Concussed The American Dream 2024

Chicago

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Transcript

00:00:09One of the things that she still remembers very vividly is that she did not want to leave him

00:00:15at the cemetery. Like she was freaking out that we were going to put dirt on him and leave him

00:00:22in the ground. Like she just couldn't handle that. She was so upset about it. I remember that we're

00:00:29watching a movie in my grandma and grandpa's bed and we kept on bunking heads together.

00:00:36Did it hurt? No. What do you miss most about your own book, Hunter?

00:00:41No.

00:00:53The football world has been rocked this week by the sad death of a former star.

00:00:58The Super Bowl winning safety, Dave Durston, took his own life, convinced that the despair

00:01:03he faced was caused in part by the damage he suffered on the football field.

00:01:07Junior Seau was found dead in his Southern California home of an apparent suicide.

00:01:12The former San Diego Chargers linebacker was found dead of a gunshot wound this morning.

00:01:16Today, a team of doctors confirmed that he suffered from degenerative brain disease, which could

00:01:22be linked to the years he spent taking blows and giving them on the football field.

00:01:27We're looking at a dangerous full-contact sport where too many players play too long and therefore

00:01:33suffer physical consequences, including especially, importantly, CTE.

00:01:38Where for you and I, long-term health is the most important thing. After that, the ability

00:01:44to play a pro career. And the lowest priority is to play that play. The athlete turns it on its

00:01:53head. It's that way.

00:01:57I unequivocally think there's a link between playing football and CTE.

00:02:02I guess if my son was Tom Brady or, you know, Brett Favre or some of those guys, it might

00:02:10have made a bigger impact. And, and, you know, I've thought about that before. Or Peyton Manning. I thought, Lord,

00:02:18I don't want them to suffer this. But if one of them would have it, it would get a lot

00:02:26more attention from the, you know, from our country.

00:02:31And this time we give it to Tyler Sash, juking tacklers, off to the race. Nobody's going to catch Sash.

00:02:39Touchdown, Indians.

00:02:42Money. That's a money shot right there.

00:02:44Here he goes. Tyler Sash. Bye-bye.

00:02:49Tyler Lynn, brilliant. Oh, nice attention.

00:02:51Big running room here for Sash. Now he cuts back. Oh, my goodness.

00:02:55Picked off by Tyler Sash.

00:02:59Garcia threw it up for grabs and Sash has another.

00:03:06And it was Sash who's been all over the place tonight in their secondary.

00:03:09Oskaloosa's very own Tyler Sash is heading to the Super Bowl this Sunday.

00:03:21So, it's Corona, so I'll let you do it. I even have some Clorox wipes if you want me.

00:03:26I got some, too.

00:03:27Okay.

00:03:27So, this clip's on the back of my cleats.

00:03:29Yeah.

00:03:29Just in the back, yeah.

00:03:31On your, you know, with your loop of your jean.

00:03:36Oskaloosa's a pretty nice small town in Iowa.

00:03:38It's not, you know, it's not real small, but it's, you know, it's big enough that it, you know,

00:03:43it has a few things to offer, but I kind of like that coming from New Jersey.

00:03:47I kind of like the quiet life, and it's a good life, and it's simple,

00:03:52and you can really spend a lot of time being the best parent that you can be

00:03:57and having your kids involved in lots of different activities at school.

00:04:01So, Oskaloosa's been good to us, and it's made a lot of developments in the last few years.

00:04:29Tyler was just, he's just such a funny kid, you know.

00:04:32He'd come over, and he's always, you know, thought he was, I don't know what he thought.

00:04:36Anyway, he'd come in, and I'd see him, and he'd look at me real funny,

00:04:40and I'm like, no, Tyler, and he'd start running at me,

00:04:43and he'd run, and he'd tackle me just like I was a tackling dummy,

00:04:47and he'd pick me up and run with me, and I'm like, stop it!

00:04:49He'd put me down.

