Waters was a 12-year NFL veteran.
by Ned Barnett, Staff Writer
Charlotte Observer
January 28, 2007
In the NFL, Andre Waters played as if he had something to prove, but the effects of his reckless, head-first tackling style may prove something he never wanted to show -- a link between head trauma and depression later in life.
Waters, a 12-year National Football League veteran who later spent four years in Raleigh as an assistant coach at St. Augustine's College, committed suicide in November at age 44. Doctors and sports medicine experts are exploring whether repeated head blows damaged his brain and led to depression that cost him his life.
On the eve of professional football's grandest event -- the Super Bowl -- the case of the former Philadelphia Eagles strong safety is prompting a harder look at the cost of playing a violent game. The New York Times focused on Waters' medical condition in a recent front-page report. Widespread media attention and debate have followed.
Some of the scrutiny comes from scientists at work not far from where Waters coached. The Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at UNC-Chapel Hill is watching the Waters case for what it might show about mild brain trauma and dementia and depression later in life.
Kevin Guskiewicz, director of the center and a member of UNC's department of exercise and sport science, said Waters' case might join the well-documented cases of two former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive linemen, Terry Long and Mike Webster. Both suffered mental impairment tied to head trauma during their playing days.
Webster was diagnosed with brain injuries and was occasionally homeless before dying of heart failure in 2002. Long, an All-American at East Carolina University, died in 2005.
"The fact is that [brain injury] has been found in these two others. We'll see if [Waters' case] makes it three," Guskiewicz said. "If it does, the [NFL] needs to look into it. They can't ignore these findings."
The center plans to publish a paper in June exploring links between mild head trauma and higher rates of depression among retired NFL players. It is based on a medical survey of more than 2,800 former players.
Proving a link wouldn't mean football is too dangerous to play, Guskiewicz said. His three sons all play youth football, but he would not want them to continue after multiple concussions.
"I want to encourage an awareness that once [a player] has had two concussions, you may want to sit that kid down and say, 'We might want to think about going out and hitting a tennis ball,' " he said.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement, "The subject of concussions is complex. We are devoting substantial resources to independent medical research of current and retired players, strict enforcement of enhanced player safety rules, development and testing of better equipment, and comprehensive medical management of this injury."
NFL's mentality
In the NFL, the risks are compounded by financial circumstances. Unlike professional basketball and baseball players, most NFL players lack the job security of guaranteed multiyear contracts. Players other than stars must earn their job every year, even week to week. The pressure encourages players to take risks and play despite injuries.
Guskiewicz and the doctor who analyzed samples of Waters' brain think the NFL has been too slow to investigate a link between repeated concussions and dementia and depression.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist and associate medical examiner with the Allegheny County Coroner's Office in Pittsburgh, examined Waters' brain tissue. He found a buildup of abnormal proteins similar to what he would expect in an 85-year-old man in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Omalu, who also examined the brains of Webster and Long and published papers on the two cases, said the NFL has taken "a tobacco industry mentality" by denying the risk to the brain inherent in football.
"If it wasn't a dangerous game, they wouldn't be wearing helmets," he said.
Omalu said the league should pay for an independent review of retired players who have suffered mental impairment and depression. He said the NFL might fear documenting a connection between mild brain trauma and dementia, but it might also help find a solution.
"If we can identify the pathological basis of this disease, we may be able to impede the accumulation of these proteins, even clear them," he said. "Rather than approach it pessimistically, there is a chance of an optimistic solution."
Getting brain samples
Omalu became involved in Waters' case at the request of Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler who suffered multiple concussions. Nowinski is the author of a book published last year, "Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis from the NFL to Youth Leagues."
Nowinski persuaded Waters' family in Florida to ask the Hillsborough County medical examiner to send the brain samples to Omalu.
Waters' suicide with a small-caliber handgun in Tampa on Nov. 20 shocked those who knew him in Raleigh. Though some noted his "mood swings" and a growing restlessness, he was seen as a devoted single father committed to working in football. He left no suicide note.
St. Augustine's football coach, Michael Costa, was Waters' secondary coach when Waters played at Cheyney State in Pennsylvania. Though he played at a small school and was not drafted, Waters made the Philadelphia Eagles. Costa said that path accounted for his fierceness on the field.
"When you sign up as a free agent, every time you step on out the field you're out to prove something," Costa said. "He wanted to prove he could play with those guys, and he did."
Waters' aggressive tackling, including his willingness to lead with his helmet, drew him the nickname "Dirty Waters." It also caused him concussions.
"I think I lost count at 15," he said in a 1994 newspaper interview, according to The New York Times.
