-being and life ?
When I think about it, it seems that we are back in Roman times, watching gladiators risk their lives in the arena
37
@lm
I still don’t know why a respected person in the African American community like Pres Obama doesn’t give speech after speech at high schools encouraging young people to quit football.
1
The SC Gamecocks seems like an unusual team choice, and the decision by the whole family to moves to Columbia, SC is also kind of interesting (for want of a more precise word). Since I don't follow football of any kind I went to The State, the Columbia daily newspaper, and found that there had been a number of articles about Ryan Hilinski and the family tragedy leading about to his decision to accept the university's offer. I hope the expectation of the family are met here in the Palmetto State.
18
Dealing with grief can sometimes rip good families apart, but the Hilinskis' unity is a true show of strength in their transition to their new reality. It's not our place to judge what they should/shouldn't do in response to this tragedy, or to claim that we would make better decisions if in their situation. Even if you don't agree with their decisions, their unity and proactive support for each other is an example for us all. Wishing all the best to each of them.
47
Is it possible to get medical scans that identify CTE (or the risk level) while young players are alive and apparently well? Might this help them make informed decisions about playing? Must parents wait until their children are dead to learn more?
23
Not yet, unfortunately. The only definite way to diagnose is via autopsy. Knowing this, one former pro that I know of committed suicide in a way that would keep his brain intact so that it could be examined and diagnosed.
It’s a sad, sad, outcome, and as players keep getting heavier and faster, and the game gets even more violent, experts believe more players are going to end up with CTE, and at much younger ages. There’s evidence in this story, and others, that it’s already happening.
19
@CH
What's even sadder is that many of the players with CTE no doubt also had temporal lobe epilepsy which has similar symptoms including depression and impulsivity and usually results from head trauma.
What makes it even sadder is that TLE can be treated. However, because it is usually a clinical diagnosis, i.e., the diagnosis is based on the symptoms and not testing in most cases, most of those who suffer from it are never diagnosed.
I can't recall The Times in any of its stories on CTE and football players ever once mentioning TLE. Its failure to do so indicates it is more interested in promoting its stories on CTE than getting at the truth. I challenge it to find a single expert who claims he or she can separate CTE from TLE in a living person.
8
@Steve
NYTimes is not a medical journal. Agreed, reporters could reference a few more sources for assertions made by non-scientists, however. Specifically, the evidence for CTE causing with suicides. That's a noticeable gap in this story.
1
Yes, this is raw and complicated. However, Ryan is an adult and should make his own decisions. I hope nonetheless that he takes into account more than himself here. How does he think his parents would cope with the potential loss of two sons to C.T.E.?
29
You can’t die when you are 18 - 21. Most of us felt that way. We are lacking our frontal cortex.
1
Any parent who has lost a child -- especially one lost in his or her youth -- knows something of what this family has endured. I wish the Hillinskis well and comforted -- especially Ryan who has taken much on his young shoulders. May he have the courage and the strength to seek help when that burden becomes too much for him to bear all by himself.
61
I tried mightily to talk my son out of playing football---which did not work. My wife and then had to endure four long years in high school watching him give and take hits that is just not normal for a human body. Thankfully he was done with the sport after HS--and, in talking with some school officials of late--they are witnessing a rapid decline in the number of young people coming out for the sport.
70
@ACJ
I refused to sign the permission slips for our son for high school and college. (He was 17 at the time so the college required parental permission.)
He had well thought out reasons for wanting to play in HS. He was always in the gifted programs and he wanted to be part of a team with kids he’d never know otherwise.
My completely unfair and snarky refusal was that when he was paralyzed from the neck down it would be all his father’s fault. Sheesh.
Fortunately he was neither quick nor fast so he did a lot of bench warming.
But the knee injury he got in practice has bedeviled him all his life.
To my credit I actually kept my mouth shut. And I truly did enjoy seeing how much fun he was having.
I don’t know how I would have reacted if he’d been very good!
10
@ACJ Ummmm...doesn't participation in high school sports require parental consent? Why did you give it? I can understand that not giving your consent would have created some issues with your son, but so do many tough--but right--parental decisions.
6
@Lodi’s s i
To my son's credit...'DAD, where is this going." He loved the comrade of football...but, saw early on that there was no end game...
2
Gosh - this family has endured so much. I'm so sorry.
Ryan is young, and his whole life has been organized around football. I have a young relative who was an elite athlete who got irreversibly injured at the age of 17, and his grief will take years to abate - I can;t imagine this sorrow when combined with the death of a loved one. It may be unreasonable to expect Ryan to understand his own mortality, or even the line between his life and Tyler's.
That said, it is hard for me to understand this family's choices. It is weird that Ryan is still playing. It is weird that the whole family is moving across the country.
Why does football have such a hold on people?
96
@Cousy
It is the modern expression of our sociobiology - tribalism. Very Paleolithic in origin, nothing more complex than that.
3
Apparently the writers and editors at The Times know very little about adolescents and young adults if they think that their parents are the ones who know the most about what is going on with them including their mental health. I was wondering why it didn't interview Tyler's teammates and classmates who might have had a much greater insight into what was going on in his life.
