Walter Payton was born on July 25, 1953 and died on November 1, 1999. He grew up in Colombia, Mississippi. When he was in college he played football for Jackson State University and played for the Chicago Bears in the NFL. His cause of death was because of a livor disease. Walter Payton was a great running back. He was born on July 25, 1953 in Colombia, Mississippi. He had two other siblings, a brother and a sister. Their names are Eddie and Pamela. He was never a competitive player so he stood supportively in his brother, Eddie, shadow. So he instead he took an interest in music and learned to play the drums. In the beginning he did not play football but was in the band and ran track and field. He did not take an interest in football until …show more content…
his sophomore coach told him to play. His first carry, he ran for 65 yards and scored at least one touchdown per game. Even though he played football, he continued to play in the band and still ran track and field. His long jump grew to 22feet and 11 ¼ inches. Also was he a great football player, but an excellent student. Many university wanted him but he was raised in a segregated culture so he enrolled in Jackson State University, mostly because it had mostly an African American body. In college, he was ranked one of the top scorer nationwide with a total of 160 points per season. By his senior year, he had a career total of 464 points, which was the NCAA record at that time. When he graduated, he had a degree in communication after only 3 ½ years of schooling. He was prepared to teach the deaf because he was a serious student who wanted to prove that not all athletes were of low intelligent. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1975 as their first pick. They offered him a bonus of 126,000 as an incentive to join their team. It was the highest bonus given to someone to a college player at that time. In 1977, he rushed for the most yards in a game, with 275 yards against the Minnesota Vikings. For those performances, he received the MVP for the season. At the age of 23, he was the youngest player to receive that reward. That season was his personal best because he averaged 5.5 yards per carry and rushed for 1,852 with 14 touchdowns. After his rookie year, he led the NFL in kickoff returns. In 13 years as a NFL player, he only missed one game and he regretted that. His day of true glory came on October 7, 1984, came on a 6 yards play against the New Orleans Saints. That play let him break Jim Brown’s record of 12,312. There have been other players who rushed over 13,000 yards but not one to be his, which was 16,726 yards. Some may argues the only reason the Bears won the Super Bowl, the first time since 1963, was because of Walter Payton and I would agree. In October 1998, Payton consulted a doctor in Rochester, Minnesota because he was experiencing sever ingestion and weight loss.
Soon after, the doctors discovered what was wrong. On February 2, 1998, he announced that he had Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis or PSC, a progressive liver disease. Without a transplant, his disease could of have been terminal. “A subsequent diagnosis of bile duct cancer precluded the transplant.” (Walter Payton Facts) He threw the first baseball at Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs in the spring of 1999, which would be his last appearance. He died on November 1, 1999 in Barrington, Illinois at the age of 45. His wife, mother, and children survived him. His funeral was at Life Chargers Church in Barrington Hills, Illinois. Walter Jerry Payton died at the age of 45. Not only did he try on the field, but he gave it his all out on the field. He broke records, got a college degree, and started a family. In high school, he started playing good. In college, he broke records and got a degree. In the NFL, he broke even more records and raised a family. The liver disease came a surprise to him and his family. They did not expect him to go all of the sudden. When he died, Tim Brown said this about him in an article, “He proved you did not have to be 6’4 and 230 pounds to be a physical football player.”(Walter Payton
Facts)
He is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He was won 59 games in his Career and lost 57 games, while having 8 ties. He has thrown for 24,410 yards. That ranks 73rd for the most passing yards ever. That’s ahead of Hall of Famer, Roger Staubach. He has also thrown for 170 passing touchdowns. That ranks 61st for the most touchdowns ever thrown. That is ahead of Hall of Famers, Sid Luckman, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and Troy Aikman. He now lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He became the NMSU Chemical Engineering professor, but retired in 2012.
Charles Richard Drew was born on June 3, 1904 in Washington, D.C. He was very athletic as a child. Charles attended Dunbar High School where he won letters in track, baseball, basketball and football. He won the James E. Walker Memorial Medal as outstanding all-around athlete.
