Cortez Kennedy dead at 48

[nycdan]

No details yet on cause.  It seems to be all too common lately for ex-NFL players to die very young.  He died at home is all that was reported so CTE-related is certainly plausible.

I'm starting to believe the game, as it is played today, may not last another five years. 

 

In any case, very sad.  A great player, and by all accounts, a great guy.

[Warfish]

I cant help but wonder how many cases of CTE were also illicit users of HGH.

Players suffered a hell of a lot worse in the old days, pre HGH, and didn't die en masse like the first HGH era players seem to be dying. 

We'll never know, because no one who used will ever admit it, and CTE is a future lawsuit bonanza waiting to happen.

But yes the game itself is in danger IMO.

[Hael]

The incidence of CTE in these older players is reported to be somewhere in the 90% range, which is right inline with 100% + the expected rate for false negatives.

More studies will need to replicate those results, but it's getting pretty scary.  There are dead high school football players with CTE.  Think about that...

If those sorts of numbers hold up, be sure that football won't be allowed to continue.  If you are a parent, and your kid plays football, I'd keep it at the flag football level until people iron out what is or isn't safe.

 

[section314]

Remember about 20 years ago or so when Ditka suggested that they go back to the old helmets without facemasks because he felt the players didn't respect the game and each other?  Doesn't sound so crazy anymore.

[Integrity28]

14 minutes ago, Warfish said:

I cant help but wonder how many cases of CTE were also illicit users of HGH.

Players suffered a hell of a lot worse in the old days, pre HGH, and didn't die en masse like the first HGH era players seem to be dying. 

We'll never know, because no one who used will ever admit it, and CTE is a future lawsuit bonanza waiting to happen.

But yes the game itself is in danger IMO.

I'm probably wrong here, but I thought CTE was leading to neurosis and eventual early-death via suicide. The other causes of early death, specifically cardiovascular, are probably more tied to HGH, steroids, other drug use and for some guys wear and tear and weight problems.

[sciond]

7 minutes ago, section314 said:

Remember about 20 years ago or so when Ditka suggested that they go back to the old helmets without facemasks because he felt the players didn't respect the game and each other?  Doesn't sound so crazy anymore.

I had forgotten about this but he was probably right.

[Integrity28]

9 minutes ago, Hael said:

The incidence of CTE in these older players is reported to be somewhere in the 90% range, which is right inline with 100% + the expected rate for false negatives.

More studies will need to replicate those results, but it's getting pretty scary.  There are dead high school football players with CTE.  Think about that...

If those sorts of numbers hold up, be sure that football won't be allowed to continue.  If you are a parent, and your kid plays football, I'd keep it at the flag football level until people iron out what is or isn't safe.

 

My wife is pregnant, and if she has a boy... it's terrifying...

[Beerfish]

CTE is a very serious matter but I'll say one thing.  I need to see a very good long term study of this on a control group and on people in other occupations before I blame all of the ills on the sport.

[Savage69]

10 minutes ago, Integrity28 said:

My wife is pregnant, and if she has a boy... it's terrifying...

[Jetdawgg]

RIP

[flgreen]

1 hour ago, nycdan said:

No details yet on cause.  It seems to be all too common lately for ex-NFL players to die very young.  He died at home is all that was reported so CTE-related is certainly plausible.

I'm starting to believe the game, as it is played today, may not last another five years. 

 

In any case, very sad.  A great player, and by all accounts, a great guy.

Occupational hazard.  Happens in a lot of jobs, for a lot less pay.

 

Staff writer Renee Hansen reports:

A worker fell to his death Monday afternoon at a construction site in Richardson, authorities said.

Police say Rodolfo Santillan, 46, was working about 2 p.m. when he fell 20 feet through a floor at a State Farm construction site on North Plano Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene when firefighters arrived.

Police said the fall appeared to be a tragic accident and there was no foul play suspected.

 

 

[nycdan]

8 minutes ago, flgreen said:

Occupational hazard.  Happens in a lot of jobs, for a lot less pay.

 

Staff writer Renee Hansen reports:

A worker fell to his death Monday afternoon at a construction site in Richardson, authorities said.

Police say Rodolfo Santillan, 46, was working about 2 p.m. when he fell 20 feet through a floor at a State Farm construction site on North Plano Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene when firefighters arrived.

Police said the fall appeared to be a tragic accident and there was no foul play suspected.

 

 

I suspect the percentage of construction workers that die from work-related illness or injury is still far lower than NFL players.

[batman10023]

13 minutes ago, flgreen said:

Occupational hazard.  Happens in a lot of jobs, for a lot less pay.

 

Staff writer Renee Hansen reports:

A worker fell to his death Monday afternoon at a construction site in Richardson, authorities said.

