Carlton Haselrig Documentary

https://triblive.com/sports/new-doc...-battle-with-football-related-brain-injuries/

Most of us remember watching Carlton Haselrig play for the Steelers. I'm not sure how many of us know that football left him brain damaged, and the NFL used a racist process to deny him the compensation it agreed to in a settlement with former players nearly 10 years ago.

 

I’ll have to check this out. He was an NCAA champion wrestler who made the transition to football and became a pretty dang good offensive lineman. Sad story.

 

Thanks for sharing.

The idea of race-norming is seriously wrong. In 2017!

 

I haven't had the chance to watch the full video, but his wife had videos of him freaking out and begging his father to help him. His father had been dead for years. She talked about how he would put dirty clothes in the freezer because he thought it was the washing machine. He would have days he drove to the stadium thinking he had to be at practice. It's just brutal.

Haselrig was one of the former players who sued the NFL, claiming that it covered up the dangers of concussions and CTE, which it absolutely did. The league and the former players settled. Players claiming they deserved benefits of the settlement were tested for cognitive function. If they were below certain thresholds, they received the money. The league used a racist process that basically set a lower standard for what it called normal brain function for African Americans than it did for white people. This race norming wasn't a system the league made up, but it is one they adopted as a way to get out of paying out some of the benefits that were owed. Despite his severe issues, Haselrig was denied compensation.

The really odd part is the league admitted this and changed the system a while ago, but there really wasn't much of an outcry from the public or even the player's union.

 

Agreed. One really messed up part is that the league admitted they did it, but people barely paid attention.

 

Oh my God. I have read and watched some horrible things lately but this is shocking. I'm not even sure I can watch the documentary as that would make me more horrified and angry. Why? Why would they feel they needed to subject any evaluation to a normalizing by race. What purpose is there for it except to hid the truth from the public. So terrible.

Thank you for the link. It reminds me of watching the documentary about Webster and one of the interviews he gave near the end where one moment he was speaking and just forgot completely what he was doing. Just sad to see someone in that state with no clue how to help them.

 

And normally rationalized by those that did as men being paid millions to play a game shouldn't complain about the health impact of doing it or that CTE doesn't kill. I like watching football but the older I get and the scummier those in the league act I find less and less to like.

 

Wow, that’s terrible. The Mike Webster story is tragic as well. I remember the story about him sitting in his pickup truck outside his family’s home one Thanksgiving, refusing to come inside. His family had to take his Thanksgiving meal out to his truck so he could eat it there. When he finished, he just drove off into the night. He lived out of his truck for a good while IIRC. Heartbreaking.

 

Kevin Henry who played DE for the Steelers back in the 90's has a lawsuit against the NFL because of this raced base standard of selecting who should be eligible for compensation for CTE. He was denied benefits because the NFL had this system in place when he applied for benefits.

 

He also couldn't sleep, so he kept a taser in his truck. He would use it to knock himself out because he thought that was the only way he could get any rest.

 

I'm sure they did it to get out of paying benefits to some of the players who deserved them. This included some of the men who took part in the lawsuit, including Haselrig. It may not have been driven by racism, but it was definitely driven by greed and a lack of accountability. I still love the game, but the people running it are despicable.

 

Reminds me of the bs that was the deal between EA sports, the NFL, and the players union that kept payments from being made to former players because the video game developer used their college stats, pro jersey numbers and pro stats but not their names so the union could keep the money. The ppl involved in these things are horrible.

 

A great Wrestler, and very good Football Player...So sad

 

I wonder if it’s possible that his brief MMA career had any impact on his health?

 

Spoken like someone who wants to take the heat off football. This was a large man who made his living smashing into other large men for five years. That is countless blows to the head and other collisions that sent his brain bouncing around inside his skull. Football causes brain damage in far too many people and the NFL's handling of has been an utter disgrace. How many former Steelers have to end in tragedy for all of the team's fans to wake up?

 

Think I'll buy me a football team...

 

It's a sad thing that happened ....no doubt, but I often listen to You speak about this, and can only think.....that You have never played any sports....maybe ran track???
I'm only saying this(not being mean)because I don't know any sport where You don't have a big chance at multiple concussions. Maybe basketball.
Like I said before....I don't know anyone(guy) that hasn't had concussions, and not Me , or anyone of them made millions getting them.
Also I have seen, and read about people(women) going through these same things that have never played a sport.
Again not saying His isn't from that ,but if You don't think wrestling, or MMA wouldn't have a affect. Well You have apparently never done either.
Again I'm truly sorry what has happened, and I'm pissed about the way they did Him. Especially with the testing for cognitive functions. That is what really makes me angry.

