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

[TheMarathonContinues]

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.

I mean….we pretty much know what’s going on with some of these guys right? Concussions and head injuries are harming these guys long term.

money is number one, fame is second, and excelling at the craft is third. This isn't the generation that would play for peanuts and then work real jobs in the offseason.
This is the "me" generation.

Barber was far from a “me” guy. He literally died for this sport….

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Isn’t a droopy face a sign of damage caused by a stroke?

It could but that same type of face can come from people with mental illness, drug addicts, alcoholics…..I’ve seen that look before in a lot of homeless people who suffer mental illness.

 

[NumOneQB]

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.

Queue the “they get paid millions to play a kids game” post….

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

The NFL doesn’t care about its players which is too bad. Not many companies that size care about their workforce, though.

Especially a business that is as dependent on physicality as the NFL, they really should allow their players to maintain their insurance after retiring, and especially with an emphasis on mental health. I think players need to be encouraged more to seek mental help. Like what Dak was trying to do when he went to see a mental health professional last year.

 

[Hadenough]

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.

Sorry to hear about Barber and many other NFL players who suffer from CTE. I dont think people realize though how primitive the medical field is when it comes to brain damage. Maybe one day but there isnt much anyone can do. Best solution would be to stop playing the game.

 

[Hadenough]

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.

Sometimes people with brain damage dont even realize there is anything wrong even though they arent acting normal.

 

[ondaedg]

Especially a business that is as dependent on physicality as the NFL, they really should allow their players to maintain their insurance after retiring, and especially with an emphasis on mental health. I think players need to be encouraged more to seek mental help. Like what Dak was trying to do when he went to see a mental health professional last year.

Agreed about the insurance. But this goes back to the NFL attacking that doctor who first ID’d CTE in former players. I watched that documentary on how they tried to destroy that scientist’s career and it made me sick. Reminded me of the cigarette companies CEOs going in front of Congress and saying that cigarettes are not dangerous to human health. I think the owners recognize the cost of taking care of former players and want no part of it as well as the potential for lawsuits from former players.

 

[atlantacowboy]

MB3 played the game hard. He wasn't fast or elusive. He played by powering his way through the defense. He took a lot of shots and its impossible to quantify how much damage was done previous to the NFL where maybe the equipment wasn't as good. What we do know is the accumulation to these microtraumas to the head has a devastating effect on some people. The estimate is 9.6 % of NFL players will develop some form of CTE. That is a huge unacceptable number.

It will be interesting to see how the new rules impact CTE.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

That’s why I don’t get fans who trash players for wanting to get paid
If the players don’t get the money then the owners get it and they are sacrificing their bodies each week. None of them have brain injuries unless it’s from drinking. It’s not like somebodies not gonna get the money
Players have an obligation to themselves, to their families to get what the market bares. An owner can own a team for decades while most players don’t last one decade and many leave the game with serious bodily injury

I think fans trash the front office more than the players. If a player wants to be paid, good for them. If the front office is dumb enough to break the bank on a player that quickly turns into a bad contract, fans get frustrated.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Fans aren’t gonna stop pumping money into the NFL. The CTE issue is gonna get corrected at the youth level by parents refusing to allow their kids to play football. The talent level will diminish and fewer schools will have enough players to field a team. But the NFL is doing all it can to sweep this issue under the rug and discredit scientists trying to raise awareness. Eventually it’ll be impossible to cover it up and parents will stop allowing their kids to play football.

 

[SlammedZero]

I mean….we pretty much know what’s going on with some of these guys right? Concussions and head injuries are harming these guys long term.

On the surface, but there is still much to learn.

 

[Howboutdemcowboys31]

Terribly sad story. All his pre-falling off stories are how much guys enjoyed his company. RIP Barbarian

 

[nalam]

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?

Since NFL is making so much money, which is earned on the entertainment value provided by Marion like players , should they have an obligation with taking care of these players when they have CTE related issues?
I know its loaded and these players do come out-of the league with lot of money which ordinary folks (like us) may never see , still if they are not there mentally they can’t manage it and also get timely help to take care of their health too, correct?

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

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.

I hear you but bear in mind.....they dont have to it. They can flip burgers or tires or desk jockey like the rest of us.

 

[mrmojo]

I don't know how you take the physicality out of sports like football and boxing without watering it down and making it unwatchable.

Its all about the money and the NFL really doesn't want the physical part to go away, its the biggest sport at this time....the players aren't being forced to play but the NFL is expected to protect the players from themselves, which is a huge task.

How do you keep the NFL popularity at this level while making it safer....other that purely flag football I don't see how.

 

[Crown Royal]

I feel a little more guilty every year watching football, knowing it's long term impact. Love the sport but it is just brutal on the body, and not just the joints. Decided long ago that my (now 5 year old) son will not be permitted to play this game. Golf, baseball, soccer are going to be his sports.

Hard to reconcile football (in current form) with a future.

 

[FVSTONE]

...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.

I'm I missing something????? If ex-mates were running into Barber and they all thought the same about him why didn't someone reach out to one of his family members and get the 411 on him. Maybe, just maybe if one of his teammates cared that much for him, Marion would be alive today.

 

[Hoofbite]

Better helmets, even stronger enforcement against leading with the helmet, maybe a limit on how many snaps a lineman can take per game (much CTE is sustained by linemen who get thousands of tiny impacts that add up over time, as opposed to one huge hit,) an even more rigorous concussion protocol. The recent ban on blindside blocking was a good move.

How do you just come up with "better helmets"? It sounds great but there's only so much that you can do. It's like saying "just come up with a better car design so nobody ever dies in an auto accident". I have been a critic of the NFL's actions regarding helmets for a while. Marcellus Wiley was part of a piece about 10 years ago that pissed on the NFL for ignoring helmet improvements. He would go to trade shows and see items that had potential but didn't have the licensing to get it on the field. That said, just making "better helmets" isn't an answer anymore than just making better cars would be an answer.

As far as linemen go, they are just about 50% of every player on the field for any given snap so it wouldn't be surprising that they would be overly represented (if that is even the case).

You aren't going to be able to nerf the game enough to prevent poor outcomes. If the NFL is going to continue, they have to acknowledge that, inform players, and support the players that have poor outcomes. There are countless amounts of everyday jobs that don't get the support NFL players receive. The only difference is they are normal people and not super-athletes.

 

[Pass2Run]

Isn’t a droopy face a sign of damage caused by a stroke?

It's a sign you may be having a stroke.

 

[shabazz]

https://www.scrapdigest.com/20-mma-stars-who-battled-with-mental-health-issues/56371/?amp

thanks. That makes perfect sense but hadn’t seen it profiled in any meaningful way by the media.