# Junior Seau commits suicide **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 2, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672 "2012-05-02T18:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/41 "2012-05-07T15:14:06Z")
Peter King wrote in today’s [MMQB](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/peter_king/05/06/mmqb/3.html) in SI a little about Seau’s interview with Jim Trotter (also at SI) a couple of months ago. Specifically, his article included this quote from Seau, which I found more than a little chilling: [QUOTE=Junior Seau] “Those who are saying the game is changing for the worse, well, they don’t have a father who can’t remember his name because of the game. I’m pretty sure if everybody had to wake with their dad not knowing his name, not knowing his kids’ name, not being able to function at a normal rate after football, they would understand that the game needs to change. If it doesn’t there are going to be more players, more great players, being affected by the things that we know of and aren’t changing. That’s not right.” [/QUOTE] I can easily see how it’s possible here that Seau is referring to himself here as being the father who can’t remember his name or the names of his children. What I’ve read indicates that he was a doting, involved father, so it’s pretty easy to presume that the sort of brain damage he’s referring to could easily lead to major depression. It’s just such a tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/42 "2012-08-24T15:19:21Z")
The autopsy is in… Seau didn’t have brain damage. [http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/21/autopsy-no-apparent-damage-to-seaus-brain](http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/21/autopsy-no-apparent-damage-to-seaus-brain) ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/43 "2012-08-24T15:31:47Z")
[http://deadspin.com/5936671/its-still-too-soon-to-tell-whether-junior-seaus-brain-had-been-damaged-by-football](http://deadspin.com/5936671/its-still-too-soon-to-tell-whether-junior-seaus-brain-had-been-damaged-by-football) Quoted from above: The medical examiner’s autopsy did not examine Seau’s brain for CTE, which is microscopic and requires more precise testing that will be done at a later date. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/44 "2012-08-24T15:47:51Z")
> [@Cumbrian](#): > > The medical examiner’s autopsy did not examine Seau’s brain for CTE, which is microscopic and requires more precise testing that will be done at a later date. Thank you. When I read the previous link I noticed there was no discussion of tau and CTE and I wondered if those tests had been done. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/45 "2013-01-10T15:08:41Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > You’re missing the point. Seau was depressed and has attempted suicide before. This much is known. This has gotten zero publicity. Seau has never been diagnosed with post-consussion symptoms. It’s not to say that it’s not a factor but it’s wild speculation at this point, the depression however is not. Treating depression and discussion concussions should not be mutually exclusive, but for the media it seems to be. [Report: Junior Seau suffered from CTE, a syndrome caused by repeated head trauma](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/report-junior-seau-suffered-cte-syndrome-caused-repeated-134236671--nfl.html) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/46 "2013-01-10T17:50:57Z")
Wow… From this [website](http://nflconcussionlitigation.com/?p=1327). > [@](#): > > The number of former players suing the NFL continues to grow by the week. In the month of December alone, more than 70 players joined the NFL Concussion Litigation Club. > > The number of former players suing the NFL has eclipsed 4,000. There are approximately 12,000 living, former players. More than 1/3 of all players to ever sign an NFL contract are now taking on the shield, seeking a piece of that $9.5 billion pie the former players helped create. > > Three separate wrongful death lawsuits were filed on behalf of the late Cookie Gilchrist (75), Hall of Famer Joe Perry (84) and Gerry Huth (77). Shortly after their deaths, Gilchrist’s and Perry’s brain was donated to Boston University to be examined for CTE. Both players reportedly were diagnosed with the neurodegenerative brain disease. According to the Buffalo News, Gilchrist’s CTE was in Stage IV – the most severe. Perry’s CTE was not as advanced, but he still showed an excessive presence of tau protein. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/47 "2013-01-10T18:00:33Z")
I still don’t see how this is the NFL’s fault, to be honest. I am sure most if not all of these guys played college and high school football. I am sure a lot of them played even younger than that…tackle football. How much damage was caused before they even got to the NFL? It just seems very simplistic to say the NFL is to blame for the sport itself being inherently dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/48 "2013-01-10T20:18:34Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I still don’t see how this is the NFL’s fault, to be honest. I am sure most if not all of these guys played college and high school football. I am sure a lot of them played even younger than that…tackle football. How much damage was caused before they even got to the NFL? It just seems very simplistic to say the NFL is to blame for the sport itself being inherently dangerous. Do you high school and college kids hit as hard as NFL players? I think the concussions are more sensitive to the impact than they are quantity although both are a factor. I can bang my head lightly on a wall a 1000x a day and not get a concussion. