I'M THE PUNKY QB KNOWN AS ... AS ... ? Now that everyone's aware of the NFL's problem with chronic brain trauma, more examples surface. Former Bears/Eagles/others QB
Jim McMahon told the Chicago Tribune this week that "Back then, it was just tape an aspirin to your helmet and you go back in. I've worked with some neurosurgeons and it's a very serious thing, man... My memory's pretty much gone. There are a lot of times when I walk into a room and forget why I walked in there. I'm going through some studies right now and I am going to do a brain scan. It's unfortunate what the game does to you." McMahon is 51 years old.
Heck, I've been walking into rooms and forgetting why I did so for several years, and I never played a game of football in my life! (I'm 50 years old). Welcome to middle age, Jim.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I must confess that my first reaction was not too dissimilar from Stacie's (though I did play tackle football as a teen and am still a month shy of 40), remember that Jimmy Mac certainly suffered a number of diagnosed concussions during his career, and who knows how many other hits to the head.
ReplyDeleteMy snarky first reaction is that this explains why he's wearing a banana hammock under an open robe during most of the 20th anniversary documentary on the 1985 Bears (and sitting on a riding lawn mower).
ReplyDeleteAre you thinking of Gary Busey?
ReplyDeleteI'm always thinking of Gary Busey, you know, just a little bit, in the background.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, have we ever seen the two together? (By the way, McMahon was also wearing his 1985-era sunglasses in this.)
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