Jeremy Shockey rips Goodell on concussions
Jeremy Shockey says Roger Goodell has lied to NFL players about concussions. (AP photo)
“The no it all Rog goodell lied to every player and told us concussions will not effect us in life that a LIE!” Shockey tweeted late Sunday night.
“It would be great to give the health study on NFL players on a commercial during the games!! just want the fans and congress to know! FACT”
Shockey, 31, went on to talk about his own future.
“Science tells me I’ll be dead time in 54yrs old!! What would u do?”
More of Shockey’s tweets:
- “NFL stands for NOT for Long!! in the league and Life”
- “Its not fair how the nfl uses players then expects them to beat the odds in medical .#’s”
- “money is great fame is awesome but life is the most important”
It’s not clear if Shockey is referring to specific statements by Goodell, who took office in 2006, or the NFL in general.
For years the NFL contended that there was no scientific evidence that concussions affected a player’s long-term health, but the league changed that stance in 2009.
Since then the league has taken steps to improve monitoring of head injuries, including placing certified athletic trainers at all games to monitor players who suffer head injuries and the use of sideline replays on which doctors can review hits before clearing a player to return to action.
Hundreds of former NFL players have sued the league, claiming they were misled about the long-term effects of concussions.
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59 comments Add your comment
Larry J
July 30th, 2012
12:32 pm
Isn’t this the same commissioner that wanted an 18 game season? Hummmm! Must have forgotten about that little concussion thing mentioned in 2009. Just saying.
Delbert D.
July 30th, 2012
1:07 pm
The question is, would people (the example being Shockey) be willing to do it while knowing the risk of losing 1/3 of a normal life in exchange for millions of dollars? The urge begins early, and so does the damage. It is accelerated at the college and professional level by the frequency and magnitude of the impact of the collisions.
mgdawg
July 30th, 2012
1:15 pm
Judging from his tweets, shockey is already experiencing problems.
Having said that, who knows if goodell knew or did not know the long term implications of concussions. New studies are coming out every year and the old way of doing things is being questioned more and more.
I am an athletic trainer and the biggest problem I have as far as concussion prevention, diagnosis, and management are the current and former NFL players, as well as some of the parents. All these NFL guys coming out and saying they would hide symptoms or wouldn’t get checked out isn’t helping things. There was a Dallas Cowboy last year that was caught on camera yelling at the athletic trainer because he was being held out of a game because of a suspected concussion. Then they will turn around once they retire and sue the NFL when they admit to lying to their medical staff. For those of you saying that the NFL should set aside money for future medical bills of these players, they are making millions. Maybe they should require that a certain amount of their pay check be put in a fund for medical bills.
One more story, this happened last week at the high school where I am currently working. Last week at the start of the week we gave out equipment and I my job was to put air in the helmets and make sure they fit. One of the kids walked in and said he didn’t need any air, there was none in the helmet and it was lose. I put the minimum amount into the helmet and it fit good. A couple of days later he’s practicing and begins complaining his helmet was too tight, he had never had air in his helmet before. I told him he’ll get used to it, and he kept complaining. During one of the breaks one of the parents brought him over there and told me to take air out, I refused stating my reasons and my credentials and work experience. The parent begins arguing and yelling with me. As much as I enjoy my jobs and believe that sports are great, parents like that who put a sport above a kids safety really make me question things.
Rick James
July 30th, 2012
1:49 pm
@Ward
Playing full tilt in an NFL game is like being in 25 minor traffic accidents.Are you saying that only the NFL knew that this would effect players long term health? Do you know how many players lied about their conditions so they wouldnt have to leave games? 15 years ago all you had to do was look at the health conditions of retired players and that says enough.All of sudden players smell money and want to say its the NFL’s fault because they didnt tell us..It’s moronic
Beau Bock
July 30th, 2012
2:07 pm
Note to Ward. Duh!!!
funnyman
July 30th, 2012
2:37 pm
gimme a break…whining NFLers…SHUT UP ALREADY…you’re all just really “PO’d” that you “can’t have your cake and eat it too”!…Meaning, “make your millions in a high risk, celebrity based career that pays a helluva lot of money to knock other people off their pins for a career of weeks, months or years and then suffer no consequences of accepting any of that risk”. If you are all so scared, QUIT!! Just cash it in and “retire” with your millions and UNION money!! Funny, you don’t hearing the “coal miners” crying!! They KNOW they make GREAT MONEY and absorb the risk of LIFE AND DEATH going IN THE MINES!!! You ALL knew the risk of significant injury and/or short careers BEFORE you started playing AT AGE ABOUT 9 or 10 YEARS OLD!!!…FINE…you don’t want the risk anymore…just shut up and quit BUT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP CRYING about it!!
Sterling
July 30th, 2012
4:40 pm
Did Goodell put a gun to his head and force him to choose the NFL as a career? He went to college… he’s suppose to be fairly intelligent and there are other jobs out there. He choose this path. Did he really think his body wouldn’t take a beating? It’s just another case of someone not accepting any responsibility for their own decisions. He could probably have been a kindergarden teacher and had a much safer career.
Casey
July 30th, 2012
4:45 pm
What a moron! CLOWN! What does this fool want the league to do about concussions? It is a violent, dangerous occupation. So is deep sea fishing. If it is so terrible, then quit! Try getting a real job like the rest of us, jerk!
itpdude
July 30th, 2012
9:22 pm
In a country where the bottom 25% lives significantly shorter lives than the top 25%, and do so with a far different lifestyle and take poor paying jobs that are extremely risky, it’s hard to feel sorry for the whiny millionaire.
Shockey didn’t want to be a garbageman. Judging from his grammar and spelling (how do these guys get into decent universities in the first place?), that’s where he was heading.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Without sanitation workers, we’d be eye-deep in garbage. But those sanitation workers have challenging and risky jobs that don’t pay what Shockey got paid.
Whiny baby millionaire.