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/49 "2013-01-10T20:24:32Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Do you high school and college kids hit as hard as NFL players? > > I think the concussions are more sensitive to the impact than they are quantity although both are a factor. > > I can bang my head lightly on a wall a 1000x a day and not get a concussion. It’s not just a problem with concussions, it’s sub-concussive hits also. You don’t need a concussion to damage your brain through repeated blows. That said, I’m still waiting for more information on the whole “NFL knew, but we didn’t, and they didn’t tell us” evidence. It’s not like people didn’t know banging your head was bad for you. While it’s certainly not great what happened, I’m not sure I’ve seen any evidence that the NFL covered something up. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/50 "2013-01-10T21:24:35Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > Do you high school and college kids hit as hard as NFL players? > > I think the concussions are more sensitive to the impact than they are quantity although both are a factor. > > I can bang my head lightly on a wall a 1000x a day and not get a concussion. You think playing college and high school football is the equivalent of hitting your head lightly on the wall? ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/51 "2013-01-10T22:10:21Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > You think playing college and high school football is the equivalent of hitting your head lightly on the wall? No I don’t. But I think the severity and # occurrences are more in the NFL. Longer season. Bigger people. Faster people. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/52 "2013-01-10T22:38:04Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > You think playing college and high school football is the equivalent of hitting your head lightly on the wall? > [@notfrommensa](#): > > No I don’t. But I think the severity and # occurrences are more in the NFL. > > Longer season. Bigger people. Faster people. The problem is this: we’re not just talking about concussions. Those might be more common in the NFL for the reason you gave, although I don’t know for a fact that that’s true But the big issue seems to be cumulative damage brought on by years of playing football at (in most cases) in the pros, college, high school and earlier. That could add up to hundreds of games and thousands of practices and who knows how many plays and hits. That’s the root of the damage. You might be surprised at how much energy gets released even in hits that aren’t especially powerful. [Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this a couple of years ago.](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all) ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/53 "2013-01-11T00:28:06Z")
Isn’t that the purpose of litigation for damages, anyway? The determination is made as to how much the defendant is responsible for the issue? I imagine that even if the NFL is only found to be 40-50% responsible for what is going on with these former players, it will still be a hefty amount in damages. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/54 "2013-01-11T01:43:58Z")
So, playing Devil’s advocate. . . Why now? Pro football has been going on for a long time. Allowing that probably no one analyzed brain tissue of dead footballers until relatively recently, surely the symptoms would have bee noticed in players who would have retired in the 60s and 70s? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/55 "2013-01-11T04:14:15Z")
Pro football may have been going on for a long time. Understanding of neurological damage from concussions and cumulative sub-concussive hits is relatively recent. I would even say the study of such injuries has expanded dramatically through treatment of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan within the last ten years. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/56 "2013-01-11T04:21:01Z")
Missed the edit window, but [70yo ex-NFL-player Otis Taylor](http://nflconcussionlitigation.com/?p=1336)filed against the NFL and Roger Goodell within the last two weeks. He was playing in the era you cite. I also found this database of what appears to be all 4000+ players involved in lawsuits against the NFL: [Washington Times - Politics, Breaking News, US and World News](http://www.washingtontimes.com/footballinjuries/) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/57 "2013-01-11T04:56:02Z")
There are a lot famous names in that database. Quick glances Ken Stabler Billy Kilmer Tony Dorsett John Brodie (think I saw a ESPN segment on him recently) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/58 "2013-01-13T15:38:28Z")
Somewhat [related article](http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/13/3179926/dan-le-batard-jason-taylors-pain.html) on Jason Taylor and the pain and treatment that he endured to play NFL Football. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/59 "2013-01-23T19:54:10Z")
And now Seau’s family has filed [a wrongful death suit against the NFL.](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8872778/junior-seau-family-files-wrongful-death-suit-vs-nfl) ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672/60 "2013-01-23T20:31:13Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > And now Seau’s family has filed [a wrongful death suit against the NFL.](http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8872778/junior-seau-family-files-wrongful-death-suit-vs-nfl) This is an unexpected turn of events… given that Seau was never diagnosed with a concussion, I am not sure what they are suing for… going after the helmet manufacturer (“negligent in their design, testing, assembly, manufacture, marketing, and engineering of the helmets”) is equally crazy since helmets are designed to prevent skull fractures… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/junior-seau-commits-suicide/620672.md?page=2)