The article essentially attributes Tyler's death to CTE yet it fails to investigate other possible issues including not only his mental health but also any family history of mental illness and the possibility of drug use (yeah, I know no college athletes would even consider using drugs.)
And by the way, as virtually all the pioneering work on the impact of brain trauma on behavior was done by psychiatrists and most neurologists have no interest in the subject, I wonder why Kelly chose to enter neurology rather than psychiatry. I guess that stigma of mental illness even affects her career decision.
35
@Steve and good choices are coached by psychologists.
In a perfect world, where young athletes weren't commodities, one of those schools would reach out and offer Ryan a full ride, no football involved. Recognize his value as a unique, bright, disciplined young man whose family has experienced a great loss. CTE killed the young man who used to be Tyler. It's no mystery.
85
This is malpractice, with the highest obligation we have -- parenting..
46
This is heartbreaking. I'm at a loss to understand why Americans continue to support a deadly game because of "fun" or "culture."
A stunning 87% of 202 player brains were studied tested positive for CTE. There's no getting around the fact that this game is deadly. CTE was obviously torturing this young man's own brother enough to make him kill himself. And yet he has chosen to keep playing.
If you like football, consider this the next time you watch a game and you see a head injury occur: you will have just witnessed a person taking a step toward brain damage and, very possibly, early death. Was that fun? Is that what you want American culture to stand for?
145
@Valerie
Is CTE only found with football players? Is this not known yet? I have no idea. Since the suicide rate among non football players is higher than football players I think it’s worth studying. Also, what is the rate of CTE in the non football playing population?
6
@Valerie The 87% figure is misleading since only suspicious deaths are tested. In other words, it is not a sample of every guy who ever played football and died.
1
@Valerie American culture has always stood for senseless, immoral violence.
3
Football is barbaric.
86
A local sportscaster just a couple of days ago was touting a book questioning the existence of CTE.
Anti-science is hard at work everywhere in our country, not only on behalf of Big Oil and Big Tobacco.
143
I think if Ryan Hilinski was my son I would send him to school overseas, far away from American football foolery. The young man has taken on too much emotional baggage for his age.
I don’t think it’s possible to do away with football in this country, unfortunately, so why not change the rules to make it safer for the players? One place to start would be to establish maximum weights for players, so outsized men and boys aren’t pulverizing their smaller opponents. Then address the protective gear. I think the armor-like kit used in professional football makes players and coaches feel they can go for more aggressive hits. The most horrifying thing I see in the game is players flying through the air and landing in their necks. Surely rules could be written to preclude flying assaults?
29
@Passion for Peaches You would 'send' him overseas? Does the young man have a say in his destination?
3
Can parents actually “send away” their adult children to study overseas in 2018?
I can’t even “require” my adult (over 18) children to show me their college transcripts if they don’t want to.
Kids who are playing football at this level are usually absolutely in love with the game and the whole experience of playing it...from the athletics to the hitting and getting hit to the thrill of victory to basically being high priests of what is...let’s face it...the closest thing we have to a state religion in the USA,
2
Everyone has to decide the comparative dignity of values for themselves. What's most important, 2nd most, 3rd most and so forth.
This family has been through a lot, good luck to all of them.
14
The war on football goes on.
@Shamrock, for good reason. This national obsession is destroying people.
79
@Shamrock: yeah, that's some war.I never hear a thing about the risks TBI or CTE during the non-stop broadcast on TV and radio (college or professional football). All i see are cheering crowds in packed stadiums and hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue being generated. There is no debate much less a "war".
4
I am so sorry for their loss, and I wish the family peace and happiness in their new home, South Carolina. It is a heartbreaking story....Thank you for going public with your story.
28
We will likely never know many adult American men are walking around, undiagnosed, with CTE from head traumas suffered in high school and/or college. America loves its football, but we are rapidly approaching a juncture where The Keepers of the Sport will have to address The 500 lb. Tackle in the room. As in the 1920s, another "Come to Jesus" moment about player safety is needed for the game to continue. If it still exists 25 years from now, the guess here is it will look like a cross between Flag Football and Arena League, with more emphasis on the skill positions and less on blunt force.
50
God bless you for not giving up, Ryan. You're an inspiration to so many people. If toxic masculinity means putting the greater good of society ahead of one's own life expectancy, than I'll gladly wear toxic masculinity on my sleeve. Life is too short to be scared.
5
@Johnny The Romans slaughtered their captives by feeding them to the lions for entertainment. We slaughter our children to the God of Football as we sit around on Sundays worshiping that God with beer, nachos and sloth.
118
@Johnny what's the "greater good" to society here? You being able to watch college football on Saturdays? It's his decision and I can respect him for it, but it's for his own benefit and/or detriment, no one else's.
63
@Johnny ... mercenaries and football players?
They are the greater good?
Don't think so.
3
What a sad story. I hope this promising youngest brother realizes that football does not need to define his life. Yes, it could lead to future riches and fame. But clearly this family is full of successful boys, and they seem to have the drive to do well at whatever they choose.
As the grandmother of three young boys, I would urge the family to walk away from football as a path to success, since traumatic brain injury seems to impact the vast majority of serious players.
166
I'm sorry about the family's deep loss. They're wrestling with a lot, including having one child studying Medicine while another places himself in known harm's way on a regular basis. Best wishes to all of them.
36