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http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14677428/dr-bennet-omalu-bet-my-medical-license-oj-simpson-cte
Dr. Bennet Omalu 'would bet my medical license' that O.J. Simpson has CTE
ESPN.com news services
Dr. Bennet Omalu, the renowned neuropathologist whose discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players inspired the movie "Concussion," is willing to "bet [his] medical license" that O.J. Simpson is suffering from the disease.
"O.J. Simpson is more likely than not to suffer from CTE," Omalu told ABC News earlier this week. "I would bet my medical license on it."
CTE is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. It has been found mostly in athletes who play contact sports, such as football. Multiple NFL players -- including Frank Gifford and Junior Seau -- have been diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.
Omalu has not examined Simpson personally, and CTE can only be diagnosed after death via an examination of brain tissue, but he told ABC News that he can identify the tell-tale signs of CTE's behavioral symptoms, which he said include explosive, impulsive behavior, impaired judgment, criminality and even mood disorders.
The strongest evidence that Simpson may have CTE, Omalu said, is that "he was exposed to thousands of blunt force trauma of his brain" during his playing career.
Simpson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, played in the NFL for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, where he won the 1973 NFL MVP after becoming the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a season, and the San Francisco 49ers. He also won the Heisman Trophy at USC.
Dr. Bennet Omalu says O.J. Simpson "was exposed to thousands of blunt force trauma of his brain" during his NFL and college playing career and "is more likely than not to suffer from CTE." Ethan Miller/Getty Images
One of the most famous running backs in football history, Simpson became infamous after he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
Though he was found not guilty in the much-disputed 1995 criminal case, Simpson lost a wrongful death civil suit brought against him by the families of Goldman and his ex-wife, and he was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.
In September 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas for armed robbery after attempting to steal sports memorabilia that he said belonged to him. The following year -- 13 years to the day after being acquitted in his criminal trial -- he was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to up to 33 years in prison.
Simpson himself once used concussions as part of a legal strategy after his conviction in the armed robbery case, but he was denied a new trial.
While Omalu stressed that CTE does not cause the criminal behavior that led to Simpson's incarceration, he wants the case to serve a reminder of the life-altering damage that can result from playing football.
"I think because of our intoxication with football, we are in some type of delusional denial," Omalu said. "But that is how serious this is."
Norman Pardo, Simpson's former business manager who has visited Simpson in prison, concurs.
"Everybody who knows him knows there's a problem there," Pardo told People magazine earlier this week. "There's something wrong with his head and there has been for a long time."
Another indicator for Omalu is the size of Simpson's head. Dave Hojnowski, who was a longtime Bills equipment manager, told NFL.com in 2011 that Simpson had "a big huge head" and had to wear a custom-sized 8¼ helmet as manufacturers during that time didn't make anything over 7¾.
"If you have a bigger head that means your head is heavier," Omalu told People. "That means the momentum of your impact would be bigger. It's basic physics."
ABC News contributed to this report.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...uld-bet-his-medical-license-that-o-j-has-cte/
Omalu would bet his medical license that O.J. has CTE
Posted by Mike Florio on January 30, 2016
AP
From an awkward intersection in the entertainment world, with the Concussion film ending its theatrical run and heading toward an expected April DVD release and an FX series on the O.J. Simpson murder case set to debut this week, comes a Bill Frist-style effort in armchair diagnosis: Dr. Bennet Omalu tells ABC News he would bet his medical license that O.J. Simpson has Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Actually, it’s a fairly safe bet, given that Simpson played high school, college, and professional football years before the fairly recent sensitivity to CTE — and given that so many former pro football players from every era have been diagnosed with it upon their passing.
But here’s the reality. As a matter of medical science, no one knows yet what it means to have CTE. While it’s obviously better to not have it, the notion that having it automatically means the player is destined to live a shorter life and/or suffer cognitive issues during it has not yet been established.
Omalu deserves credit for discovering CTE, and for forcing the NFL to take the issue of head trauma more seriously. But with so many members of the general public not versed in the nuances of the disease (and with the medical community perhaps decades from connecting the disease and degrees of it to specific symptoms and behavior), it’s risky to throw out as speculation the three-letter diagnosis, especially when it comes to the most notorious two-initial athlete of our time.
Apart from the possibility that some will suggest that CTE in some way explains or excuses Simpson’s behavior (and, yes, in the eyes of the California civil justice system he killed two people), linking CTE to someone like Simpson has a potentially stigmatizing effect on other former NFL players. Already, many former players obsess over the possibilities that their brains are ticking time bombs. Eventually, people who interact with former pro football players will start thinking that, too.