00:04:50I mean, he just did that all the time, just funny stuff like that.

00:04:54I have a picture of my father, and he looked a lot like my father,

00:05:00and I never really saw that so much until later,

00:05:03and all my sisters are like, and my mom thought he looked just like my dad.

00:05:07That's a picture of him and his brother.

00:05:09We had that made when he had, when my oldest son had his senior pictures done,

00:05:15we had that made because they were just really good buddies,

00:05:17and he was a ball boy for his brother's high school team.

00:05:21Josh is our older brother.

00:05:22Tyler, I was the middle child, and then Tyler was the surprise.

00:05:28He wasn't planned, so his joke would be, well, he turned out to be an all right surprise.

00:05:35Tyler just had kind of this magnetic personality,

00:05:37so really for me, I treated him as my younger brother.

00:05:44I kind of mothered him, I guess.

00:05:47He had these huge blue eyes, always had this huge smile on his face,

00:05:51and he was just the most precious thing.

00:05:54He was a very, very cute little kid.

00:05:56As a little kid, he couldn't just walk through here.

00:06:00He would come running up the stairs from his bedroom,

00:06:03and he would jump, and he would slap the doorway.

00:06:07Like he was trying to dunk a basketball or something.

00:06:09That was his thinking.

00:06:10The trim at that time was painted, and so it chipped everything off,

00:06:14and my mom would constantly tell him that he wasn't supposed to do that.

00:06:20And so we got to the place where, you know,

00:06:22there was handprints all up all over the wall, and he didn't listen.

00:06:25He was practicing his, you know, how he was going to slap the backboard or do a dunk.

00:06:31After Tyler's brother graduated from high school,

00:06:34Tyler moved right into his bedroom, and that is in the basement

00:06:37because it was the biggest room in the house.

00:06:39So we'll go down here.

00:06:40Okay.

00:06:48This is the room that his brother and him both, you know, had each when they were in high school.

00:06:55What posters were up when he was in here?

00:06:58Oh, Michael Jordan, you know, the one with his basketball in his hands.

00:07:02Mostly they were basketball posters.

00:07:05Here comes Sash.

00:07:08Oh, they get the block he found.

00:07:23Oh, I don't know if you want my real thing or not.

00:07:25I'm not too happy.

00:07:26It's time to wake up!

00:07:29Okay?

00:07:30You guys with me?

00:07:36Oh!

00:07:37Oh!

00:07:38Oh!

00:07:39Oh!

00:07:40Oh!

00:07:46Ready, bird.

00:07:48Let's go.

00:07:48Right here.

00:07:49Right here.

00:07:50Right here.

00:07:58Tyler Sash is kind of a, he's kind of a local hero, really.

00:08:02I mean, he's a guy that he grew up here, and he was just an outstanding all-around athlete.

00:08:08He was a phenomenal basketball player.

00:08:09He's a really good football player.

00:08:11He's really good at track.

00:08:12I remember him playing baseball, basketball, of course, was a huge one for him.

00:08:17And then football from third or fourth grade.

00:08:22This is actually the middle school right here.

00:08:24My husband taught there for 39 years.

00:08:27But he played his football games there?

00:08:28Yeah, he played all of his football games there, and we lived on that street.

00:08:31So we used to sit in the deck of that last house.

00:08:34We used to sit up there and watch his football games.

00:08:35Really?

00:08:36Yeah.

00:08:36We never went to go, we never went in.

00:08:38We could have got in for free because my husband coached here.

00:08:41You know, he's one of those guys that you'd have to kick out of a gym or kick out of

00:08:44a weight room or whatever it might be,

00:08:46because he wasn't, he was going to put all the extra time and effort into it.

00:08:51I can remember against one of our arch rivals, Pella, we threw a toss out to him, and I swear,

00:08:57we didn't block hardly anybody.

00:08:59And there were, he ran 50 yards for a touchdown.

00:09:02There were seven Pella kids that were laying on the floor, on the ground, that had tried to tackle him,

00:09:07and nobody did.

