Nasty Little Man

What you don't know can kill you

Watching the Eagles game last weekend, I thought of Andre Waters when I saw Brian Dawkins wearing number 20. Dawkins is the longest-serving Eagle at this point, but for whatever reason, I thought back to Waters, who was a hard-hitting safety for the Eagles during the Buddy Ryan era and who wore number 20.

I didn't realize that Waters had killed himself in November.

Now research has been done on Waters' brain at the University of Pittsburgh, and it revealed that Waters had severe brain damage, at the level of an 85-year-old in early stage Alzheimers. It appears that Waters' football career directly affected his condition.

Asked in 1994 by The Philadelphia Inquirer to count his career concussions, Mr. Waters replied, "I think I lost count at 15." He later added: "I just wouldn't say anything. I'd sniff some smelling salts, then go back in there."

Mr. Nowinski also found a note in the Inquirer in 1991 about how Mr. Waters had been hospitalized after sustaining a concussion in a game against Tampa Bay and experiencing a seizure-like episode on the team plane that was later diagnosed as body cramps; Mr. Waters played the next week.

This is an important warning to those who have family members who play football or any contact sport. My parents did not let me play football as a child because they said it was too dangerous for a growing body. I was annoyed at the time- I thought I could have been a heck of a quarterback- but now I appreciate that they directed me away from football.

posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 6:31 AM