Though the league should be applauded for recent aggressive steps aimed at dealing with the problem of concussions, one guy who isn’t standing and clapping is Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw.
Bradshaw criticized the league acting only after Congress made it clear to the NFL that the problem would be addressed via legislation, if the powers-that-be in pro football don’t otherwise take steps to fix the situation.
“I think it’s sad that it took an outside source — i.e., Congress — to bring in the Commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, and sit down and ask all these questions,” an emotional Bradshaw said during the FOX pregame show. “All of a sudden it hits the front pages of the newspaper. It’s a big story. . . . And then . . . instead of being proactive, they are reactive. They wait until somebody else says, ‘You’ve got a problem.’ And [then] they go, ‘Oh! We’re gonna fix that!’
Bradshaw’s passion came from one clear example with which he has personal experience.
“Mike Webster, my former center, passed away,” Bradshaw said. “[A] lot of head problems. Living in a car, living under a bridge. [Did the] NFL take care of him? No, not at all. And that’s why this bothers me. I’m not so sure they really care that much about these players.”
But the NFL is now forced to care — or to at least create the illusion that the NFL cares.
Bottom line? Players will be now held out out games due to concussions and, eventually, coaches will decide that they can no longer rely on players who have been held out of too many games due to concussions.
And then players who were otherwise willing to expose themselves to health risks in the name of paying their high-dollar mortgages will end up looking for employment in industries that pay far less than pro football.
That’s why any long-term fix in this regard needs to provide players with some type of ongoing compensation if their careers end directly or indirectly because of excessive concussions.
So it’s the NFL’s responsibility to take care of guys who play football for the rest of their lives? Where is that written in the contract?
Bradshaw is right. I am a Steelers fan. And the Rooneys did try to help people like Webster. Still, even the “good owners” like the Rooneys made billions off of the players from the 60s and 70s who did not make much and many who had shortened lives and the quality of their lives got really shortened.
The Rooneys owe some of those players millions and the other NFL teams owe their players from the past too.
I’ve got a question for Bradshaw – did he offer to let his former center come live with him instead of in his car? The NFL didn’t take care of him, but if Terry cared so much, why didn’t he take care of Webster?
The fact is NOBODY took care of Webster, and that means you too Bradshaw–you should have been there for him dickhead..And the Kansas City Chiefs should be commended for giving this guy a job when he could barely speak..
I think Bradshaw is right. Not only did he see the horrible damage that brain injuries caused to his center, Mike Webster, I think he himself suffered as well. He has long had issues with depression. I think the league owes ALL players long-term health coverage. All players, current and retired, should be regularly tested for brain injuries.
Where’s your UNION Bradshaw? HUH? Blame the league while your union takes 60% and gives the players that built league NOTHING. UNIONS SUCK
This will now go waaaaaaay overboard in the opposite direction. I hope cool heads prevail in this Age of Hysteria and Overreaction. Every NFL player and owner should be forced to read Andre Waters story. This is a very serious issue. I hope the NFL doesn’t now go off the deep end to correct something it turned a blind eye to for 70 years.
Mike Webster grins a one-tooth smile from heaven.
Terry isn’t right about most things, but to this I say “Amen”
Way to go Terry. He is factually and intellectually right about this issue. Roger should really be ashamed that he messed around long enough for Congress to get involved and threaten the league. Why couldnt they have been more proactive? Leaving them to be wards of the state for all intents and purposes clearly isnt the answer.
What did Terry Bradshaw do to help Mike Webster? Seriously. I’d like to know how a guy who is so close to you… that you care a lot about… ends up living in a car while you’re livin’ the dream.
Walk the talk. Maybe Bradshaw did something for Webster that we don’t know about. But if not, he’s just pissing and moaning for TV and his former teammates will all know it.
Bradshaw ripping the NFL over Webster is a day late and many dollars short.
The Rooneys heard Webster was on the street, went out and found him and did help him.
Webster refused the help offered to him by his former teammates.
ESPN just reported that Tom Cable is responsible for all concussions.
I can guarantee you that if there is a plan to help players with concussions after they retire, there will be problems. The League will find doctors who will swear the long term damage occurred long before the player was in the NFL. Or it is not related in some way. Just like they do now with any of the retired players with medical problems.
The League will SAY they have this plan in place. Congress will back off. In reality, the players will still get screwed over like they always do.