00:09:10Look at that.

00:09:12Turn on the bike.

00:09:13Well, that's good defense right there by Tyler Sash.

00:09:18Look at that.

00:09:19That's a money shot right there.

00:09:22Tyler Sash, seven carries, 114 yards and a touchdown, averaged 16 yards a carry tonight for Sash.

00:09:29Hey, I tell you what, fellas, the kid's got some talent, don't you think?

00:09:32He's one of those guys that would just take a contest over, whether it was basketball, whether it was football,

00:09:38whether it was track.

00:09:39He just took it to another level.

00:09:41What I really liked about Tyler was he was so coachable for us.

00:09:45He was always, always wanting to learn more and more and more.

00:09:48He thought he was going to play college basketball his whole life.

00:09:51In Oskaloosa, they had this one kid that basically scored 36 of their 40 points.

00:09:57I'll never forget coming back and telling our staff that Monday morning, I said, you know, I think I saw

00:10:01the next Steve Alford because he was a legendary player in Indiana, you know, growing up.

00:10:05So I figured he's going to be a division one basketball player.

00:10:09Did he set any records?

00:10:10Oh, yeah.

00:10:11He had, I don't, I couldn't even tell you.

00:10:13My husband could tell you.

00:10:15Tyler held like 20 or 30 records.

00:10:18He holds our 100-meter dash record, 10-6-5 at the high school.

00:10:22You look at even just the basketball ones, he's known for football.

00:10:2551 points in a game, 12 threes in a game.

00:10:27That's never going to be touched.

00:10:29I mean, those are things that people dream of.

00:10:32When did you decide football full-time?

00:10:34How long ago?

00:10:35How many years ago was that?

00:10:37Well, my sophomore year, not a lot of people know this, my sophomore year, I told my dad I'm not

00:10:42playing football this year.

00:10:43And he goes, no, you're going to play.

00:10:45He basically made me play one more year.

00:10:47And he's like, you're going to play and see how you like it.

00:10:49And Coach Schumacher at the time moved me up to varsity.

00:10:52And I don't like talking about being all state or all this, whatever, but I ended up making all state.

00:10:59And I was like, all right, this isn't so bad.

00:11:00Moved into high school, he really became a multi-sport athlete.

00:11:03And he certainly got our attention as a football player.

00:11:07He's a guy that we really liked.

00:11:08And I remember distinctly talking to him and offering him a scholarship.

00:11:12I believe he was on his way home his junior year from the state championship track championship.

00:11:18So he was driving home from Des Moines.

00:11:20And I had him on the phone.

00:11:21That's when we offered him the scholarship.

00:11:23And fortunately for us, he decided to come to the University of Iowa.

00:11:26And throws right to the Hawkeye.

00:11:29Tyler Sash, lateral the ball off.

00:11:32Inside the five, lunging, touchdown.

00:11:38It's all made possible by Tyler Sash.

00:11:44He was at the University of Iowa.

00:11:46And he went down to the cheerleaders one night.

00:11:49And he asked them what they did with all those shirts over there.

00:11:51And they said, well, they would shoot him up into the crowd and stuff.

00:11:55And he said, could I have some?

00:11:57Here's the new football stadium.

00:12:00He said, could I have some of those?

00:12:02And they said, sure.

00:12:03So what do you do?

00:12:03He took a bunch of them and he went over to the handicap section and gave them to all the

00:12:07handicap kids sitting in the front row in their wheelchairs.

00:12:10Go in motion right here.

00:12:12Willis is the home back.

00:12:14Play fake.

00:12:15And bat it down from behind.

00:12:17It's loose.

00:12:17Iowa on the move.

00:12:19Tyler Sash.

00:12:22Going to take it back.

00:12:24Trick or treat.

00:12:26Iowa City.

00:12:31Well, you know, the most famous play certainly is the, you know, the ricochet play against Indiana.

