News: CW: Former Cowboys CB Terence Newman recalls chance run-in with Marion Barber: "I was scared."

America's Cowboy

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...Indeed, just minutes after using the phrase “battle of attrition” when referring to the sport and sharing a story about Coach Bill Parcells expecting guys to play hurt during his time in Dallas, the 15-year veteran (Terence Newman) was suddenly flooded with notifications and text messages about the Cowboys running back being found in his apartment on June 1.

The two-time Pro Bowler’s immediate reaction indicated that, while saddened by the news of Barber’s passing, he wasn’t terribly surprised...

“I had seen Marion three years ago, just before I moved out here. It was raining, and I’m driving to the gas station- probably about a mile from my house- and Marion had lived in a high-rise not far from my house. So I see this guy walking down the street, in the rain. I get to the gas station, and it’s Marion. I hadn’t seen Marion in a while, but I heard he had fallen on hard times and wasn’t doing too well. So we talked and exchanged numbers, but I was scared when I saw him. He looked bad. He looked like he wasn’t there, like he was a different person, like he couldn’t function. And that’s probably why he was walking and not driving. When I tell you I was scared, I thought he might swing on me. I was actually scared.

His face was just droopy. It looked like he was homeless. Like he lived on the streets. I guess he had so many concussions that it really impacted him. I read in the paper he had gone to a church and got arrested — in a little town just outside of Dallas. He had taken a gun to church, and he had shown the people in the church the gun. So they called the cops and took him in for a mental evaluation.”

Newman was not the first ex-teammate to express concerns for the punishing runner’s health and well-being. Wideout Dez Bryant had described Barber as “down and out bad” in a tweet last July. Safety Keith Davis checked on Barber frequently and wondered, “Did I do enough? Could I have done something else?”

(Continued): https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...terence-newman-recalls-marion-barber-meeting/

PS: CTE is scary. Now we see why the NFL has clamped down hard against using your head to lead and make a tackle. Yes, it has made the game less physical, but it's for the long-term health of the players.
 
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CouchCoach

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This brings that scene in "Concussion" into focus with Mike Webster.

The fact that Junior Seau chose to shoot himself in the chest so they could study his brain was awful because he was aware of what was happening to him.
 

Flamma

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...Indeed, just minutes after using the phrase “battle of attrition” when referring to the sport and sharing a story about Coach Bill Parcells expecting guys to play hurt during his time in Dallas, the 15-year veteran (Terence Newman) was suddenly flooded with notifications and text messages about the Cowboys running back being found in his apartment on June 1.

The two-time Pro Bowler’s immediate reaction indicated that, while saddened by the news of Barber’s passing, he wasn’t terribly surprised...

“I had seen Marion three years ago, just before I moved out here. It was raining, and I’m driving to the gas station- probably about a mile from my house- and Marion had lived in a high-rise not far from my house. So I see this guy walking down the street, in the rain. I get to the gas station, and it’s Marion. I hadn’t seen Marion in a while, but I heard he had fallen on hard times and wasn’t doing too well. So we talked and exchanged numbers, but I was scared when I saw him. He looked bad. He looked like he wasn’t there, like he was a different person, like he couldn’t function. And that’s probably why he was walking and not driving. When I tell you I was scared, I thought he might swing on me. I was actually scared.

His face was just droopy. It looked like he was homeless. Like he lived on the streets. I guess he had so many concussions that it really impacted him. I read in the paper he had gone to a church and got arrested — in a little town just outside of Dallas. He had taken a gun to church, and he had shown the people in the church the gun. So they called the cops and took him in for a mental evaluation.”

Newman was not the first ex-teammate to express concerns for the punishing runner’s health and well-being. Wideout Dez Bryant had described Barber as “down and out bad” in a tweet last July. Safety Keith Davis checked on Barber frequently and wondered, “Did I do enough? Could I have done something else?”

(Continued): https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...terence-newman-recalls-marion-barber-meeting/

PS: CTE is scary. Now we see why the NFL has clamped down hard against using your head to lead and make a tackle. Yes, it has made the game less physical, but it's for the long-term health of the players.

You don't have to go helmet to helmet for the game to be physical. There's more going on than just that. But this story is sad to hear. I'd love to know exactly what was going on with him since his departure from the league. Which was what, a decade or so ago?
 

john van brocklin

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...Indeed, just minutes after using the phrase “battle of attrition” when referring to the sport and sharing a story about Coach Bill Parcells expecting guys to play hurt during his time in Dallas, the 15-year veteran (Terence Newman) was suddenly flooded with notifications and text messages about the Cowboys running back being found in his apartment on June 1.

The two-time Pro Bowler’s immediate reaction indicated that, while saddened by the news of Barber’s passing, he wasn’t terribly surprised...

“I had seen Marion three years ago, just before I moved out here. It was raining, and I’m driving to the gas station- probably about a mile from my house- and Marion had lived in a high-rise not far from my house. So I see this guy walking down the street, in the rain. I get to the gas station, and it’s Marion. I hadn’t seen Marion in a while, but I heard he had fallen on hard times and wasn’t doing too well. So we talked and exchanged numbers, but I was scared when I saw him. He looked bad. He looked like he wasn’t there, like he was a different person, like he couldn’t function. And that’s probably why he was walking and not driving. When I tell you I was scared, I thought he might swing on me. I was actually scared.