Police say Rodolfo Santillan, 46, was working about 2 p.m. when he fell 20 feet through a floor at a State Farm construction site on North Plano Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene when firefighters arrived.

Police said the fall appeared to be a tragic accident and there was no foul play suspected.

 

 

the death rate is a little lower...

[Hael]

Hazard pay would be an acceptable response if the casualty rate wasn't approaching 100%.  I mean if its 1-3% chance of death/impairement after your job is over, that would be considered a very, very dangerous job.  Here we are looking at far worse odds, and it's not like we are asking people to go risk their lives in Afghanistan to create civil society and combat terrorism....

The argument is incredibly weak (and I love watching this game, so it pains me to say it) and I think its just a matter of time before the scientific evidence reaches a tipping point and we get congressional hearings (and then, its pretty much fubar)

[jmat321]

From what I read, you really can't diagnose it till after death.  They can look at MRIs of the brain and see certain things, but cannot make a real diagnosis without taking your brain out of your skull.  That's unfortunate, as I'd like to see a comprehensive study where you have subjects that just played between 4-10 years of pop warner to high school.  Seems like the major study now consists of dead players of all levels and/or guys who are alive, but in poor health, that played at the highest levels (NFL/D1).  My gut tells me the guys who only played as kids are probably a lot less likely to have CTE, but you'd still find some who have it, would love to know what that % is.  

As far as the game goes, the killer will be when school districts start facing litigation and large increases in their liability premiums.  There is a mother suing Pop Warner after her son committed suicide, another case to pay attention to.

[flgreen]

26 minutes ago, batman10023 said:

the death rate is a little lower...

Not even close.  According to OSHA construction is by far the most dangerous job.   Truck drivers, First respondents, ect.

Even in Sports the NFL ranks behind Boxing . NASCAR, MAA hockey ect.

Many more people receive life changing injuries in the jobs listed above then in the NFL.  We just happen to be a celebrity orientated society.   When an entertainer dies everyone morns, major tragedy.  When the average Joe dies from a work related injury, outside his family, and friends, no one cares.

These guys are paid BIG money to take risks.  Construction workers?  Not so much.

https://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html

 

[flgreen]

53 minutes ago, nycdan said:

I suspect the percentage of construction workers that die from work-related illness or injury is still far lower than NFL players.

Construction Worker Dies Building NFL Stadium—It’s More Common Than You Think

54

 

0

 

Minnesota Vikings

by DANIEL J. FLYNN26 Aug 201524

 

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A construction worker died building the new Minnesota Vikings stadium in Minneapolis on Wednesday.

The unnamed man reportedly toiled on the structure’s roof before falling into a crevice. A second worker remains in critical condition.

VIDEO

Former CIA Chief: Leaks Are ‘Appalling'

 

If the victim had died wearing a Riddell helmet rather than a construction hardhat, then America remembers his name. But since he perished building an NFL stadium rather than playing in one, news of his passing soon passes. A workplace safety narrative follows football, not construction, even if the grim reaper follows construction workers more zealously than football players.

Americans remain transfixed on the imaginary deaths of players on NFL fields. Ben McGrath scolded a few years back at the New Yorker that “one of these days, millions of us are going to watch a man die on the turf.” This past weekend, Against Football author Steve Almond called the NFL a “profoundly dangerous workplace” in a debate with this writer on ESPN’s Outside the Lines about the retirement of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland. Borland’s retirement sparked discussions of the risks of football not because the gridiron plays as a particularly dangerous place but because it attracts eyes the way no other place in America does.

In Levi’s Stadium, whose short existence as an NFL venue spans the same timeframe as the retired rookie’s career, none of Borland’s teammates or his opponents perished on the job. In fact, never in the 95-year history of the National Football League has a collision killed a player in this “profoundly dangerous workplace.”

But two men who built the billion-dollar behemoth died violently. Mechanic Donald White lost his life in Levi’s Stadium in 2013 when a counterweight hit him in the head in an elevator shaft. Four months later in October, Edward Erving Lake Jr., a steel-delivery-truck driver, perished when a bundle of rebar fell upon him at the Santa Clara site.

Construction workers died building the venues where the Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Detroit Lions play. One lost his life earlier this year building a stage for the NFL outside of University of Phoenix Stadium before the Super Bowl. And on Wednesday, one died in Minneapolis building U.S. Bank Stadium.

“There’s a lot of danger in [football] as well, just as there is in the military, or among first responders, or people of that nature,” former Indianapolis Colts front office honcho Bill Polian remarked earlier this year. This would be right if not for the fact that it’s wrong. Polian’s comments came in reaction to Borland’s retirement. They reflect the lack of perspective characteristic of one who misses every other thing because he watches one thing up close. That’s America’s problem with football.

