The Death of Junior Seau

Last week was a sad week for the NFL as former linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide. Seau was a time time Pro Bowl player who played 20 years in the league, 13 of them with the San Diego Chargers, 3 with the Miami Dolphins and 4 with the New England Patriots. He was hard nosed and tough but well liked by all his teammates.

Seau's death leads to a much more troubling question. What if anything does repeat blows to the head ultimately lead to. At the time of his accidental death in 2009, the brain of former Cincinatti Bengals WR Chris Henry was examined and was shown to suffer traumatic damage. In 2011 former Chicago Bears DB Dave Duerson left messages for his family asking to have his brain examined before he fatally shot himself in the chest, the same way Seau killed himself. Duerson was discovered to have  chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to depression, dementia and suicide, commonly among former NFL players. The disease has been linked to concussions and may be what Seau suffered from near the end of his life. His family has agreed to donate his brain for study to confirm this for definite. The disturbing trend among former players, has the league scrambling to find solutions to an ongoing issue. Concussions cannot be avoided in a hard hitting league, but the damage can potentially be lessened with certain safety measures and better equipment. The league has mandated that a player must sit a minimum of 1 game before he can return from a concussion. A newer more impact resistent helmet has been developed with some players such as WR DeSean Jackson, who once suffered a concussion, to quickly adopt it. But what about other former players? What can be done to avoid this sad trend of suicide and death? Are there preventive measures that can watch over them as well? No one knows how many other former and possibly even current players are suffering with the symptoms of CTE, but maybe Seau's death will help shed a light on the issue, and more players will step forward to receive the help they need.