00:12:37And that was a game where we were, you know, we were going down.

00:12:40They came in here and got off to a real fast start.

00:12:43And we never got our hands up.

00:12:45I mean, we never put up a fight at all.

00:12:47So had the Indiana scored at that point, I think that game's over.

00:12:51And, you know, it was just one of those things where, you know, he comes out and makes a huge

00:12:54play.

00:12:54But he made a lot of those.

00:12:56That was kind of typical of his career.

00:12:58A lot of people say, even a lot of the analysts, that you just have a nose for the ball.

00:13:01Where does that come from?

00:13:03You know, I don't know if it's from playing basketball, playing point guard, because I always had the ball in

00:13:06my hand.

00:13:07So maybe I'm attracted to the ball.

00:13:08I don't know.

00:13:09I just work hard in practice, try to put myself in those situations, and it translates to the game.

00:13:15He was picked in the sixth round with the New York Giants, and it was kind of a really stressful

00:13:23day.

00:13:24Me and him actually were roommates for our first two years with the New York Giants.

00:13:28We did everything together.

00:13:30I lived with Tyler, so, you know, he's playing his music all day, every day.

00:13:34We're going to the mall together.

00:13:35We're going out together.

00:13:36And, I mean, for all intents and purposes, I mean, he was probably my best friend of my times with

00:13:41the Giants.

00:13:42And Spencer Pasinger comes away with the football.

00:13:47The biggest concussion that I was around for, it was the NFC Championship game against the 49ers.

00:13:54And it was just a physical game.

00:13:56Like, if anybody asks, that game was the hardest game I've ever played.

00:14:01One of the 49ers' defensive ends peels back.

00:14:05Tyler doesn't see him.

00:14:06He sees Tyler.

00:14:07And hit him so hard, he actually flipped and slammed him to the ground.

00:14:13The player down for the Giants.

00:14:15That's Sash.

00:14:19He spun around like a rag doll, and our TV went off.

00:14:24Perfect timing.

00:14:25Looking around, like, oh, where did Tyler go?

00:14:28So I called my older son.

00:14:30He said that they were tweeting out that my son was unconscious.

00:14:41Oskaloosa's very own Tyler Sash is heading to the Super Bowl this Sunday.

00:14:45The Giants rookie suffered a concussion two weeks ago in the NFC Championship game against the 49ers.

00:14:51The 23-year-old has been examined and cleared by team officials to suit up for the big game this

00:14:56weekend.

00:14:57I mean, I've watched every Super Bowl since I can remember, and for some people this is a once-in

00:15:01-a-lifetime thing.

00:15:02And being a rookie, I'm blessed.

00:15:04First year in, I'm in the Super Bowl.

00:15:12The game ends here to the end zone.

00:15:16Hernandez is there.

00:15:17Tipped and batted.

00:15:18Brachowski can't get it.

00:15:20Incomplete.

00:15:21And the New York Giants are the Super Bowl champs.

00:15:25I'm more nervous right now than I am for the Super Bowl, or than I was for the Super Bowl.

00:15:35Can I have your autograph, Tyler?

00:15:37And then on the other side it said, can you get Tom Brady's autograph for me during the game?

00:15:46I don't know what I'm doing, so it's got to tell you.

00:15:50I mean, how does it feel to be a Super Bowl champ?

00:15:52I know you've heard it all week.

00:15:53But, you know, it's crazy just to think about being on a team that is the best team in the

00:16:01world, you know, at whatever.

00:16:05We met back in second grade.

00:16:08He was homeschooled, and he came to Whittier Elementary for that year.

00:16:12And then he came back in seventh grade, so we graduated together and known him ever since then.

00:16:19I think we were just a lot alike.

00:16:21I always say he was like the male version of me.

00:16:24We'd finish each other's sentences.

00:16:26We had the same ideas.

00:16:28We were just two of a kind.

00:16:30Are we ready?

00:16:31Is it shooting?

