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Comment by Clubber | Hacker News Reader

He only played 3 seasons in the NFL. I agree with the findings that continuous head trauma causes CTE, but could other things cause it as well? For someone with only 3 seasons to have that severe a case of CTE is cause for concern that there might be other things that cause it.

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You are ignoring the probably like 10 years of football he played before going to NFL.

Isn't the lawsuit doing that too?

He's ignoring that intentionally, in the context of evaluating the merit of the lawsuit

probably closer to 15. Parents these days start their kids in pop warner/little league starting in 1st and 2nd grade. I find it to be asinine myself, given that there are cases of mild CTE found in high school football players...

Yes, intentionally. Each level gets much faster and the players get bigger and momentum = mass * velocity. I believe most of the CTE cases involve NFL players and it is odd that someone could have such a severe case of CTE with only 3 years of NFL. Florida was a really fast and strong team when he played, but a fraction of the NFL speed and size.

Cte is found amongst high school and college players as well.

I believe I just saw an article the other day talking about brain injury to even younger kids.

Well, if the only way to detect CTE is after death, unless the player killed themselves young, they would have to wait years and years until after the person played in high school. With that much time passed, many variables are introduced.

It's concerning to me because I played in high school.

Right but your sample size is pretty big. Like I’m pretty sure the other factors can be controlled for. Dont take my word for it, these are the general conclusions.

Unfortunately people die in HS. So sure, if someone played HS ball, then stopped playing, lived until 60, and got CTE, it would be hard to say it was from HS ball, however when someone dies at 18, and is positive for CTE, that's pretty definitive.

I read somewhere that even one concussion can triple the likelihood of someone suffering from depression later in life. That's pretty scary stuff. Our heads are not meant to be banged against things, so I would think that goes double for a developing brain.

https://www.gq.com/story/the-concussion-diaries-high-school-...

Actually, studies found that pee-wee football players get hit with the same G-Forces as the pros (13 to 15 Gs). I can only surmise the same was true for high school and college. I was at an EMS conference when they cited the study. The one below is the only one I could find though. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10439-012-0530-...

You are also ignoring how hard or often the hits were in those 3 years (not mention the X number of years before the NFL).

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