bad brains

Of Course Tom Brady Had Concussions

Gisele Bündchen’s admission that her husband, Tom Brady, “does have concussions” cuts right to the NFL’s biggest problem with head trauma: There is no way to protect the players.

Gisele Bundchen Says Tom Brady Has Suffered Multiple Unreported Brain Injuries

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who is married to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, sat down for an interview with Charlie Rose on CBS This Morning. At one point, Rose asked Bundchen if she wants Brady to retire from football, and she told Rose that she does worry about Brady because of all the concussions he’s had.

I'm Not Sure Sidney Crosby's Brain Is OK

Sidney Crosby says he was evaluated for (another) concussion after going headfirst into the boards. His coach says he wasn’t. He didn’t miss a shift. Someone here is lying, and someone—maybe multiple someones—is letting Crosby down.

Sidney Crosby Leaves The Ice After Headshot From Matt Niskanen

The Washington Capitals are in Pittsburgh tonight for a must-win Game 3. They dropped both Game 1 and 2 in Washington, and now they have to win on the road to keep their season alive. Things are getting understandably testy. As Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby went in on goal in the first period, Alex Ovechkin knocked…

Joe Thomas Says He's Already Experiencing Memory Loss

Browns all-pro tackle Joe Thomas was a guest on In Depth With Graham Bensinger, and he spoke candidly about the ways in which football may have already affected his brain.

Katsuyori Shibata Is Just The Latest Japanese Wrestling Star To Suffer A Serious Head Injury

Throughout its entire existence as a subgenre of pro wrestling, the pseudo-sport’s presence in Japan has been consistently defined by how much harder-hitting it is there than it is elsewhere in the world. Hard hitting can take a lot of forms. It can mean hard shots in safe places; it can mean laying everything in even…

Concussion Testing Is Flawed, But It's Not The Real Problem

The Wall Street Journal published a devastating story today about Kenney Bui, a high school football player in Washington state who died two years ago at age 17, days after a collision in a game. What distinguishes Bui’s death—aside from the obvious—is that he had sustained another concussion just one month earlier…

The Billion-Dollar NFL Concussion Settlement Is A New Kind Of Disaster

The six-year long, billion-dollar NFL concussion class-action lawsuit is finally drawing near a close, but the infighting and confusion that has dogged the suit since its beginning continues as fierce as ever. And it’s seriously threatening the likelihood that players will collect anywhere near the settlement they won.

Unsealed Docs: Gary Bettman Told NHL GMs How To Discourage Media From Talking About Fighting

A U.S. federal court judge on Tuesday unsealed more documents in the long-running lawsuit over the NHL’s handling of concussions. The NHL had fought the release of these documents, and TSN’s Rick Westhead has the high points.

Eddie Lack Stretchered Off Ice After Getting Wrecked While Giving Up OT Goal

The Carolina Hurricanes lost in dramatic fashion tonight, falling 4-3 to the Red Wings in overtime. Hurricanes goalie Eddie Lack got flattened by Andreas Athanasiou as he scored the winner, and he had to be stretchered off the ice.

Former San Francisco 49ers Star Dwight Clark Has ALS

Former 49ers wide receiver Dwight Clark, famous for making The Catch, has been diagnosed with ALS.

Jordan Cameron Retires After Four Concussions In Four Years: "I Can't Risk My Mental Health In The Future"

Miami Dolphins tight end Jordan Cameron announced his retirement yesterday at the age of 28. After suffering four concussions in four years, he said that the possibility of long-term health risks was too much. As he told ESPN yesterday:

Fernando Torres's Severe Head Injury Sends Fellow Players Into A Panic

Late on in today’s Atlético Madrid-Deportivo match, Fernando Torres clashed with a Deportivo player while going up for a header, and fell face first onto the ground, apparently unconscious. The way Torres fell itself is nasty, but it’s the distraught reaction of the players who saw the injury up close that makes the…

Keeper Gets Way Too Mad About Giving Up Goal

Even way down in the ninth tier of English soccer, players do not like to lose. Case in point: Cray Valley Paper Mills FC goalkeeper Jordan Carey’s reaction to this Ashford United goal:

Sumo Wrestler Extremely Fucked Up By Violent Collision

I don’t know the particulars here, but what I do know is that the above video depicts one big sumo guy slamming into another sumo guy, the injured sumo guy convulsing on the ground and then stumbling in a very pronounced way during his failed attempts to get back on his feet, and that it’s hard to watch.