His face was just droopy. It looked like he was homeless. Like he lived on the streets. I guess he had so many concussions that it really impacted him. I read in the paper he had gone to a church and got arrested — in a little town just outside of Dallas. He had taken a gun to church, and he had shown the people in the church the gun. So they called the cops and took him in for a mental evaluation.”

Newman was not the first ex-teammate to express concerns for the punishing runner’s health and well-being. Wideout Dez Bryant had described Barber as “down and out bad” in a tweet last July. Safety Keith Davis checked on Barber frequently and wondered, “Did I do enough? Could I have done something else?”

(Continued): https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/20...terence-newman-recalls-marion-barber-meeting/

PS: CTE is scary. Now we see why the NFL has clamped down hard against using your head to lead and make a tackle. Yes, it has made the game less physical, but it's for the long-term health of the players.
When I read stuff like this, I understand the need to make the game less physical.
 

SlammedZero

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I read, and it's too bad, that the Barber family declined to donate his brain for CTE research.

On one hand, I understand wanting to allow him to just rest in peace undisturbed. On the other hand though, the more we can find out about it, maybe it allows science to save another life in the future.
 

Bullflop

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I'll admit to getting choked up a bit while reading about Marion Barber's plight. I've heard some sad stories lately but that one got to me. I guess it's very possibly for the best that his suffering was cut short . . . who knows what else he might have had to go through in his condition?! At least, he's at peace now. Here's hoping his family manages to recover favorably, despite such a sad loss.
 
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Ranched

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Sometimes we sit back reading such stories asking, why didn't MB's family, Dez, Newman etc... do anything to help the young man?!

We just don't/didn't know the situation. Because if they could of helped MB, they would have. This is so sad. Really hit home because MB is/was part of everyone's family in Cowboys Nation. :(
That's why Zeke got his money. Might as well
:huh:
 

Smashin222

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The NFL doesn’t care about its players which is too bad. Not many companies that size care about their workforce, though.
The sad part is the number of fans who don't care either. If companies aren't going to care, and customers aren't going to care....

Folks are so focused on "muh football" and not on the obvious and ****ed up way the sport churns through young men.
 

Reid1boys

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The NFL doesn’t care about its players which is too bad. Not many companies that size care about their workforce, though.
There is little the NFL can do. The game by its nature is super physical and dangerous. I am rarely saddened by stiff like this, but this story about Marion is truly heartbreaking.
 

Hoofbite

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The sad part is the number of fans who don't care either. If companies aren't going to care, and customers aren't going to care....

Folks are so focused on "muh football" and not on the obvious and ****ed up way the sport churns through young men.

So what exactly is the solution? What short of just not having football can actually prevent CTE?
 

ondaedg

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There is little the NFL can do. The game by its nature is super physical and dangerous. I am rarely saddened by stiff like this, but this story about Marion is truly heartbreaking.

There is a lot the NFL can do. I mean why should tax payers and society be responsible for health care for guys like Marion when the job is 100% inherently the cause of brain damage and physical disabilities. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that playing in the NFL caused these players to suffer severe mental and physical health issues.
 

Hoofbite

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There is little the NFL can do. The game by its nature is super physical and dangerous. I am rarely saddened by stiff like this, but this story about Marion is truly heartbreaking.

It's heartbreaking because it's likely much more than CTE, so many people saw it happening in real-time and helped in whatever way they thought they could, and yet here we are.
 

Hoofbite

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There is a lot the NFL can do. I mean why should tax payers and society be responsible for health care for guys like Marion when the job is 100% inherently the cause of brain damage and physical disabilities. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that playing in the NFL caused these players to suffer severe mental and physical health issues.

Okay, well this just went off the rails.
 

ondaedg

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Okay, well this just went off the rails.

Never left the rails at all. It was clear to many people in the NFL per that article that MB had severe mental health issues. The employers (NFL) and the union (NFLPA) know that working in the NFL can potentially cause life threatening mental and physical issues. No different than the black lung disease coal miners experienced working for the coal companies. The NFL absolutely has to fund an insurance policy that will allow guys like MB3 to receive care should they experience those issues.

And if they already do fund such a policy why wasn’t MB3 participating?
 

Hoofbite

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Never left the rails at all. It was clear to many people in the NFL per that article that MB had severe mental health issues. The employers (NFL) and the union (NFLPA) know that working in the NFL can potentially cause life threatening mental and physical issues. No different than the black lung disease coal miners experienced working for the coal companies. The NFL absolutely has to fund an insurance policy that will allow guys like MB3 to receive care should they experience those issues.

And if they already do fund such a policy why wasn’t MB3 participating?

Yes, I'm quite certain the NFL has a health fund for players that accrue a specified number of years.

Why didn't MB3 seek help? Well, probably because it wasn't just about the contact he suffered while playing, or if it was, he was ultimately in no state of mind to actually understand or realize the resources that were available to him. You can't just force people to accept help.
 
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