Erik Kramer, Former NFL QB, Suffers Gunshot Wound in Apparent Suicide Attempt

[Doomsday101]

Former NFL quarterback Erik Kramer “shot himself Tuesday in a suicide attempt, but survived,” according to law enforcement sources, per Andrew Blankstein of NBCNews.com. The incident occurred in a Los Angeles area motel.
Blankstein noted that Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were called to the motel for a welfare check and found Kramer with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Kramer's ex-wife Marshawn said, per Blankstein, "He is a very amazing man, a beautiful soul, but he has suffered depression since he was with the Bears. I can promise you he is not the same man I married."
She also noted that she believes Kramer has suffered years of depression due to his time in the NFL.
Blankstein’s report pointed out that Kramer’s son—who was a high school quarterback at the time—died in 2011 from a drug overdose

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...om&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

 

[big dog cowboy]

Terrible story. Hope he gets the help he needs.

 

[erod]

Depression is a huge problem, not just among former NFL players. This will get twisted into automatically being about concussions because that's just what the media does these days. They've become a political arm to control society, not an unbiased bastion that reports on it. People attempt suicide every day for all sorts of reasons. I can't imagine losing a child, and that probably exacerbated an underlying mental health issue.

My suspicions center largely on what kind of drugs these players are taking during their careers. Do the varieties of steroids, HGH, and other PEDs contribute to mental issues like depression and anxiety later in life?

I also think that spotlight is intoxicating for a lot of guys, and dealing with being a "has-been" football player without the big stage later really gets to some former players.

But all we'll hear about are the concussions he may have suffered along the way because that fits the preferred narrative.

 

[Doomsday101]

Depression is a huge problem, not just among former NFL players. This will get twisted into automatically being about concussions because that's just what the media does these days. They've become a political arm to control society, not an unbiased bastion that reports on it. People attempt suicide every day for all sorts of reasons. I can't imagine losing a child, and that probably exacerbated an underlying mental health issue.

My suspicions center largely on what kind of drugs these players are taking during their careers. Do the varieties of steroids, HGH, and other PEDs contribute to mental issues like depression and anxiety later in life?

I also think that spotlight is intoxicating for a lot of guys, and dealing with being a "has-been" football player without the big stage later really gets to some former players.

But all we'll hear about are the concussions he may have suffered along the way because that fits the preferred narrative.

I agree especially with the fact that for many of these players the life they have known from childhood to the highest level of the sport when it ends it leaves a major hole in their life.

 

[Maxmadden]

Is it a suicide attempt if the gunshot wound is non life threatening?

 

[BBQ101]

Is it a suicide attempt if the gunshot wound is non life threatening?

It is a suicide attempt because he's not dead. It'll be a suicide if he dies from the wound.

BBQ

 

[burmafrd]

I agree especially with the fact that for many of these players the life they have known from childhood to the highest level of the sport when it ends it leaves a major hole in their life.

You hear all the time about former NBA, NFL, MLB stars having difficulty adjusting to no longer being in the spotlight, to having to earn a living if they did not take care of their money, to finding something to soak up all the time they suddenly have since they are no longer either playing or training.

But the media in its usual stupidity and laziness automatically blames concussions for every NFL player having problems. Why they are called MEDIOTS by many.

 

[Maxmadden]

It is a suicide attempt because he's not dead. It'll be a suicide if he dies from the wound.

BBQ

People who try to commit suicide are almost always successful. Killing yourself is really quite easy if that is really your intent. Suicide attempts are a plea for help.

 

[MrPeanutbutter]

As a native Chicagoan (never much of a Bears fan), I watched a lot of Kramer as a child and it pains me to hear this disturbing news.

I really hate what ESPN/NFL has done to the head injuries discussion. The fear of concussions is legitimate, but research shows it's not concussions that are the real culprit. In reality it's continual, sub-concussive impact to the head that is likely causing this level of brain damage among football players.

NFL and ESPN make it sound like the NFL has figured everything out by parading around Christine Golic as if she knows anything. Truth is, they can never truly solve the brain damage problem. At the end of the day, players are paid millions to hurt themselves. The NFL needs to recognize this and better serve its former players.

 

[popp1234]

People who try to commit suicide are almost always successful. Killing yourself is really quite easy if that is really your intent. Suicide attempts are a plea for help.

Exactly. I hope he gets the help he desperatelyl needs.

 

[popp1234]

Is it a suicide attempt if the gunshot wound is non life threatening?

It's a, "Hey, I need help, please...someone....anybody." Hopefully someone answers his cry for help.

 

[Maxmadden]

As a native Chicagoan (never much of a Bears fan), I watched a lot of Kramer as a child and it pains me to hear this disturbing news.

