Armour: Those closest to receiver Wes Welker need to save him from himself
PostPosted:9 years 7 months ago
Armour: Those closest to receiver Wes Welker need to save him from himself
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/20 ... topstories
Someone needs to save Wes Welker from himself.
The wide receiver with a lengthy and well-documented history of concussions either doesn’t care or is oblivious to the fact he might very well be killing himself by signing a one-year contract with the St. Louis Rams. That may sound alarmist, but it’s not.
We know Welker has had multiple concussions, including three in a nine-month span in 2013-14. We know there is a link between repeated head trauma – you know, the kind that can occur when massive human beings are running into each other at full speed, often using their helmeted heads as battering rams – and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
We know CTE can lead to depression, dementia and, in the very worst cases, suicide. We know that researchers found evidence of CTE in the brains of 87 out of 91 NFL players, a staggering 96 % “success” rate.
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Those figures alone ought to be enough to scare the hell out of Welker and anyone and everyone who cares about him. Then there is the bogeyman of what we don’t know. Scientists still can’t say how many concussions are too many. Or which hit will be the one that will trigger the downward spiral that led Junior Seau and Dave Duerson to put bullets in their bodies.
Or, with a history of concussions severe enough that he has missed games because of them, whether Welker has already damaged his brain so severely he’ll wind up as another of the NFL’s saddest and scariest statistics.
“He's in outstanding shape," St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher said Monday after the Rams had signed Welker.
And Fisher knows this how, exactly? Because the only way to know for sure if an NFL player has CTE - to see whether his brain has been traumatized so badly already that he will eventually become unrecognizable to those who know him best - is an autopsy.
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Of course Welker wants to play. This is the game he’s played since he was a kid and has loved for just as long. His talents on the football field have made him a rich man, with career earnings of a little over $40 million, according to NFL Players Association records.
And, as any former player will tell you, there’s a camaraderie in the locker room and on game days that can’t be duplicated anywhere else.
Can Welker Produce in STL?
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Which is why someone else needs to step in. As Fisher’s simple-minded reaction shows, it won’t be anyone at the NFL. Much like with its approach to domestic violence, the league and its owners will talk earnestly about how much they care about their players’ healthy and safety – but only so long as it’s convenient and in the best interest of their record to do so.
No, it’s up to the people who actually care about Welker to open his eyes to the dangerous game he’s playing. His agent. His family. His friends. His former teammates.
Someone has to convince Welker that by playing again, he’s playing with his life.
Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/20 ... topstories
Someone needs to save Wes Welker from himself.
The wide receiver with a lengthy and well-documented history of concussions either doesn’t care or is oblivious to the fact he might very well be killing himself by signing a one-year contract with the St. Louis Rams. That may sound alarmist, but it’s not.
We know Welker has had multiple concussions, including three in a nine-month span in 2013-14. We know there is a link between repeated head trauma – you know, the kind that can occur when massive human beings are running into each other at full speed, often using their helmeted heads as battering rams – and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
We know CTE can lead to depression, dementia and, in the very worst cases, suicide. We know that researchers found evidence of CTE in the brains of 87 out of 91 NFL players, a staggering 96 % “success” rate.
POWER RANKINGS: Who's climbing the NFC ladder?
Those figures alone ought to be enough to scare the hell out of Welker and anyone and everyone who cares about him. Then there is the bogeyman of what we don’t know. Scientists still can’t say how many concussions are too many. Or which hit will be the one that will trigger the downward spiral that led Junior Seau and Dave Duerson to put bullets in their bodies.
Or, with a history of concussions severe enough that he has missed games because of them, whether Welker has already damaged his brain so severely he’ll wind up as another of the NFL’s saddest and scariest statistics.
“He's in outstanding shape," St. Louis coach Jeff Fisher said Monday after the Rams had signed Welker.
And Fisher knows this how, exactly? Because the only way to know for sure if an NFL player has CTE - to see whether his brain has been traumatized so badly already that he will eventually become unrecognizable to those who know him best - is an autopsy.
USA TODAY
Which NFL QB most needs a change of scenery?
Of course Welker wants to play. This is the game he’s played since he was a kid and has loved for just as long. His talents on the football field have made him a rich man, with career earnings of a little over $40 million, according to NFL Players Association records.
And, as any former player will tell you, there’s a camaraderie in the locker room and on game days that can’t be duplicated anywhere else.
Can Welker Produce in STL?
http://a.msn.com/02/en-us/CCbMJZ?ocid=st
Which is why someone else needs to step in. As Fisher’s simple-minded reaction shows, it won’t be anyone at the NFL. Much like with its approach to domestic violence, the league and its owners will talk earnestly about how much they care about their players’ healthy and safety – but only so long as it’s convenient and in the best interest of their record to do so.
No, it’s up to the people who actually care about Welker to open his eyes to the dangerous game he’s playing. His agent. His family. His friends. His former teammates.
Someone has to convince Welker that by playing again, he’s playing with his life.
Follow Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour