Authors: Mark Fainaru-Wada
League of Denial (57 page)
1
“The flippancy”:
Steve Young interview, 2013.
2
The great-great-great-grandson:
Adam Lazarus,
Best of Rivals
, p. 37.
3
The Brett Favre part:
Young interview, 2013.
4
Young was merely frustrated:
Young interview, 2013.
5
Hid behind offensive linemen:
Leigh Steinberg interview, 2013.
6
“A pinata”:
“Swarm Puts Hurt on Young,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, Sept. 20, 1999.
7
“It’s basically got to stop”:
“Offensive Line Feels the Heat,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, Sept. 20, 1999.
8
Invited her family:
Young interview.
9
“The emperor”:
“Young Should Quit While He Still Can,”
Hartford Courant
, Oct. 17, 1999.
10
Still too dangerous:
Associated Press, Oct. 14, 1999.
11
“Risk factor”:
“Young Could Play, but Says He Won’t,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 13, 2000.
12
More steeped in Steelers lore:
Kevin Guskiewicz interview, 2012.
13
The data had suggested to him:
Julian Bailes interview, 2012.
14
A 10-page survey:
Health Survey of Retired NFL Players
, Center for the Study of Retired Athletes, Chapel Hill, NC.
15
The survey highlighted:
“What Football Tells Us about Everyday Fitness,”
Los Angeles Times
, June 2, 2003.
16
More ominous:
Kevin Guskiewicz, “Recurrent Concussion and Late-Life Cognitive Impairment,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2005.
17
College football players:
Kevin Guskiewicz, “The NCAA Concussion Study,”
JAMA
, 2003.
18
Three times more likely:
Kevin Guskiewicz, “Risk of Depression in Retired Professional Football Players,”
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
, 2007.
19
His complaint:
Hoge v. Munsell
, No. 98 WL 0996 (Ill. Lake County Ct, July 5, 2000).
20
Trivial matters set him off:
Merril Hoge interview, 2012.
21
Bears’ doctor:
Munsell deposition, Nov. 19, 1997.
22
Hoge described:
Hoge testimony, July 14, 2000.
23
The crux:
Munsell deposition.
24
“Save a lot of time”:
Hoge testimony.
25
The jury awarded:
“Hoge Wins Lawsuit against Doctor,”
Chicago Tribune
, July 22, 2000.
26
Fogel suddenly found himself:
Robert Fogel interview, 2012.
27
The letter:
Letter from William J. Rogers, Munsell attorney, to Fogel, March 30, 2000.
1
Pellman had called:
Mark Lovell interview, 2012.
2
Nearly half:
NFL Subcommittee on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Status Report, Nov. 1996.
3
Reflecting years later:
Henry Feuer interview, 2013.
4
He had not produced:
PubMed, the database of biomedical literature maintained by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, does not list Pellman as an author of any previous concussion or brain research.
5
Most complete professional biography:
“Medical Adviser for Baseball Lists Exaggerated Credentials,”
New York Times
, March 30, 2005.
6
“I don’t know who any neuropsychologists are”:
“Doctor Yes,”
ESPN The Magazine
, Oct. 28, 2006.
7
Barr was struck:
William Barr interview, 2012.
8
“Occupational risk”:
“The Worst Case,”
Sports Illustrated
, Dec. 19, 1994.
9
The same year:
“Injuries in NFL to Big-Name Players Heighten Awareness,”
Times-Picayune
(New Orleans, LA), Nov. 14, 1999.
10
During a 1999 playoff game:
Kyle Brady interview with John Barr, 2013.
11
Liked Pellman immensely:
Kevin Mawae interview with John Barr, 2013.
12
“Red Brick Broadway”:
Kevin Mawae interview with John Barr, 2013.
13
“Comical”:
Kevin Guskiewicz interview, 2012.
14
Pellman offered one explanation:
“Background on the National Football League’s Research on Concussion in Professional Football,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2003.
15
“That’s my understanding”:
Mark Lovell interview, 2012.