00:16:32I'm wearing an Irish shirt tomorrow, and I will do cartwheels all day.

00:16:36Thank you very much.

00:16:48Oh, here.

00:16:49New York Giants, New England Patriots.

00:16:51He got the game ball, was presented to him.

00:16:54He said he actually, I think he got his, I think that he sacked, what's his name?

00:17:00Well, you know, what's his name?

00:17:03From the Patriots, what's his name?

00:17:05Tom Brady.

00:17:06And I think he did it in the preseason, too, his first year he was able to do that.

00:17:10But he got the game ball because he played, you know, played well on special teams.

00:17:14They called Tyler white chocolate.

00:17:17Or they'd say, where's weirdo?

00:17:19You know, instead of where's Waldo?

00:17:21You know, because he was the only white guy.

00:17:22I don't know, because he was the only white guy.

00:17:24And he really liked his coaches there, and on trial roll in the defensive backfield was one of his really

00:17:31close friends.

00:17:32You know, I was just joking about the whole key to the city in Oskaloosa thing.

00:17:37It was just a joke.

00:17:38But I was just trying to make a point on how big it really was with that game.

00:17:44You know, getting a key to New York City, that's pretty incredible.

00:17:48The people here in Iowa caught wind of that, and they decided they were going to make him a key.

00:17:54We have a foundry here in town, and they came up with a key.

00:17:59So he had to accept the key to the city.

00:18:02He had to give a speech, and he was a nervous wreck about having to give a speech.

00:18:07It's with great pleasure that I present you with this, the key to the city of Oskaloosa.

00:18:12Congratulations.

00:18:13It's well-deserved.

00:18:23Hopefully this opens Yardsman Bakery on Sunday mornings.

00:18:28And I'm going to try to keep giving back to this community as much as I can, and I'll put

00:18:33Oskaloosa on the map as much as we can.

00:18:35Definitely going to be put on the top shelf, and put the New York City key on the shelf below.

00:18:41You know, this is where I'm from.

00:18:42I'll always be from here.

00:18:44I'll be from the state of Iowa, and I'm happy to represent the state of Iowa.

00:19:02During his second year with the New York Giants, he was having to give, after being a Super Bowl champion,

00:19:11Tyler's probably more like me, where he doesn't love to stand up on a podium and talk in front of

00:19:16people.

00:19:17And he was invited to some other sports shows, so he was so nervous about it, he went to a

00:19:25doctor here in town

00:19:26and was prescribed Adderall because he said, I can't focus.

00:19:30You know, like, I have a hard time focusing because I'm so nervous.

00:19:33He only had a prescription for four Adderall, and here he gave a speech over here at William Penn University

00:19:41when they awarded him the key to the city.

00:19:45After he did that interview, for some unknown reason, somebody drove to Oskaloosa and tested his urine for the NFL.

00:19:55And he knew from that point, talking to him about it later on, and him telling us it was probably

00:20:03going to come out in the news

00:20:06that he tested positive for a drug.

00:20:10He didn't follow the proper protocol.

00:20:12So he was suspended for the first four games because he tested positive for Adderall.

00:20:18Even Tom Coughlin, his coach for the New York Giants, stood in his defense and said,

00:20:24this is a kid who follows every single rule we ask him to follow, who jumps through every hoop, and

00:20:30such a good kid.

00:20:31And for him to be slapped on the hand because he was taking a prescription drug that he has a

00:20:38prescription for is just silly.

00:20:42Definitely, he didn't have to accept to see me.

00:20:44And since he did accept to see me, you never know if maybe he'll reduce it or take it away.

00:20:52Or, you know, I might still have the four games.

00:20:55You know, I just want more of an explanation.

00:20:59There's been some cases that I know of that people have gotten off with the same exact thing as me.

00:21:05So I just want to know why mine is different.

00:21:09My son was so confident that he was right and he didn't break any rules.

00:21:14He made an appointment to go see Commissioner Goodell.

