Dave Duerson wanted brain donated for research after Suicide

Dave Duerson/Courtesy: daylife.com

He appeared to have known that something was wrong.

It's impossible to know what that feeling must have been like. We reported on Thursday about the death of former Chicago Bear and New York Giant Dave Duerson. Duerson, according to police reports, shot himself in the chest.

Before doing that however, he apparently sent a text to his family members asking that his brain be donated to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy in Boston.

Read the story from the New York Daily News RIGHT HERE

The reason. Duerson, like other NFL players with similar stories (the list is quickly growing), appeared to realize that something wasn't right.

The New York Times spoke to several former players about Duerson's passing, they all were shaken. You can read that story RIGHT HERE

Without going to deep into detail, one of the many issues up for discussion in the NFL versus the Owners labor negotiations, is the long-term affect of injuries on players. The league itself has done an admirable job of finally realizing that the impact and concussions players are suffering are having affects long after their playing careers end.

While there are some that seem to deal with it better than others, there is no denying the problem exists. Football players at all levels, not just professionally are showing signs of post-concussion problems. Researchers are calling it a disease, CTE, and it has been found in the post-autopsy results of numerous football players who have died...or like Duerson, took their own life.

While we talk often about how much athletes get paid, and sometimes it is an obscene amount of money, how do you put a price...or contract on a life? How can you say, "Oh, he made millions of dollars playing football". Yeah, sure, he...and others did, but what does it matter if you aren't around to spend it?

Here is a story about Duerson, from CBS News:



UPDATE: A memorial service for Duerson will be held Saturday morning at the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago...

It's open to the public:

6248 South Stewart Avenue
(773) 873-4433