In 2002, Waters said in an interview posted on the Eagles Web site, "Playing strong safety in the NFL, it's either kill or be killed. Ever since I was in high school, I was taught to tackle one way, so I did what I was taught. But I never tried to intentionally hurt anyone."
'A lot of mood swings'
Bill Thomas, director of teen programs for the Raleigh Boys Club, grew up in Philadelphia and knew Waters as a friend of his father, a Philadelphia homicide detective.
Thomas reunited with Waters in Raleigh when the former Eagle brought his son and daughter to the Boys and Girls Clubs when they visited for the summer. When Thomas helped start a football league for troubled youths known as the Carolina Football Development League, Waters contributed $5,000 for equipment. In his honor, the league's Raleigh team is known as the Eagles.
Thomas said he admired Waters' interest in young people, but he said Waters could be erratic.
"There were times when he was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," Thomas said. "He'd be crazy one moment, then the next one he was laughing. ... I did see a lot of mood swings."
Daryl Thomas (no relation to Bill) is executive director and founder of the Carolina Football Development League. He noted Waters' attachment to his son in Georgia and a daughter in Florida.
"I could tell you that he loved his kids dearly," Thomas said of Waters.
Thomas also knew that Waters took a battering in the NFL. Thomas, a fullback at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, once asked Waters about a Millersville teammate who played in the NFL, Robb Riddick. Waters said he once hit Riddick so hard he knocked himself out.
"Back in those days, that's how players were coached," Thomas said. "A lot of coaches promoted leading with your head."
Costa said changes in technique might have reduced the head impacts Waters experienced. He said St. Aug's players have had only one concussion in his five years there.
"A lot of measures have been taken to control it," he said. "There's no spearing and leading with the head. At the pro level, they're quicker to throw a flag. There's more shoulder tackling. The head should be eliminated. It's more about teaching, and I think there is a lot teaching going on."
There is also a lot of learning about trauma to the head. Bill Thomas is grateful that an explanation might be emerging for why Waters took his life.
"I'm glad someone took the time to see if concussions played a part," he said. "As his kids grow up, it may soothe their pain. They'll be able to say, 'My daddy was sick because of football. He didn't leave us because he didn't love us.' "
by Ned Barnett, Staff Writer
Charlotte Observer
January 28, 2007
In the NFL, Andre Waters played as if he had something to prove, but the effects of his reckless, head-first tackling style may prove something he never wanted to show -- a link between head trauma and depression later in life.
Waters, a 12-year National Football League veteran who later spent four years in Raleigh as an assistant coach at St. Augustine's College, committed suicide in November at age 44. Doctors and sports medicine experts are exploring whether repeated head blows damaged his brain and led to depression that cost him his life.
On the eve of professional football's grandest event -- the Super Bowl -- the case of the former Philadelphia Eagles strong safety is prompting a harder look at the cost of playing a violent game. The New York Times focused on Waters' medical condition in a recent front-page report. Widespread media attention and debate have followed.
Some of the scrutiny comes from scientists at work not far from where Waters coached. The Center for the Study of Retired Athletes at UNC-Chapel Hill is watching the Waters case for what it might show about mild brain trauma and dementia and depression later in life.
Kevin Guskiewicz, director of the center and a member of UNC's department of exercise and sport science, said Waters' case might join the well-documented cases of two former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive linemen, Terry Long and Mike Webster. Both suffered mental impairment tied to head trauma during their playing days.
Webster was diagnosed with brain injuries and was occasionally homeless before dying of heart failure in 2002. Long, an All-American at East Carolina University, died in 2005.
"The fact is that [brain injury] has been found in these two others. We'll see if [Waters' case] makes it three," Guskiewicz said. "If it does, the [NFL] needs to look into it. They can't ignore these findings."
The center plans to publish a paper in June exploring links between mild head trauma and higher rates of depression among retired NFL players. It is based on a medical survey of more than 2,800 former players.
Proving a link wouldn't mean football is too dangerous to play, Guskiewicz said. His three sons all play youth football, but he would not want them to continue after multiple concussions.
"I want to encourage an awareness that once [a player] has had two concussions, you may want to sit that kid down and say, 'We might want to think about going out and hitting a tennis ball,' " he said.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement, "The subject of concussions is complex. We are devoting substantial resources to independent medical research of current and retired players, strict enforcement of enhanced player safety rules, development and testing of better equipment, and comprehensive medical management of this injury."