Nobody ever died on the field because of a hit in the National Football League. Hundreds of thousands of men and women died wearing our nation’s uniform. Uncounted numbers risk their lives daily as first responders. Why do idiotic comparisons such as the one made by Polian persist? Because our fixation on football leaves us blind to the realities of other male-dominated pursuits.

Construction remains a deadly profession. Firefighting remains a deadly profession. Fisherman remains a deadly profession. Electrician remains a deadly profession. Playing a rough kids’ game in the National Football League remains a well-compensated profession.

http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2015/08/26/construction-worker-dies-building-nfl-stadium/

 

More Than 900 Workers Have Already Died Building Qatar's World ...

Another Worker Dies Building New 49ers Stadium - Athletic Business

Brazil World Cup death toll rises as builder dies at Sao Paulo football ...

Construction worker suffers “severe head injury” at Falcons stadium ...

11 workers killed during Olympic construction in Brazil - ESPN.com

 

 

[Warfish]

1 hour ago, Integrity28 said:

I'm probably wrong here, but I thought CTE was leading to neurosis and eventual early-death via suicide. The other causes of early death, specifically cardiovascular, are probably more tied to HGH, steroids, other drug use and for some guys wear and tear and weight problems.

I doubt the neurological long term effects of HGH and concussions combined is terribly well studied as yet.

[Warfish]

1 hour ago, nycdan said:

I suspect the percentage of construction workers that die from work-related illness or injury is still far lower than NFL players.

How about deep sea fishermen then. If I recall they have the highest job related death rate, vastly higher than the NFL.

[flgreen]

1 minute ago, Warfish said:

How about deep sea fishermen then. If I recall they have the highest job related death rate, vastly higher than the NFL.

Yep, closely followed by loggers.  Talk about life changing accidents, and concussions.  Of course nobody is studying CTE in Lumberjacks.  No one cares.  They just want their frame houses built

[Warfish]

Just now, flgreen said:

Yep, closely followed by loggers.  Talk about life changing accidents, and concussions.  Of course nobody is studying CTE in Lumberjacks.  No one cares.  They just want their frame houses built

Exactly. The risk the NFL faces are PR and legislative.

The NFL is vastly higher profile, NOT higher risk.

[Hael]

1 hour ago, flgreen said:

Not even close.  According to OSHA construction is by far the most dangerous job.   Truck drivers, First respondents, ect.

Even in Sports the NFL ranks behind Boxing . NASCAR, MAA hockey ect.

Many more people receive life changing injuries in the jobs listed above then in the NFL.  We just happen to be a celebrity orientated society.   When an entertainer dies everyone morns, major tragedy.  When the average Joe dies from a work related injury, outside his family, and friends, no one cares.

These guys are paid BIG money to take risks.  Construction workers?  Not so much.

https://www.osha.gov/dep/fatcat/dep_fatcat.html

 

That's not including CTE figues.  Right now the most dangerous job I could find was that of deep sea fishing, which has 132 fatalies per 100,000.  So about one in a thousand odds.

Now:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/study-956-percent-of-deceased-nfl-players-tested-positive-for-cte/

If that holds up, we are looking at a profession with orders of magnitude greater risk of fatality or at least severe lifelong impairement. 

[flgreen]

2 minutes ago, Hael said:

That's not including CTE figues.  Right now the most dangerous job I could find was that of deep sea fishing, which has 132 fatalies per 100,000.  So about one in a thousand odds.

Now:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/study-956-percent-of-deceased-nfl-players-tested-positive-for-cte/

If that holds up, we are looking at a profession with orders of magnitude greater risk of fatality or at least severe lifelong impairement. 

Well if we're going to use raw speculation, with nothing to compare it to in other professions, I guess we could say office workers who die in their 40's, who are grossly over weight , and suffer heart attacks from obesity and stress because they don't like their boss, make office working one of the more dangerous jobs.  They will all have a extremely high clerestory count and high blood pressure due to lack of exercise.

If I had to bet I'd say many football players die at an early age due to roid use, and bulking their bodies up to 350+ pounds, just like office workers.  Wonder what % of lumberjacks have CTE after death?  We'll never know, no one cares.

As @Warfish said   "

Exactly. The risk the NFL faces are PR and legislative.

The NFL is vastly higher profile, NOT higher risk."

[Warfish]

12 minutes ago, Hael said:

That's not including CTE figues.  Right now the most dangerous job I could find was that of deep sea fishing, which has 132 fatalies per 100,000.  So about one in a thousand odds.

Now:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/study-956-percent-of-deceased-nfl-players-tested-positive-for-cte/

If that holds up, we are looking at a profession with orders of magnitude greater risk of fatality or at least severe lifelong impairement. 