I really hate what ESPN/NFL has done to the head injuries discussion. The fear of concussions is legitimate, but research shows it's not concussions that are the real culprit. In reality it's continual, sub-concussive impact to the head that is likely causing this level of brain damage among football players.

NFL and ESPN make it sound like the NFL has figured everything out by parading around Christine Golic as if she knows anything. Truth is, they can never truly solve the brain damage problem. At the end of the day, players are paid millions to hurt themselves. The NFL needs to recognize this and better serve its former players.

There does seem to be a lot of different issues for football players after their careers are over. More research has to be done before nailing it down to one thing as the media has done, but I suspect there are multiple causes and/or combinations. There seems to be a strong link with steroid use.

 

[Doomsday101]

As a native Chicagoan (never much of a Bears fan), I watched a lot of Kramer as a child and it pains me to hear this disturbing news.

I really hate what ESPN/NFL has done to the head injuries discussion. The fear of concussions is legitimate, but research shows it's not concussions that are the real culprit. In reality it's continual, sub-concussive impact to the head that is likely causing this level of brain damage among football players.

NFL and ESPN make it sound like the NFL has figured everything out by parading around Christine Golic as if she knows anything. Truth is, they can never truly solve the brain damage problem. At the end of the day, players are paid millions to hurt themselves. The NFL needs to recognize this and better serve its former players.

I agree, heck if head injuries are leading to suicide then the we would see boxers offing themselves off big time. I'm glad the NFL takes concussion seriously but I think as has been mentioned the media over reaches in their claims

 

[JoeyBoy718]

It is a suicide attempt because he's not dead. It'll be a suicide if he dies from the wound.

BBQ

I guess it's good to have a low suicide completion percentage.

 

[CashMan]

Depression is a huge problem, not just among former NFL players. This will get twisted into automatically being about concussions because that's just what the media does these days. They've become a political arm to control society, not an unbiased bastion that reports on it. People attempt suicide every day for all sorts of reasons. I can't imagine losing a child, and that probably exacerbated an underlying mental health issue.

My suspicions center largely on what kind of drugs these players are taking during their careers. Do the varieties of steroids, HGH, and other PEDs contribute to mental issues like depression and anxiety later in life?

I also think that spotlight is intoxicating for a lot of guys, and dealing with being a "has-been" football player without the big stage later really gets to some former players.

But all we'll hear about are the concussions he may have suffered along the way because that fits the preferred narrative.

All we know about this, is he suffered from depression, and tried to kill himself, and you want to jump to the conclusion, it was not from playing football. I seem to remember, when Junior Seau, killed himself, and EVERYONE said it was not from concussions. Wait for more facts come out, before making an ignorant statement like this.

Questions I have:

Did he shoot himself in the head?
If he did not, why?
Did he reach out for help?
Was he taking any drugs?

 

[erod]

My issue is with the causal assumption that occurs each time something like this happens. Millions of Americans are depressed. Millions of old people suffer some level of dementia. Everybody pretty much experiences cognitive change as they grow older. And everybody dies eventually of something.

And the vast majority of those people didn't play football, or box, or suffer a head injury.

Such is today's political climate. We jump to the Nth degree on everything, without performing genuine and non-agendized research.

The Scientific Method is all but dead.

 

[CashMan]

My issue is with the causal assumption that occurs each time something like this happens. Millions of Americans are depressed. Millions of old people suffer some level of dementia. Everybody pretty much experiences cognitive change as they grow older. And everybody dies eventually of something.

And the vast majority of those people didn't play football, or box, or suffer a head injury.

Such is today's political climate. We jump to the Nth degree on everything, without performing genuine and non-agendized research.

The Scientific Method is all but dead.

He is 50, what dementia, unless something contributed to it?

 

[erod]

All we know about this, is he suffered from depression, and tried to kill himself, and you want to jump to the conclusion, it was not from playing football. I seem to remember, when Junior Seau, killed himself, and EVERYONE said it was not from concussions. Wait for more facts come out, before making an ignorant statement like this.

Questions I have:

Did he shoot himself in the head?
If he did not, why?
Did he reach out for help?
Was he taking any drugs?

I have another question.

Why don't we ask these same questions about the other 38,500 people that commit suicide in America every year?

 

[CashMan]

I have another question.

Why don't we ask these same questions about the other 38,500 people that commit suicide in America every year?

He played football, and if I hear about a suicide, I do ask.

Wait for the facts before you say, it is not related.

 

[CashMan]

There seems to be a trend(sounds so bad), with these guys in the NFL when they do this. Seau, Duerson, preserving their brain, because of CTE. So, if Kramer was doing the same, maybe more steps need to be in place to check on these guys, after football.