Herschel Walker was born in Augusta, Georgia and grew up outside of Wrightsville, Georgia for the first eleven years of Herschel life he did not show any interest in sports; he preferred reading books and writing poetry. At age ten he went to the Doctor for being overweight at age 12 he began a crash exercise program. Over the next years he did 100,000 pushups, 100,000 sit ups and sprinted thousands
his last game as coach he defied his doctors orders and went to the field. The
Joe Montana is one of the greatest football players to ever play. Joe worked hard for what he earned and deserved every bit of it. He had to earn his position on every football team he has played for an he did it very well. He won 4 super bowls and many awards during and after his career and is currently in the hall of
Harrison Bergeron is a short story that creates many images and feelings while using symbols and themes to critique aspects of our lives. In the story, the future US government implements a mandatory handicap for any citizens who is over their standards of normal. The goal of the program is to make everyone equal in physical capabilities, mental aptitude and even outward appearance. The story is focused around a husband and wife whose son, Harrison, was taken by the government because he is very strong and smart, and therefore too above normal not to be locked up. But, Harrison’s will is too great. He ends up breaking out of prison, and into a TV studio where he appears on TV. There, he removes the government’s equipment off of himself, and a dancer, before beginning to dance beautifully until they are both killed by the authorities. The author uses this story to satire
Above in my thesis statement are the men I would like to highlight for you. According to USA Today, (Mihoces, 2013) Jovan Belcher loved to play sports especially wrestling and football. He was drafted in 2009 with the Kansas City Chiefs and defied the odds by being a great defensive player. On December 1, 2012 he killed his girlfriend and himself (Mihoces, 2013). His mother is currently suing the Kansas City Chiefs for a wrongful death suite to the many concussions that he received while on the football team (Skretta, 2014) Ray Esterling played for the Atlanta Falcons for many years and retired at the age of 35. At the age of 62, he committed suicide, and an autopsy was completed and CTE was found inside his brain (Tierney, 2012) His family has also opened a case against the NFL for a wrongful death suite as well. Last but not least there was O.J. Murdock. He loved sports as well. He was a superstar player in his high school and later in college he continued playing the game. However, O.J Murdock never played NFL. He took his life while sitting in the parking lot of Middleton High School (ESPN New York Associate Press, 2012). Each player was believed to have CTE and committed ...
Jim Thorpe was born on May 28, 1887 in a one-room cabin in Oklahoma. Although there is much confusion on Thorpe's date of birth, this is the date according to his estate. The career biography of Jim Thorpe reads like an encyclopedia of sports, encompassing virtually every major athletic event available. In the 1912 Olympic Games at Stockholm, he won both the pentathlon and decathlon events. In the same year, he led his Carlisle Indian School team to the national collegiate championship, scoring 25 touchdowns and 198 points. Following the college football season, Thorpe went on to play 6 years of Major League Baseball. Meanwhile, he managed to lead the Canton Bulldogs football team to unofficial world championships in 1916, 1917, and 1919. When he eventually finished his playing days in 1928 with the Chicago Cardinals, Jim Thorpe had become an athletic attraction that crowds flocked to see. Thorpe died on March 28, 1953. In 1950, the nation's press selected Jim Thorpe as the most outstanding athlete of the first half of the 20th Century and in 2000, he was awarded ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Century. Then came that grand summer of 1912. As a child, Thorpe became his athletic father's protégé, at times running 20 miles home from school. "I never was content," he said, "unless I was trying my skill in some game against my fellow playmates or testing my endurance and wits against some member of the animal kingdom."
In the meantime, 2nd Steeler , Terry Long died. Terry Long played along Mike Webster, and was an avid steroid user and committed suicide by drinking anti freeze. Dr. Omalu found symptoms of CTE found in his brain and Omalu added another research paper towards NFL and the NFL stated he was "performing voodoo". The NFL continued to hold their belief about head injuries and dementia in NFL, and still do till this day, regardless of findings.
Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York. Jordan's family moved to moved to Wilmington, North Carolina while he was young along with his three siblings. He attended Ogden Elementary School, and later Trask Junior High School. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School, where he anchored his athletic career by playing baseball, football, and basketball ("Michael Jordan" Wikipedia). When jordan was twelve, he played with his local baseball team called the Babe Ruth All-stars. Jordan helped his team win there championship (Mattern 79). As A freshman at Laney, Jordan was cut from the varsity team and was reduced to playin junior varsity. His sophmore year he was cut from the varsity team once again, but this time, his best friend Leroy Smith, made the team. When Michael found out he did not make the team, he said:
“Harrison Bergeron” a short story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., takes place in a totalitarian society where everyone is equal. A man who tries to play the savior, but ultimately fails in his endeavors to change the world. Vonnegut short story showed political views on communism, which is that total equality is not good (and that equity might be better).
When NFL linebacker Junior Seau retired in 2010, he seemed set for life, yet two years later, he was dead. Eight months after Seau’s death, the scientists who looked further into the cause of his death declared that they had found evidence of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a nerve disease linked to concussions, which has been a reason in the deaths of many NFL players. Despite this fact, during Seau’s retirement he withdrew from his family and friends, made bad business decisions, gambled large with large amounts, as well abused pills and alcohol. As NFL player Warren Moon stated, “One thing I read that was peculiar to me—he had never been diagnosed with a concussion. That tells me he wasn't reporting what was wrong with him. For a guy that played linebacker for twenty years, somewhere in there he would've had a concussion.” Seau’s family and the media are wanting to blame the NFL for Seau’s death yet how you can blame a game for Seau’s actions? The NFL is not to blame for him not reporting his game injuries and keeping them a secret. They NFL did not make him drink, gamble, pop pills nor make terrible decisions that untimely led to his death.
In recent stories local retired NFL player Junior Seau suffered many head injuries while playing in the NFL. Well known and loved in all surrounding San Diego communities had committed suicide in 2012. Coming upon the 2 year anniversary of his passing people still wonder what exactly did it to him. The problems of head injuries in the NFL is they are always occurring. In 2010 over 154 head injuries happened in practices and or games, but in 2007 the NFL had released a pamphlet to the players about head injuries. since then the NFL has taken many different safety precautions to fix the recurring problem. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy also known as CTE had been discovered in a deceased football player. Other ex-NFL players who played who had sustained head injuries from repetitive have issue still with them for the rest of their lives. Such as depression, dementia, Mental Illness, and possibly death or paralysis. there really isn’t ways eliminate head injuries unless their is a no contact rule in the NFL or the NFL gets abolished. even with the advances in technology and equipment getting better it still will happen. But some players don't only suffer the injuries from the NFL but from playing pop-warner, high school, college, the progressing to the NFL. Not only are the athletes involved but the families. Because the families are going to be the ones to deal with the injuries of the victim.
After thoroughly evaluating the positives and negatives impacting the sport entity, The NFL is really in a tough position by far. More and more players continually are being diagnosed and the worst part about it is, to fix the issue of retired players being exposed to this disease the league must fix its current game. Roger Goodell is in a tough position because like Bernard stated if you are going to practice the “safety rule” in today’s day and age, defensive players are going to be more concerned about getting fined then making the plays for its respective team. The game will lose integrity. The NFL must find a way were it can coup with everything because yes older players are suffering, current players are displeased, but what’s going to happen when parents turn away from football? The NFL may see it’s last snap.
Doctors in the 1980s-1990s didn’t have the research to determine the lifelong effects after suffering from concussions. As recently as 1994 the NFL was telling their players that there was no proof that concussions caused long-term damage to the brain. Sadly, for these studies to be observed former players had to pay the price. Junior Seau, a 12-time NFL Pro-Bowl linebacker for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots was diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease when we committed suicide. CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is found in individuals with a history of concussions that cause memory loss, aggression, confusion and depression. A study done by PBS reported that 96.2 of retired football players had this condition before dying