NFL's mentality
In the NFL, the risks are compounded by financial circumstances. Unlike professional basketball and baseball players, most NFL players lack the job security of guaranteed multiyear contracts. Players other than stars must earn their job every year, even week to week. The pressure encourages players to take risks and play despite injuries.
Guskiewicz and the doctor who analyzed samples of Waters' brain think the NFL has been too slow to investigate a link between repeated concussions and dementia and depression.
Dr. Bennet Omalu, a neuropathologist and associate medical examiner with the Allegheny County Coroner's Office in Pittsburgh, examined Waters' brain tissue. He found a buildup of abnormal proteins similar to what he would expect in an 85-year-old man in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
Omalu, who also examined the brains of Webster and Long and published papers on the two cases, said the NFL has taken "a tobacco industry mentality" by denying the risk to the brain inherent in football.
"If it wasn't a dangerous game, they wouldn't be wearing helmets," he said.
Omalu said the league should pay for an independent review of retired players who have suffered mental impairment and depression. He said the NFL might fear documenting a connection between mild brain trauma and dementia, but it might also help find a solution.
"If we can identify the pathological basis of this disease, we may be able to impede the accumulation of these proteins, even clear them," he said. "Rather than approach it pessimistically, there is a chance of an optimistic solution."
Getting brain samples
Omalu became involved in Waters' case at the request of Chris Nowinski, a former Harvard football player and professional wrestler who suffered multiple concussions. Nowinski is the author of a book published last year, "Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis from the NFL to Youth Leagues."
Nowinski persuaded Waters' family in Florida to ask the Hillsborough County medical examiner to send the brain samples to Omalu.
Waters' suicide with a small-caliber handgun in Tampa on Nov. 20 shocked those who knew him in Raleigh. Though some noted his "mood swings" and a growing restlessness, he was seen as a devoted single father committed to working in football. He left no suicide note.
St. Augustine's football coach, Michael Costa, was Waters' secondary coach when Waters played at Cheyney State in Pennsylvania. Though he played at a small school and was not drafted, Waters made the Philadelphia Eagles. Costa said that path accounted for his fierceness on the field.
"When you sign up as a free agent, every time you step on out the field you're out to prove something," Costa said. "He wanted to prove he could play with those guys, and he did."
Waters' aggressive tackling, including his willingness to lead with his helmet, drew him the nickname "Dirty Waters." It also caused him concussions.
"I think I lost count at 15," he said in a 1994 newspaper interview, according to The New York Times.
In 2002, Waters said in an interview posted on the Eagles Web site, "Playing strong safety in the NFL, it's either kill or be killed. Ever since I was in high school, I was taught to tackle one way, so I did what I was taught. But I never tried to intentionally hurt anyone."
'A lot of mood swings'
Bill Thomas, director of teen programs for the Raleigh Boys Club, grew up in Philadelphia and knew Waters as a friend of his father, a Philadelphia homicide detective.
Thomas reunited with Waters in Raleigh when the former Eagle brought his son and daughter to the Boys and Girls Clubs when they visited for the summer. When Thomas helped start a football league for troubled youths known as the Carolina Football Development League, Waters contributed $5,000 for equipment. In his honor, the league's Raleigh team is known as the Eagles.
Thomas said he admired Waters' interest in young people, but he said Waters could be erratic.
"There were times when he was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," Thomas said. "He'd be crazy one moment, then the next one he was laughing. ... I did see a lot of mood swings."
Daryl Thomas (no relation to Bill) is executive director and founder of the Carolina Football Development League. He noted Waters' attachment to his son in Georgia and a daughter in Florida.
"I could tell you that he loved his kids dearly," Thomas said of Waters.
Thomas also knew that Waters took a battering in the NFL. Thomas, a fullback at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, once asked Waters about a Millersville teammate who played in the NFL, Robb Riddick. Waters said he once hit Riddick so hard he knocked himself out.
"Back in those days, that's how players were coached," Thomas said. "A lot of coaches promoted leading with your head."
Costa said changes in technique might have reduced the head impacts Waters experienced. He said St. Aug's players have had only one concussion in his five years there.
"A lot of measures have been taken to control it," he said. "There's no spearing and leading with the head. At the pro level, they're quicker to throw a flag. There's more shoulder tackling. The head should be eliminated. It's more about teaching, and I think there is a lot teaching going on."
There is also a lot of learning about trauma to the head. Bill Thomas is grateful that an explanation might be emerging for why Waters took his life.
"I'm glad someone took the time to see if concussions played a part," he said. "As his kids grow up, it may soothe their pain. They'll be able to say, 'My daddy was sick because of football. He didn't leave us because he didn't love us.' "
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