The National Football League is in mourning after long time linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide Wednesday. However, for the NFL, Seau’s death will raise a lot of questions, questions that have been asked before in similar circumstances.
Seau was found around 10 a.m. pacific time by his girlfriend, who had just returned from the gym. Bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest and unconscious, 911 was called and when the paramedics arrived they attempted to revive Seau to no avail.
Seau’s death is reminiscent of the February 2011 suicide of former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson, who also committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Shortly before he shot himself, Duerson sent out a text message asking his brain to be donated to the Boston University School of Medicine, which was found to contain Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Also, like Duerson, Seau’s death is already being attributed to a link to CTE.
The problem here is that unlike many of the older players, Seau played as recently as 2009.
CTE was discovered back in 2002 after the death of Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Mike Webster by forensic nueropathologist Dr. Bennett Omalu. One of the first doctors to join Dr. Omalu was Dr. Julian Bailes who at one point was a sideline team physician for the NFL. The two founded the Brain Injury Research Institute.
Bailes is one of those who believes that Seau will be added to the long list of CTE casualties.
“I think we have to add him to the list of those we worry about who could have effects of chronic, repetitive brain trauma,” Bailes told the USA Today. “We don’t have any strong evidence (yet on Seau), and we know that people commit suicide for other reasons… But to me it’s also concerning due to the fact that he had such a long playing history.”
Seau was one of the NFL’s most beloved players and is the highest profile suicide to date. Because of his high profile, many questions are being asked including whether there will be legal action against the NFL, will Seau’s death make parents reconsider allowing their children to play football, and has the NFL done enough to protect players.
One thing is for certain – if the NFL is going to survive, more changes are going to have to be made. Rule changes regarding hits primarily affected linebackers, defensive backs, and offensive skill players. Outlawing helmet-to-helmet contact was a positive step, but understanding and identifying concussions and determining how to treat the thousands of players who suffered concussions during their careers is a big job. And it’s a job that needs to be addressed before any more players suffer a similar ending.