I agree that the NFL has to bear some blame for this, as do the owners who have certainly been lining their pockets for years, but this is a business, as most of these players realize. The fact that the Rooney’s are billionaires doesn’t make them any more liable or responsible than anyone else. To refresh the memory of those leftists who may be reading this, the point of a business is to make money.
I am not a huge Steelers fan, but I do have some respect for Bradshaw, however I would suggest to him that maybe some of his emotion comes from his own unresolved guilt over Webster’s fate.
All that being said, all the players who have been waving the union flag for all these years are the ones who should be ashamed.
You have all gotten richer than ever because of collective bargaining and other benefits your union has secured for you. If you are a member of a union, then it is their responsibility, not your employer’s, to take care of you when your playing days are over, or to use their leverage to help players stay out of games when they are physically unable to perform.
This is what you are paying the union for. Unions are a scam. If Congress wants to investigate something, investigate the unions.
Additionally, there has to be some way to improve helmet technology. Riddell or whoever is manufacturing these helmets should consider adding a softer padded shell on the outside of their current design (in addition to the ASB plastic), in order to protect against the helmet’s striking capabilities (think of a boxing glove).
Helmet to helmet hits are responsible for most of these injuries, there has to be a way to accomplish this without covering up the precious team logos.
“That’s why any long-term fix in this regard needs to provide players with some type of ongoing compensation if their careers end directly or indirectly because of excessive concussions.”
Load of crap. The players make the big bucks, far more than the average Joe. It is the players responsibility to invest their funds wisely. No one is forcing them to play football.
Even if the teams wanted to help the players out, it wouldn’t be enough to pay for those high mortgages.
Enough with the nanny state bullshit, Florio.
A lot of people tried to help Mike Webster. He refused it, supposedly because of pride. It was just a sad story overall.
OF COURSE the NFL wasn’t proactive about this problem, just like they weren’t proactive about rookie salaries being out of control (which is a problem that one could easily see coming 10+years ago, and yet only now is an effort being made to address it).
But I do know this – the NFL was proactive about securing exclusive apparel deals with Reebok, and making KFC the “official wing sponsor of the NFL”, and getting games in London, and putting games on Thursday nights on the NFL Network, etc.
In other words, there’s a bunch of empty robotic suits like Roger Goodell running/ruining the league, who are just salesmen and polished suits. They don’t care about the actual product on the field as much as they do about “market demographics” and “branding” and other cheesedick shit like that. If football people, rather than lawyers and marketing gurus, ran the league, it would be a much better product. Maybe they wouldn’t sell as many Peyton Manning jerseys in Tokyo as they do now, though. The horror.
Folks, Bradshaw’s point is that the NFL should have been more proactive in the 70s. They weren’t, and that created the situation in which Mike Webster suffered his brain injuries.
Fast forward to the 90s. At that point, Webster was suffering serious mental illness as a result of the brain injuries he sustained earlier. Of course, some say that this was partially steroid related, but let’s just assume Webster was never on steroids as this illustrates the larger point.
Bradshaw and other Steelers found Webster living on the street and tried to set him up with an apartment and a monthly payment and stuff. The problem was that Webster was so mentally ill or proud or something he refused to take it.
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One big problem with “compensatory cash for concussions” as proposed by Florio is that you’ll get some football players who don’t care and will just assume the cash will make it all right. It won’t.
For one thing, if you end up like Webster, you won’t be able to take care of your finances. So any cash you have will be taken from you by your foolish decisions or by trust con-men.
the concussion issue, as well as the health issues these players are facing after their done playing in the NFL, ARE SERIOUS ISSUES, that’s why I applaud people like Mike Ditka for speaking out, Bradshaw was a great player, but in his life after football, in the media, he chooses to come off like a clown, so how do you take him seriously? the concern the NFL is NOW showing, could be because congress is looking at it, this comissioner, these owners have shown little or no concern for the well being of these players, once they are no longer playing. it all comes down to this, …will the NFL show “enough concern” so that congress doesn’t feel compelled to get involved???
I watched the program when Bradshaw ripped the NFL and, it seemed to me, jaws dropped all around the table. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
The subject came up again during Monday Night Football, but Bradshaw was absent. Coincidence? Or was he getting an attitude adjustment from a couple of gentlemen from the NFL?
Just wondering?