 

You are clearly speaking from ignorance on many levels.

I played high school football. And yes, I suffered a concussion.

I never said it couldn't have come from wrestling or MMA. I'm saying it is much more likely that it came from football. Watch the video. These same stories keep happening over and over to football players. They didn't refuse him the benefits he deserved by claiming he hurt himself wrestling or in MMA. They used a racist process to falsely claim that the damage didn't exist despite ample evidence of cognitive disfunction. You say you are angry about that, so why are you trying to make excuses for the league?

There is ample research supporting my point of view. There is ignorance and/or manipulation by the NFL supporting yours.

The risk of brain injury is far higher in football than most other sports. It isn't just concussions. It is the damage done by dozens of blows to the head every time they step on the field. Many of the actual experts in this field believe it is the accumulated damage from the routine blows that often leads to issues such as CTE.

I get it. You don't want to deal with the fact that football is dangerous. I'm not talking about banning the sport. I'm talking about being honest about the potential damage, something the NFL has never done. The league actively worked to cover the issue up for decades. They still won't admit that CTE is a very real risk faced by current and former players. I'm sorry those complexities make you uncomfortable. Unlike you, I am willing to face the reality of the situation.

If you can read Haselrig's story or watch the video and come way from it trying to make excuses for the NFL, something is wrong with you.

 

Maybe I'm reading the room wrong but I don't sense that anyone is trying to "cover up" for football and it's contribution to CTE.

 

Out of curiosity why are you immediately on the defensive on this topic? I look at both Glenn and S.T.D.'s responses and see room for discussion that doesn't seek to lessen the horrible way the league and medical community gave acted in any manner. Glenn's statement seems reasonable both from the pov of did it further add to the punishment he had suffered in college athletics and Pro football and also to a discussion of does the MMA have some sort of fund set up for its former members who have CTE as well..

 

I think it's the leagues way of handling this initially that's upsetting. Every business has a bottom line..but there is a human side as well. The tobacco industry knew for years the higher level of addiction and health issues brought on by its use, then conspired to hide the reasearch..

To know, expose, make safety changes and let an individual decide the risks in one thing..to know, hide and make rules to exclude to save more to that bottom line is quite another.

Im.not a conspiracy guy, but the owners definitely seem to hide a lot when issues come up.

 

How is it that someone with Your intelligence reads ,and comprehends so poorly at times???
Is it selective???
I never said football couldn't cause it. Show Me where I said that. I said other sports can also. The only reason other sports don't show this is because other sport have not been under the microscope as much as the NFL. If You don’t think Wrestling, Boxing, MMA, anything riding horses, and Hell even dodge freaking ball doesn't cause concussions.....I don't know what to tell You.
There are 100,000 people a year that will play sports only through college that all will receive these concussions.....that will never make millions doing it. I personally have worked with 3 people that have lost their lives at work, and they dang sure weren't making a millions a year.
Again I think it's wrong to keep Him from getting Help, and I doubly hate what they did to Him on the testing......, but if You actually played football in high-school You have a chance of still getting these things ,and You ,and Your family didn't make millions for You doing it.
Yes it's sad, and that testing was wrong, and despicable......but if You made these players sign a paper that said it could happen.....a huge % would sign anyway, and You know this.

 

This.
I don't know how He got what He said out of what I said.

 

Agreed.

 

A post that begins by insisting that I must have not ever played any sports to have the position I take creates room for discussion? Seriously? That is personal, so I respond in kind.

I called it ignorance because it was ignorance, especially when it comes to me. I did play football. I do know what it is like to have a concussion, and I was back at practice the next day because coaches and athletic trainers didn't really know any better in the '80s.

The MMA thing is ridiculous. Haselrig competed in five matches. He played in the NFL for five years. It is far more likely that his brain damage came from his time in the NFL.

Regarding Glenn, my response was absolutely reasonable given his posting history. He relentlessly defends the Steelers, whose record on this issue is mixed at best. Their history is full of horrific stories of former players with brain injuries. They also have Hines Ward. I have always been a big fan of Ward, but it was disgraceful the way he chastized Roethlisberger for being honest with doctors about concussion symptoms and missing a game against the Ravens. To be fair, the Steelers also participated in early concussion studies and tried very hard to help Mike Webster and other players, though Webster stubbornly refused their aid.

This story makes the Steelers look bad, too, though it really isn't their fault. So yeah, I thought that might be where Glenn was coming from. I am passionate about this issue. I've written a great deal about it and researched a great deal more. I have had extensive discussions with athletes suffering from concussions, some who had long-term issues. And yeah, I had my own experience with it as an athlete, though I tend to tell the full story more for laughs.