It's hysterical overreaction like this that will hurt the  NFL.

Be sure to email your congressman too.

[JetPotato]

2 hours ago, Warfish said:

I cant help but wonder how many cases of CTE were also illicit users of HGH.

Players suffered a hell of a lot worse in the old days, pre HGH, and didn't die en masse like the first HGH era players seem to be dying. 

We'll never know, because no one who used will ever admit it, and CTE is a future lawsuit bonanza waiting to happen.

But yes the game itself is in danger IMO.

There isn't a single scientific reason to even speculate there is a link between HGH and CTE. Frankly, it makes little sense. The players are bigger and faster, so they're hitting their heads harder and harder. Plus you're more likely to hear about players dying young than you were pre-internet, cable and a Will Smith movie on the topic.

[Pac]

The last 2 years I've refused to let my son play football.  11 and 12 year olds don't need to bang their heads together all summer.  He and even my ladyfriend gave me a lot of grief but they started to understand what I've been talking about when we watched the Real Sports story on this topic not too long ago.

Maybe I'll let him play in High School but hopefully he grows out of it.  Don't care if anyone thinks that's lame or I'm babying him.  Dr's think he's going to be around 6' 3" 230 and he's been taking karate for a couple years.  If other kids want to mess with him in a few years when he's a black belt they can have at it lol.

[peebag]

2 hours ago, Integrity28 said:

My wife is pregnant, and if she has a boy... it's terrifying...

Congrats and good luck!

[tuffhand]

2 hours ago, nycdan said:

I suspect the percentage of construction workers that die from work-related illness or injury is still far lower than NFL players.

How about miners and black lung?

[Warfish]

9 minutes ago, JetPotato said:

There isn't a single scientific reason to even speculate there is a link between HGH and CTE. Frankly, it makes little sense. The players are bigger and faster, so they're hitting their heads harder and harder. 

Lol ok. 

[TuscanyTile2]

52 minutes ago, Pac said:

The last 2 years I've refused to let my son play football.  11 and 12 year olds don't need to bang their heads together all summer.  He and even my ladyfriend gave me a lot of grief but they started to understand what I've been talking about when we watched the Real Sports story on this topic not too long ago.

Maybe I'll let him play in High School but hopefully he grows out of it.  Don't care if anyone thinks that's lame or I'm babying him.  Dr's think he's going to be around 6' 3" 230 and he's been taking karate for a couple years.  If other kids want to mess with him in a few years when he's a black belt they can have at it lol.

If it helps any, I am in complete agreement w/ you (except for allowing him to play in HS).

[Hael]

1 hour ago, flgreen said:

Well if we're going to use raw speculation, with nothing to compare it to in other professions, I guess we could say office workers who die in their 40's, who are grossly over weight , and suffer heart attacks from obesity and stress because they don't like their boss, make office working one of the more dangerous jobs.  They will all have a extremely high clerestory count and high blood pressure due to lack of exercise.

There is no speculation here.  The average life expectancy for an NFL player is between 52-57 years old.  The average for a male in the general population is 78 years.  So thats a full 20 years worse than regular overweight joe average, which is already a pretty horrible figure. 

source:

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/New-NFL-goal-A-longer-life-1272886.php

In the old days you could argue that the lifestyle of NFL retirees contributed to that figure (diet etc), but now that we know about CTE the figure takes a pretty ominous character..

It's all sorts of bad, no matter how much wishfull thinking goes around, and it certainly isn't speculative at this point after numerous scientific studies that pretty conclusively establish a link between concussions and CTE...

[Gas2No99]

Spending summers in Miami while visiting family in the 80s and early 90s led to The U being one of my college football teams, and there was NO BIGGER Hurricanes star than the bigger than life Cortez Kennedy. He was a bigger than life FOOTBALL GOD in South Fla and was always involved in the Miami-Dade community at summer events. I always admired him and sad to hear of his passing. 

Thank you King Cortez. Reggie will welcome you up there with open arms and may you R.I.P.

[Snell41]

Holy hell a lot of assumptions and wannabe doctors here. News flash folks-people die at 48. I work in Life Insurance, I report out on cause of death metrics for large corporations regularly. This is not that uncommon. It's ridiculous to jump to the conclusion his death had anything to do with his profession. He was a big dude, if you wanna play armchair doctor your best money bet would be with the heart/cardiovascular system.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using JetNation.com mobile app

 

[The Crusher]

4 hours ago, Integrity28 said:

My wife is pregnant, and if she has a boy... it's terrifying...

Just shave him the day before he starts kindergarten. He will be fine. 

Also... Congrats brother!!