16
In a statement to ESPN:
Paul Tagliabue e-mail to ESPN, Aug. 13, 2013.
17
NFL definition of a concussion:
MTBI Status Report.
18
“Willing test subjects”:
Chris Withnall, confidential memo to Riddell Inc., “A New Performance Index for Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI),” Nov. 15, 2000.
19
Lovell thought he’d probably be ousted:
Lovell interview, 2012.
20
$12,000 in seed money:
MTBI Status Report.
21
“Strongly recommend”:
Memorandum, Paul Tagliabue, June 10, 1998.
22
Mitchell’s responsibilities:
Dorothy Mitchell biography, Brune & Richard LLP.
23
“Worked tirelessly”:
“Concussion in Professional Football,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2003.
24
Expert witness:
Details of the aborted McShane project and the dispute over his testimony are from John McShane interview, 2013, and documents forwarded to Munsell’s attorneys by the NFL. Court transcripts indicate Hoge’s attorney was unaware that Mitchell, as head of the NFL’s counsel for policy and litigation, provided the documents. “Frankly, I don’t know how they obtained these records,” Hoge’s attorney, Robert Fogel, told the court.
25
A number of early NFL concussion projects:
MTBI Status Report.
26
Wearing their hair long:
Beau Riffenburgh, “History of Pro Football Equipment,”
Official NFL Encyclopedia
.
27
“Head harnesses”:
John J. Miller,
The Big Scrum
, p. 180.
28
A Chicago company:
Riddell Sports Inc., company history.
29
“The Humper”:
For the definitive story of Hardy Brown, see Jim Dent,
Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football
. Brown learned to play football in a Fort Worth orphanage after witnessing his bootlegger father murdered with a shotgun. “You see these westerns with guys who have niches [
sic
] on their belt for the guys they killed? Hardy Brown had niches in his belt for all the jockstraps he got,” Rams quarterback Norm Van Brocklin told NFL Films.
30
“Elliot waltzing”:
Bob Cantu interview, 2012.
31
“A fantasy”:
Mark Lovell interview, 2012.
32
“Incredible stuff”:
“Troy Vincent: Another Case Study in Concussions,”
Philadelphia Daily News
, Dec. 24, 1999.
33
The committee examined:
Elliot J. Pellman et al., “Concussion in Professional Football,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2003.
34
Apuzzo:
Apuzzo’s biography is available at
keckmedicalcenterofusc.org/doctor/bio/view/72257
.
35
Clearly was thrilled:
“USC Neurosurgeon Is a Giant on the Field and Off,”
USC News
, Feb. 9, 2001.
36
“Really enjoyed the association”:
Cantu interview, 2012.
37
“King of Concussions”:
During a conference on CTE in the fall of 2012 at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, a researcher introducing Cantu said: “He truly is the king of concussions, and it’s really a pleasure to invite him up to the podium.”
38
Cantu had grown up:
Bob Cantu interview, 2012.
39
“Recommendations from rat data?”:
Linda Carroll and David Rosner,
The Concussion Crisis
, p. 250 (electronic).
40
A bland guest editorial:
Paul Tagliabue, “Tackling Concussions in Sports,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2003.
41
More effusive and colorful:
Michael L. J. Apuzzo, “Galen 2003: Critical Analysis of Brain Injury in Sport,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2003.
42
Another study:
Elliot J. Pellman et al., “Concussion in Professional Football, Part 2,”
Neurosurgery
, Dec. 2003.
43
The reaction was positive:
Neurosurgery
, Dec. 2003 (comments).
44
NFL Paper Number 3:
Elliot J. Pellman et al., “Concussion in Professional Football, Part 3,”
Neurosurgery
, Jan. 2004.
45
Response … was guarded:
Neurosurgery
, Jan. 2004 (comments).
46
Yet another NFL study:
Elliot J. Pellman et al., “Concussion in Professional Football, Part 4,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2004.
47
They were rejecting:
Julian Bailes and Kevin Guskiewicz interviews, 2012.