00:21:18And he was sure of himself that he would see it.

00:21:23He said, well, Tyler, you know, he said, sorry, but rules are rules.

00:21:27Tyler tried to explain that there was these other guys that did so much worse and they didn't even get

00:21:32anything like he did.

00:21:33He felt like they made an example out of him and he was so not happy about that.

00:21:40And so he felt like that cost him his chance at a starting position for, you know, as safety that

00:21:47year.

00:21:47The Giants' safety was penalized back in March for taking Adderall without filling out the proper paperwork with the league.

00:21:54Sash said the drug was prescribed by a doctor to manage his anxiety during public speaking events during the offseason.

00:22:00He was fined somewhere in the range of $100,000 and he had to sit out for four games.

00:22:08And so then he, from that point in the season, he struggled with ankle injuries and shoulder.

00:22:14I feel like, you know, everybody's competing every year.

00:22:17Every day I'm just trying to come out and improve and get better every day.

00:22:21And, you know, I know what kind of football player I am and that I can help any team out

00:22:26that needs help.

00:22:27Of course, it's a business and so you're always skeptical and somewhat nervous about making the team when they cut

00:22:35down to that roster.

00:22:38And his coaches had assured him that he had nothing to worry about at all.

00:22:45Well, he got released going into our third year.

00:22:48He had a couple concussions and it just got to the point where they didn't know if he was going

00:22:53to be able to, you know, play at a high level.

00:22:55And then I knew after that third one, his third year there in that preseason game, he got hit really

00:23:03hard.

00:23:04Well, I don't think he ever recovered from that.

00:23:06Quite a surprise that he was cut.

00:23:08He was shocked.

00:23:09And, of course, you know, that fire, though, was in him that he was going to get picked up by

00:23:17another team.

00:23:18He couldn't, he wasn't cleared.

00:23:19But he packed his stuff anyways and drove from New York to Iowa so he could be ready.

00:23:29That's not a good thing.

00:23:32The eating here is, it's good, but it's really bad.

00:23:37Probably came out the ocean that day.

00:23:39Or the day before.

00:23:41Yeah, I mean, you were down on the Gulf Coast.

00:23:42Where were y'all at, Bo?

00:23:44There should be a, how to turn it off.

00:23:48All of a sudden, I got balloons popping.

00:23:52You're not on the person.

00:23:53I figured that it was not on purpose.

00:23:58Exactly, it was not on purpose.

00:24:00It isn't there.

00:24:01Man, you want to stay on the way.

00:24:05Atlanta has selected Brett Favor, quarterback, Southern Mississippi.

00:24:10I played 20 seasons in the National Football League.

00:24:21If you count college, I've played all four years and started all four years in college,

00:24:26so 24.

00:24:26If you count high school, 26, so a long time.

00:24:31Barbe carried it in for a touchdown.

00:24:33Look at me, kid.

00:24:35Look at this, kid.

00:24:36High school.

00:24:37Take a look.

00:24:39I can't tell you how many times my head hit the turf.

00:24:43And stars or fireworks or whatever went off.

00:24:47Did I lose my memory?

00:24:49No, not really.

00:24:50Was I foggy?

00:24:51Yeah.

00:24:52Was I able to play?

00:24:53Yeah.

00:24:54I never thought about it.

00:24:55I didn't think that was a concussion.

00:24:57It's hard to even put a number on how many of those I had.

00:25:01There's an unwritten rule.

00:25:03You can't make the club in the tub.

00:25:05If you're hurt, sometimes it's legitimate.

00:25:10Other times you question it.

00:25:12But if you're not playing, you know, eventually they're not paying.

00:25:18And I got my job because the guy in front of me sprained his ankle.

00:25:22No one knew who I was, including me.

00:25:24And I was thrust into the spotlight.

00:25:28And here is the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre.

00:25:33Don Mikowski, who had been a very good quarterback, and I'm sure he thought, this guy will screw it up.

