Denise Koch
Reporting
(WJZ) BALTIMORE -- He walks into the room with his trademark cowboy hat, Colts #88 jersey, brandishing two rings, and for a moment he is the same John Mackey who has endeared Baltimore football fans for almost two generations. But something is different.
"Where we going, Sylvia?," John asks his wife who is speaking to WJZ's Denise Koch.
A few seconds later he's bragging about his Super Bowl V and Hall of Fame ring. "This I got in Super Bowl V. I ran 75 yards to the endzone, and this I got for the Hall of Fame."
Those comments would not be unusual for a man who played 10 years in the NFL and revolutionized the tight end position, except for the fact he made the same remarks five times in 30 minutes.
John is tackling a new challenge--frontotemporal dementia. His wife Sylvia is fighting it with him.
"It makes one become everything they would not want to be. In his case stealing candy. He took food from somebody's plate at a restaurant," said Sylvia.
The Mackey family is like most American families that struggle to keep a loved one with dementia safe, many times from themselves. However, there is one very major distinction. Sylvia believes she knows when their nightmare began.
"It could have happened with that one concussion he had when he hit the goal post at an exhibition game in Hershey, Pa. He hit it headfirst. You could hear a heart beat in the stadium, and he just fell on the ground. He got up on his own and got up to the wrong huddle," she said to WJZ's Koch.
John Mackey is at the center of a growing controversy about the impact of sports concussions on the brain. Now a groundbreaking study by Ravens physician Dr. Andrew Tucker could squash or ignite this debate. The Union Memorial doctor was commissioned to do research on this very subject by the NFL.
"The question is do concussions or repetitive concussions in professional football increase the risk of brain problems as the player gets older," said Tucker.
In a statement to WJZ 13, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote, "There is absolutely no evidence to suggest a connection between the NFL and dementia. The purpose of the long-term study is to track players that have suffered concussions into their retirement to find out if there is anything we can learn."
The Mackey family isn't the only NFL family dealing with dementia. Former Philadelphia Eagle Andre Waters committed suicide last fall. One doctor says an autopsy on the 44-year-old showed that he had the brain of an 85-year-old with Alzheimer's. Waters was also struggling with depression when he died.
Former New England Patriot Ted Johnson, 34, was recently diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. He has become outspoken about the role he believes the intensity of NFL play had on his current mental state.
Like John Mackey, both these players suffered repeated concussions during their NFL careers.
The new NFL study will track players, many of whom played during the same era as Andre Waters.
Dr. Tucker says the results could change the game of football.
"That is Pandora's Box. [If the study makes a connection], I imagine it will reinforce that we make the game as safe as we can," Tucker said.
Sylvia hopes the study will lead to better protection on the field. Recently she wrote a letter to now-former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue pleading for help.
"I just poured my heart out. I told him what was going on with John and how I saw the daily ugly picture unfold...I think [the NFL] should take care of its fallen heroes," said Sylvia.
The NFL has responded. In a joint effort with the NFL Players Association the two have created the 88 Plan. It is named after Mackey's jersey number and provides up to $88,000 a year for former players who have some form of dementia and live in an outside facility. The plan also provides up to $50,000 to players cared for at
home. But the NFL says the plan does not mean they believe that there is a link between football and concussions.
In another statement to WJZ 13, "The 88 Plan is designed to assist former players suffering from this disease without regard to its cause."
The money will be provided in addition to current NFL pension plans because former players who have dementia do not qualify for the NFL disability insurance program. The NFL Players Association also does not consider the conditions of former players with dementia to be football related.
The Mackeys and a dozen families are set to receive payments soon.
In the meantime Sylvia and her family lovingly treasure each day they share with the man who was once a giant on the field. She plans on standing by his side even as she watches him slip away.
"I'm hoping through rose colored glasses. If he can stay just like this for 5 to 10 years, I will be ecstatic," said Sylvia.
Reporting
(WJZ) BALTIMORE -- He walks into the room with his trademark cowboy hat, Colts #88 jersey, brandishing two rings, and for a moment he is the same John Mackey who has endeared Baltimore football fans for almost two generations. But something is different.
"Where we going, Sylvia?," John asks his wife who is speaking to WJZ's Denise Koch.
A few seconds later he's bragging about his Super Bowl V and Hall of Fame ring. "This I got in Super Bowl V. I ran 75 yards to the endzone, and this I got for the Hall of Fame."
Those comments would not be unusual for a man who played 10 years in the NFL and revolutionized the tight end position, except for the fact he made the same remarks five times in 30 minutes.
John is tackling a new challenge--frontotemporal dementia. His wife Sylvia is fighting it with him.
"It makes one become everything they would not want to be. In his case stealing candy. He took food from somebody's plate at a restaurant," said Sylvia.
The Mackey family is like most American families that struggle to keep a loved one with dementia safe, many times from themselves. However, there is one very major distinction. Sylvia believes she knows when their nightmare began.
"It could have happened with that one concussion he had when he hit the goal post at an exhibition game in Hershey, Pa. He hit it headfirst. You could hear a heart beat in the stadium, and he just fell on the ground. He got up on his own and got up to the wrong huddle," she said to WJZ's Koch.
John Mackey is at the center of a growing controversy about the impact of sports concussions on the brain. Now a groundbreaking study by Ravens physician Dr. Andrew Tucker could squash or ignite this debate. The Union Memorial doctor was commissioned to do research on this very subject by the NFL.
"The question is do concussions or repetitive concussions in professional football increase the risk of brain problems as the player gets older," said Tucker.
In a statement to WJZ 13, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote, "There is absolutely no evidence to suggest a connection between the NFL and dementia. The purpose of the long-term study is to track players that have suffered concussions into their retirement to find out if there is anything we can learn."
The Mackey family isn't the only NFL family dealing with dementia. Former Philadelphia Eagle Andre Waters committed suicide last fall. One doctor says an autopsy on the 44-year-old showed that he had the brain of an 85-year-old with Alzheimer's. Waters was also struggling with depression when he died.
Former New England Patriot Ted Johnson, 34, was recently diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. He has become outspoken about the role he believes the intensity of NFL play had on his current mental state.
Like John Mackey, both these players suffered repeated concussions during their NFL careers.
The new NFL study will track players, many of whom played during the same era as Andre Waters.
Dr. Tucker says the results could change the game of football.
"That is Pandora's Box. [If the study makes a connection], I imagine it will reinforce that we make the game as safe as we can," Tucker said.
Sylvia hopes the study will lead to better protection on the field. Recently she wrote a letter to now-former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue pleading for help.
"I just poured my heart out. I told him what was going on with John and how I saw the daily ugly picture unfold...I think [the NFL] should take care of its fallen heroes," said Sylvia.
The NFL has responded. In a joint effort with the NFL Players Association the two have created the 88 Plan. It is named after Mackey's jersey number and provides up to $88,000 a year for former players who have some form of dementia and live in an outside facility. The plan also provides up to $50,000 to players cared for at
home. But the NFL says the plan does not mean they believe that there is a link between football and concussions.
In another statement to WJZ 13, "The 88 Plan is designed to assist former players suffering from this disease without regard to its cause."
The money will be provided in addition to current NFL pension plans because former players who have dementia do not qualify for the NFL disability insurance program. The NFL Players Association also does not consider the conditions of former players with dementia to be football related.
The Mackeys and a dozen families are set to receive payments soon.
In the meantime Sylvia and her family lovingly treasure each day they share with the man who was once a giant on the field. She plans on standing by his side even as she watches him slip away.
"I'm hoping through rose colored glasses. If he can stay just like this for 5 to 10 years, I will be ecstatic," said Sylvia.
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