This isn’t about the debate raging between the War on Football crowd and those who genuinely would like to see it diminish. This is about ensuring that proper care is taken to prevent the average person from thinking that CTE potentially turns former football players into sociopaths — and from likewise thinking that every former football player must have CTE.
----------
Your final paragraph is ridiculous. Dr. Omalu isn’t pretending to say either of those things. He’s simple providing the first, reasonable explanation of how this beloved, rational and high-professional sports figure/media personality could suddenly turn into a maniacal double-murderer. And, you have to admit, his theory makes a lot of sense.
----------
Lots of guys have CTE. They still don’t decapitate their ex wives.
Then again, OJ was found not guilty of that crime.
---------
So, CTE initially causes people to become irrational and beat the wife e.g. OJ. Then as it progresses he beats the wife more and more. Then after she divorces him CTE takes over his personality causing him to cut off his ex-wife’s head and stab to death an innocent guy who happens to be bringing her the sunglasses she left in the restaurant he works in.
That makes him totally unaccountable for any violent actions he commits. All contact sports athletes can commit any violence and they are not responsible because CTE is the culprit.
Makes compete sense to me.
---------
.lets just crack open his head now to confirm……
---------
Many people who have never touched a football or bumped their heads on anything committed crimes of passion in the heat of the moment. Also, OJ is a killer in more than just the eyes of the California civil system, he committed a double murder in the eyes of anybody who isn’t blind.this would be more of an explanation of why he may have stolen his memorabilia.
----------
“Hey, I have CTE too”
Aaron Hernandez
----------
This is a very ridiculous situation. Dr. Omalu, although passionate and well informed in this arena, is being completely unprofessional by “betting his license.” He is unable to do so, and when push comes to shove, would never do so. By him saying this, it somehow gives full credibility and more weight to his arguments, which now attempt to abscond OJ from his actions. It is absurd to allow CTE be the reason that players and ex players do stupid things.
The only thing that should come from CTE is to force the NFL to give lifelong pensions and medical care to ex players…other than that, case closed. If someone has CTE and kills themself, oh well, it was their choice to play professional football. If someone dies on the field of play or as a result, oh well, it was their choice to play football. The only thing they should get is lifelong coverage for having put themselves in harms way.
Dr. Bennet Omalu 'would bet my medical license' that O.J. Simpson has CTE
ESPN.com news services
Dr. Bennet Omalu, the renowned neuropathologist whose discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players inspired the movie "Concussion," is willing to "bet [his] medical license" that O.J. Simpson is suffering from the disease.
"O.J. Simpson is more likely than not to suffer from CTE," Omalu told ABC News earlier this week. "I would bet my medical license on it."
CTE is believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. It has been found mostly in athletes who play contact sports, such as football. Multiple NFL players -- including Frank Gifford and Junior Seau -- have been diagnosed with CTE after their deaths.
Omalu has not examined Simpson personally, and CTE can only be diagnosed after death via an examination of brain tissue, but he told ABC News that he can identify the tell-tale signs of CTE's behavioral symptoms, which he said include explosive, impulsive behavior, impaired judgment, criminality and even mood disorders.
The strongest evidence that Simpson may have CTE, Omalu said, is that "he was exposed to thousands of blunt force trauma of his brain" during his playing career.
Simpson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, played in the NFL for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, where he won the 1973 NFL MVP after becoming the first running back to gain 2,000 yards in a season, and the San Francisco 49ers. He also won the Heisman Trophy at USC.
Dr. Bennet Omalu says O.J. Simpson "was exposed to thousands of blunt force trauma of his brain" during his NFL and college playing career and "is more likely than not to suffer from CTE." Ethan Miller/Getty Images
One of the most famous running backs in football history, Simpson became infamous after he was charged with the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ron Goldman.
Though he was found not guilty in the much-disputed 1995 criminal case, Simpson lost a wrongful death civil suit brought against him by the families of Goldman and his ex-wife, and he was ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages.
In September 2007, Simpson was arrested in Las Vegas for armed robbery after attempting to steal sports memorabilia that he said belonged to him. The following year -- 13 years to the day after being acquitted in his criminal trial -- he was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping and sentenced to up to 33 years in prison.
Simpson himself once used concussions as part of a legal strategy after his conviction in the armed robbery case, but he was denied a new trial.
While Omalu stressed that CTE does not cause the criminal behavior that led to Simpson's incarceration, he wants the case to serve a reminder of the life-altering damage that can result from playing football.
"I think because of our intoxication with football, we are in some type of delusional denial," Omalu said. "But that is how serious this is."
