If you have been keeping up with the news over the past week, you may have heard some talk of the effect that football has on the brain, and how these brain injuries even minor may lead to serious health consequences for the brain. At the center of this storm is a Nigerian neuropatholigist named Bennett Omalu. Dr. Omalu over the past five years has been physically reviewing the damages caused to the brains of football players and uncovering some troubling findings. These football brains have shockingly high levels of tau in their brains, a protein that is commonly found in the brains of people afflicted with Alzheimers. Dr. Omalu is uncovering a definite medical connection between playing football and later on in life suffering from mood swings, confusion, memory issues, erratic behavior, depression, and dementia, among other concerns.
I had always assumed that football was hard on the body, and have heard a ton of anecdotal stories of football players bodies breaking down later on in life. This always struck me as a risk that these people undertook knowingly, but after reading an article about Dr. Omalu by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker along with another article about it by Jeanne Marie Lakas in GQ, I am stunned by some of the research and the NFL’s rather tepid response to it.
I am a huge football fan, I have loved to watch the game since I was just a small boy. I spend a ridiculous amount of time and energy thinking about the game, but even I have had to take a serious pause this week as I uncover more and more unflattering facts about the dire consequences of playing the game. I am not suggesting that we immediate put a stop to football, but I think that it is important that we inform ourselves about the risks being undertaken by the men playing the game we love.
My guest this evening played on the Defensive line for the University of Colorado football team in the late 70’s where he was part of the Big 8 Champion team of 1976. He also played for the San Francisco 49ers in 1980. His career was cut short due to severe brain injuries and he has had to endure 9 different brain surgeries to try and correct multiple issues. His short term memory suffers as a result of his injuries, but despite that handicap, he has been able to find success as a wildlife engineer and motivational speaker. With brain injuries being in the news so much lately with Malcolm Gladwell and others writing about the research of Dr. Bennett Omalu who is doing some groundbreaking research regarding brain injuries in football players and their connection with troubling physical problems later on in life, I thought that it would be very interesting to get the perspective of a former football player who has not only suffered from injuries on the football field, but has overcome a lot of difficulties to find success in life despite the adversity. It is my pleasure to welcome to the Vertically Striped Interview, Mr. George Visger. Sir, how are you this evening?
Can you tell me a bit about how you became interested in football, and how the game helped shape the early part of your life?
I was born and raised in Colorado and grew up as a big Colorado Buffaloes fan, can you tell me a little bit about what it was like being part of a major Division 1 football program and the positives that being a part of the football program in Boulder has brought to your life?
That team at Colorado that you were a part of must have been very talented, as I was researching the NFL draft, I saw that you were the 149th pick overall and the 7th Buffalo to be picked that day, I know the draft was not nearly as big a deal in 1980 as it is today, but what memories do you have of that day and being drafted.
As I was reading about you, I came across a tidbit that you in the past ran a big game guide service. That’s an interesting little tidbit, can you tell me a little bit about what that looked like and what type of big game you would hunt?
Your career was cut short due to injury, can you tell me a little bit about your time with the 49ers before the injury? What was it like coming out onto the field as an NFL player?
I know your career as a football player was cut short due to injury, can you tell us what happened, was it during a game or a practice? What is the story of your injury?
I have read that your parting with the 49ers was far from amicable, and that you had to sue the organization to pay for some of your surgeries., I can imagine that you may have felt betrayed by the organization in that you gave your heart and soul to playing for them, but then the minute that you are of no use to them, you have to fight them just to get medical care that you required as a result of your efforts on their behalf. Can you give us some insight into what was that time of your life felt like both physically and emotionally as you were going through these legal battles?
The bond of brotherhood among college teammates is legendary, and I know that to be true for you also. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about your brothers from the Bee and Buff Honor Fund and how they came to your aid recently?
I know as a result of the blessings from others in your life that you feel obligated to help our former players wherever you can. That has led you to start giving motivational and goal setting talks which you title, “Whatever it Takes – USING Adversity to Reach Your Goals.” Can you tell me a little bit about your message that you send when you give these talks?
I learned about you after reading about Dr. Bennett Omalu who is a Neuropathologist who has been studying the effects that playing football has on the brain. You were able recently to speak with Dr. Omalu about his ongoing research into CTE in football players, can you share your insights into Dr. Omalu the man as well as tell me a little bit about the conversation that you shared?
Studies have shown that former football players have up to five times higher rates of cognitive impairment over people who did not play football.
I first learned about you when I read a post you read about your story on GQ.com in the comments in a story about Dr. Omalu by Jeanne Marie Laskas. In that post, you mentioned how even at the young age of 13 in Pop Warner football, you were knocked unconscious in a tackling drill. I’m a father of a two year old boy, and up until the point where I started reading this story, if he had wanted to play football, I was planning on letting him. What advice would you have for parents of young boys who are considering playing the game. If you had a young boy at the age of 11 or 12, how would you feel about him playing football?
Football has been the cause of both good and bad things in your life. Can you share how you feel about the pro game when you see it today?
In our brief communications in setting up this interview, I know that you expressed a lot of dissatisfaction with the way the NFL treats former players, in an ideal world, what would you like to see the NFL do differently. In which ways are the falling short of providing the things that they should, in your opinion?
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