Mark Stone Knocked Out Of Game By Being Checked In The Head

Jacob Trouba’s shoulder cracked Mark Stone’s face and knocked the Senators forward out of the game—drawing just a two-minute minor penalty, to the dismay of Ottawa fans and coach Guy Boucher.

Former Titans Tight End Frank Wycheck Is Concerned He Might Have CTE

Former Tennessee Titans tight end Frank Wycheck believes he has CTE, according to ESPN.

UFC says its concussion protocol is better than the NFL’s, and they might need to prove it tonight after Marcel Fortuna knocked Anthony Hamilton out so severely that the latter struggled to rise for the official announcement.

Can Grieving Mothers Stop The Public From Forgetting The NFL's Brain-Trauma Crisis?

On Monday afternoon, a group of mothers and other family members of men who have died with chronic traumatic encephalopathy gathered in a room at a hotel in Houston to hold a press conference announcing CTE Awareness Day and promoting their group’s eponymous website, Faces of CTE.

Paul Tagliabue Isn't Sorry Enough

Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue sat down for an interview with the Talk Of Fame Network, and he wants everyone to know that he’s really sorry about that whole actively ignoring and downplaying the effects of concussions in the NFL thing—or at least about speaking intemperately.

Report: Emails Show Atlanta Falcons Were Giving Players Incredible Amounts Of Painkillers

Emails first published by the Associated Press show that members of the Atlanta Falcons’ front office were worried about the team’s excessive use of painkillers when treating injured players.

Mikey Garcia Wins WBC Lightweight Title With Brutal Knockout

Mikey Garcia seized the WBC lightweight world title by knocking out the previously-undefeated champion Dejan Zlaticanin with a horrifying punch that left the Montenegran unconscious on the canvas for several minutes.

Ryan Mason Stable And Speaking After Breaking His Skull Going Up For A Header

Just 13 minutes into Hull City’s Premier League match against Chelsea yesterday, Hull midfielder Ryan Mason went up for a header in the box. Chelsea defender Gary Cahill rushed to intercept the ball, but instead, he smashed into Mason’s head, immediately sending him to the ground.

Chris Conley Gets Blasted In The Head, Only Misses One Play

Chris Conley took a blow to the head from Steelers safety Sean Davis that left the Chiefs receiver dazed on the turf late in Kansas City’s playoff game tonight against Pittsburgh. In classic NFL concussion protocol fashion, Conley returned to the game after missing just one play:

Bo Jackson Says He Wouldn't Play Football Again

Bo Jackson, one of the most talented athletes to ever walk the earth and one of the most fun players to watch in two different sports, says the only reason he played football was a general ignorance of what it does to people.

This Is Not Targeting, Somehow?

Mike Williams hung on and got the first down here, but it cost him a huge shot from Alabama DB Tony Brown. There was no penalty called on the play, even if it appeared to be a fairly clear targeting violation. The Tigers held him out for the rest of the drive, but ESPN reported that he was medically cleared to return…

Mike Pyle Had A Bad Night

Alex Garcia took care of Mike Pyle tonight in their UFC welterweight bout. The night did not end well for Mike Pyle, or his brain cells.

Cam Newton Takes Hit To The Head, Somehow Ends Up Being The One Penalized

Defenses have been abusing Cam Newton all season, and NFL officiating teams have continued to keep the flags in their pockets. So when the flag came out after Trent Murphy’s blow to the Carolina QB’s skull after a third-down rush tonight against Washington, it was a short-lived sigh of relief for Panthers fans—because the flag ended up being on Newton himself.

Nothing About This Went Well For Jon Ryan

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Jared Goff Forced To Leave Game After Massive Hit From Richard Sherman

Rams QB Jared Goff’s lackluster night in Seattle ended early after Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman leveled him in the fourth quarter when Goff was breaking for the end zone. Goff hesitated for a moment before getting steamrolled by Sherman, and the hit was not ruled to be an illegal one. Cruelly, Goff’s run was wiped out due to a holding penalty.