Norman Pardo, Simpson's former business manager who has visited Simpson in prison, concurs.
"Everybody who knows him knows there's a problem there," Pardo told People magazine earlier this week. "There's something wrong with his head and there has been for a long time."
Another indicator for Omalu is the size of Simpson's head. Dave Hojnowski, who was a longtime Bills equipment manager, told NFL.com in 2011 that Simpson had "a big huge head" and had to wear a custom-sized 8¼ helmet as manufacturers during that time didn't make anything over 7¾.
"If you have a bigger head that means your head is heavier," Omalu told People. "That means the momentum of your impact would be bigger. It's basic physics."
ABC News contributed to this report.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...uld-bet-his-medical-license-that-o-j-has-cte/
Omalu would bet his medical license that O.J. has CTE
Posted by Mike Florio on January 30, 2016
From an awkward intersection in the entertainment world, with the Concussion film ending its theatrical run and heading toward an expected April DVD release and an FX series on the O.J. Simpson murder case set to debut this week, comes a Bill Frist-style effort in armchair diagnosis: Dr. Bennet Omalu tells ABC News he would bet his medical license that O.J. Simpson has Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Actually, it’s a fairly safe bet, given that Simpson played high school, college, and professional football years before the fairly recent sensitivity to CTE — and given that so many former pro football players from every era have been diagnosed with it upon their passing.
But here’s the reality. As a matter of medical science, no one knows yet what it means to have CTE. While it’s obviously better to not have it, the notion that having it automatically means the player is destined to live a shorter life and/or suffer cognitive issues during it has not yet been established.
Omalu deserves credit for discovering CTE, and for forcing the NFL to take the issue of head trauma more seriously. But with so many members of the general public not versed in the nuances of the disease (and with the medical community perhaps decades from connecting the disease and degrees of it to specific symptoms and behavior), it’s risky to throw out as speculation the three-letter diagnosis, especially when it comes to the most notorious two-initial athlete of our time.
Apart from the possibility that some will suggest that CTE in some way explains or excuses Simpson’s behavior (and, yes, in the eyes of the California civil justice system he killed two people), linking CTE to someone like Simpson has a potentially stigmatizing effect on other former NFL players. Already, many former players obsess over the possibilities that their brains are ticking time bombs. Eventually, people who interact with former pro football players will start thinking that, too.
This isn’t about the debate raging between the War on Football crowd and those who genuinely would like to see it diminish. This is about ensuring that proper care is taken to prevent the average person from thinking that CTE potentially turns former football players into sociopaths — and from likewise thinking that every former football player must have CTE.
----------
Your final paragraph is ridiculous. Dr. Omalu isn’t pretending to say either of those things. He’s simple providing the first, reasonable explanation of how this beloved, rational and high-professional sports figure/media personality could suddenly turn into a maniacal double-murderer. And, you have to admit, his theory makes a lot of sense.
----------
Lots of guys have CTE. They still don’t decapitate their ex wives.
Then again, OJ was found not guilty of that crime.
---------
So, CTE initially causes people to become irrational and beat the wife e.g. OJ. Then as it progresses he beats the wife more and more. Then after she divorces him CTE takes over his personality causing him to cut off his ex-wife’s head and stab to death an innocent guy who happens to be bringing her the sunglasses she left in the restaurant he works in.
That makes him totally unaccountable for any violent actions he commits. All contact sports athletes can commit any violence and they are not responsible because CTE is the culprit.
Makes compete sense to me.
---------
.lets just crack open his head now to confirm……
---------
Many people who have never touched a football or bumped their heads on anything committed crimes of passion in the heat of the moment. Also, OJ is a killer in more than just the eyes of the California civil system, he committed a double murder in the eyes of anybody who isn’t blind.this would be more of an explanation of why he may have stolen his memorabilia.
----------
“Hey, I have CTE too”
Aaron Hernandez
----------
This is a very ridiculous situation. Dr. Omalu, although passionate and well informed in this arena, is being completely unprofessional by “betting his license.” He is unable to do so, and when push comes to shove, would never do so. By him saying this, it somehow gives full credibility and more weight to his arguments, which now attempt to abscond OJ from his actions. It is absurd to allow CTE be the reason that players and ex players do stupid things.
The only thing that should come from CTE is to force the NFL to give lifelong pensions and medical care to ex players…other than that, case closed. If someone has CTE and kills themself, oh well, it was their choice to play professional football. If someone dies on the field of play or as a result, oh well, it was their choice to play football. The only thing they should get is lifelong coverage for having put themselves in harms way.
