NFL: Family of Junior Seau Will Allow Researchers To Study His Brain

Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

The family of Junior Seau will allow researchers to study his brain for signs of damage caused by concussions suffered during his 20-year NFL career, according to Chargers team chaplain Shawn Mitchell.

The San Diego County medical examiner ruled Seau’s death a suicide Thursday, a day after the former linebacker was found at his home with a gunshot wound to the chest.

“The family was considering this almost from the beginning, but they didn’t want to make any emotional decisions,” Mitchell told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday night. “And when they came to a joint decision that absolutely this was the best thing, it was a natural occurrence for the Seau family to go forward.”

Seau’s ex-wife, Gina, told The Associated Press that while Seau suffered concussions during his playing career, she had no idea if they somehow contributed to his death.

Mitchell said he didn’t know where the brain was being sent and that the family’s decision regarding Seau’s brain was a result of wanting “to help other individuals down the road.”

He said the family was not speculating as to whether concussions were a factor in Seau’s suicide.

 

Mitchell said he never heard Seau complain about dizziness or headaches.

“With Junior, that would be so outside of his nature because he had an amazing threshold for pain,” Mitchell said.

Family members and friends have said they weren’t aware of any issues that may have led to Seau’s suicide. Police said no suicide note was found.

“This is not anything I thought he would ever do,” former Chargers safety Miles McPherson said.

Seau’s family and hundreds of people held an impromptu memorial Thursday night outside his Oceanside, Calif., home near San Diego.

Seau, 43, played his first 13 seasons with the Chargers before moving on to the Miami Dolphinsand the New England Patriots.

He helped lead San Diego to its only Super Bowl, after the 1994 season, was voted to a Chargers-record 12 straight Pro Bowls and was named All-Pro six times.

Further autopsy details, including results of toxicology tests, will be released in a final investigative report, which may take up to 90 days to complete.

The forensic pathologist who first identified chronic brain damage as a factor in the deaths of some NFL players flew to San Diego on Thursday to participate in the autopsy of Seau, two sources with knowledge of the case told ESPN’s Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru.

The pathologist, Bennet Omalu, assisted in the autopsy conducted by the San Diego County medical examiner because of his experience with NFL players and brain injuries, the sources said.

Omalu’s involvement may help determine whether the future Hall of Famer’s suicide could be related to the growing link between football and concussions.

Omalu, currently the chief medical officer for San Joaquin County (Calif.), is credited with identifying chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a neurological disorder stemming from repeated head trauma, in several deceased NFL players. CTE can lead to erratic behavior also associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Omalu and Julian Bailes, a renowned Chicago neurosurgeon and former Pittsburgh Steelers team physician, founded the Brain Injury Research Institute, which studies the impact of concussions.

Omalu and Bailes declined comment.

Another research group, Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, has analyzed the brains of dozens of former athletes, including that of Dave Duerson.

While saying it was saddened by Seau’s death, center officials would not say if they have reached out to the Seau family or would be interested in studying his brain.

Chris Nowinski, a Harvard graduate and former professional wrestler who helped found the group, also declined a request with ESPN for an interview.

Taylor Twellman, a soccer analyst for ESPN and former Major League Soccer star, was a neighbor of Seau’s. He said Thursday in an interview with ESPN’s “SportsCenter” that he told Seau one time that he had suffered a concussion playing soccer and was experiencing bad headaches. Twellman said Seau admitted he also suffered from headaches from multiple concussions playing football.

Twellman, who has become an advocate for athletes with brain trauma, said he later tried to reach out to Seau to tell him he should seek help, but Seau never responded.

Duerson’s family has filed a wrongful death suit against the NFL, claiming the league didn’t do enough to prevent or treat concussions that severely damaged Duerson’s brain before he died in in February 2011.

Former Atlanta Falcons safety Ray Easterling, who had joined in a concussion-related lawsuit against the league — one of dozens filed in the past year — shot himself last month at age 62. His wife has said he suffered from depression and dementia after taking years of hits.

Seau is not known to have been a plaintiff in the concussion litigation.

It is expected to take four to six weeks to determine whether Seau suffered from CTE, and at this point, it is unclear who will make that diagnosis. Seau’s brain remains with the San Diego medical examiner and is not expected to be buried with Seau, according to the sources.

Omalu, Bailes and Nowinski once worked together on the CTE issue but split over philosophical differences. The clash between the two groups over the acquisition of brains for CTE research, particularly in NFL players, is an ongoing issue and was documented in an ESPN article last year.

“It is our policy to not discuss any completed, ongoing or potential research cases unless at the specific request of family members,” the Boston group said in a statement Thursday. “Our primary goal is to learn more about the long-term effects of repetitive brain trauma by conducting meaningful scientific research. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Seau’s family, his many friends and former teammates.”

The issue of the NFL and brain damage began to emerge in 2002, when Omalu, then a pathologist in the Allegheny County (Pa.) coroner’s office, conducted the autopsy on former Steelers center Mike Webster. The doctor discovered widespread brain trauma that appeared to be related to the player’s 17-year career. Webster died of a heart attack at age 50, but his death was preceded by years of bizarre and erratic behavior.

Omalu’s findings of “gridiron dementia” in players such as Webster, former Steeler Terry Long and former Philadelphia Eagle Andre Waters were initially dismissed by the NFL, which claimed there was no link between football and long-term brain damage. The league since has acknowledged a connection.

More than 1,500 players have sued the NFL, arguing for years the league hid the link between repeated concussions associated with football and brain damage. In the latest lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, more than 100 players, including former Falcons running backJamal Anderson, alleged the NFL “repeatedly refuted the connection between concussions and brain injury.”

WRITTEN BY Information from ESPN investigative and enterprise unit reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru and The Associated Press was used in this report & FULL STORY HERE