48
Cantu … had misgivings:
Cantu interview, 2012.
49
Stilted language
of science:
Elliot J. Pellman et al., “Concussion in Professional Football, Part 4,”
Neurosurgery
, Oct. 2004 (comments).
1
Roughly 17,500 deaths:
Details on the Allegheny County coroner’s policies and the circumstances in which the coroner took Webster’s body into custody are from Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Joe Dominick interview, 2012.
2
Who happened to be working that day:
Omalu interview, 2012; Omalu’s CV.
3
Unlikely character:
This section is from several interviews with Bennet Omalu, 2012; interviews with Fr. Carmen D’Amico, Julian Bailes, Cyril Wecht, and Bob Fitzsimmons; and Bennet Omalu,
Play Hard, Die Young: Football Dementia, Depression, and Death
.
4
At the coroner’s office:
Omalu interview, 2012.
5
Cyril Wecht, a Pittsburgh legend:
Wecht interview, 2012;
www.cyrilwecht.com
; “Cyril H. Wecht: Up Close and Personal,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Magazine
, Oct. 24, 1999.
6
Bennet Ifeakandu Onyemalukwube:
This account of Omalu’s childhood and immigration to the United States is derived from Omalu interviews, 2012; Omalu,
Play Hard, Die Young: Football Dementia, Depression, and Death;
and Omalu’s CV.
7
The conflict claimed at least 1 million lives:
“Nigeria: Biafra War 30 Years On,” Associated Press, Jan. 14, 2000.
8
“An asinine, pseudoscientific sham”:
“40 Years on, Arlen Specter and Cyril Wecht Still Don’t Agree on How JFK Died,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
, Nov. 16, 2003.
9
A one-year fellowship:
Omalu’s CV.
10
“Bennet, you remind me of myself”:
Omalu interview, 2012.
11
“Junior Wecht”:
Omalu interview, 2012.
12
“A saying in Arabic”:
Dr. Abdulrezak Shakir interview, 2012.
13
Private medical consultations:
Omalu interview, 2012.
14
Omalu placed the 3½-pound brain:
Details of how Webster’s brain was removed and prepared for study are from 2012 interviews with Ron Hamilton, Ann McKee, and Omalu; Webster autopsy report.
15
Omalu forgot about it:
Omalu interview, 2012.
16
St. Benedict the Moor:
www.stbtmchurch.org
.
17
Away from work:
D’Amico interview, 2012.
18
Slides of Webster’s brain:
Omalu interview, 2012.
19
The buildup of tau:
This brief explanation of the tau protein, how it’s detected, and how it destroys brain cells is from 2012 interviews with Dr. Dan Perl, Omalu, Hamilton, and McKee.
20
Omalu knew from his training:
Interviews with Omalu and Hamilton, 2012.
21
A landmark paper:
Dr. Harrison Martland, “Punch Drunk,”
JAMA
, 1928.
22
“Slug-nutty”:
“Too Many Punches, Too Little Concern,”
Sports Illustrated
, April 11, 1983.
23
A British neuropathologist:
JA Corsellis et al., “The Aftermath of Boxing,”
Psychological Medicine
, 1973.
24
Omalu’s working theory:
Omalu interview, 2012.
25
Omalu was ready to seek a second opinion:
This account of how Omalu confirmed that Webster had CTE and assembled the research paper detailing the findings is drawn from 2012 interviews with Steve DeKosky, Omalu, and Hamilton.
26
A representative from the NFL Hall of Fame:
Steve DeKosky interview, 2012.
27
The paper was completed:
Early drafts provided by Omalu; Omalu et al., “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a National Football League Player,”
Neurosurgery
, July 2005.
28
Omalu first submitted:
Omalu and Hamilton e-mails.
29
“The official journal of the NFL committee on MTBI”:
Omalu e-mail to Hamilton and DeKosky.
30
How naive they had been:
Interviews with Omalu, Hamilton, and DeKosky, 2012.