00:25:39I'll be back soon.

00:25:4020 years later, he's still waiting.

00:25:43Mikowski under pressure and goes down.

00:25:45And here's second-year quarterback Brett Favre out of southern Mississippi by way of the Atlanta Falcons.

00:25:59No one would know who Tom Brady is if it were not for a guy hitting Drew Bledsoe on the

00:26:05sidelines.

00:26:09Bledsoe can run it.

00:26:10Needs 10 yards.

00:26:12Oh, does he hit?

00:26:13Apparently, Bledsoe knocked around a little more than it appeared, and Brady in charge.

00:26:20And for me, it was always like, remember how you got your spot.

00:26:24And remember how quickly he lost his.

00:26:28Don't ever be a fool and think otherwise.

00:26:36Here's your basic problem.

00:26:40The NFL dominates American culture in a way that no sport in our lifetime has ever done.

00:26:50If you actually understand the way football is played, we've created a new generation of robo players, size that was

00:27:01unimaginable 20 years ago.

00:27:03If a player was standing on the 95th story building, threatening to jump, he would find 10 people around him

00:27:16that would say,

00:27:17law of gravity doesn't apply to you.

00:27:19Go ahead.

00:27:20Show them.

00:27:22If you are engaging in a sport that has head contact in it, you might as well come to the

00:27:29conclusion that that is going to be one of the manifestations of what happens.

00:27:33Everybody knows you're going to have bad knees and shoulders and elbows and stuff like that, but nobody ever mentioned

00:27:38the brain.

00:27:40Well, we were just together that summer before I went to New York, and then I went back to Iowa

00:27:45State to finish up school.

00:27:46We kept in contact between then, but then after he got cut from the Giants and he came back here,

00:27:53I had since had a daughter.

00:27:56She's now four.

00:27:58And we just kind of picked back up where we left off.

00:28:02I said, I got up and I said, I'm finally taking the place for you.

00:28:13Ready, set, go.

00:28:20Haylin, say, rawr.

00:28:22Rawr.

00:28:26Haylin, look at mama.

00:28:28Say hi.

00:28:31It was one of a kind.

00:28:34Tyler was definitely her father figure.

00:28:37Talking to him every time he had gone out to do a tryout for a team.

00:28:42I remember him going to Denver and can't remember the team for sure in Florida, but going to multiple different

00:28:52places.

00:28:53I want to say he also went to the Eagles and did tryouts, and his body basically couldn't handle it.

00:29:01He always felt he could deal with pain.

00:29:03Pain was nothing.

00:29:03It's just a way of life.

00:29:05So when you tried to talk to him about stuff like that, you know, he kind of brushed it off

00:29:09as in, you know, we all deal with it.

00:29:11We all have to, you know, worry about it.

00:29:13So we don't even need to talk about it.

00:29:14He had thrown up for, I'd say, six months after that last concussion.

00:29:21Well, he was confused in that he kept repeating himself over and over and over about things that were going

00:29:27on during the game or stories that he was telling us.

00:29:31And, you know, his brother finally said to him, Ty, you've already told us that three or four times.

00:29:37I felt sad because I thought his brother didn't understand.

00:29:41I didn't understand, but I knew that something was not right.

00:29:46His mom told me about some things that he was doing, you know, asking repetitive things and leaving the door

00:29:52open, leaving the refrigerator open, milk on the counter,

00:29:58all sorts of things that I didn't know was happening.

00:30:02And Tyler was so excited about the opportunity.

00:30:05And then, like, tomorrow you'd ask Tyler, well, has Charles called?

00:30:09No.

00:30:10You know, like, it was like he didn't even remember.

00:30:12Right.

00:30:13I had never actually heard of CTE at all.

00:30:17My thinking was, I have no idea what that is.

00:30:20And so I immediately Googled it and I went down the list of symptoms.

00:30:26And it was unbelievable.

00:30:28I looked at his girlfriend.

00:30:30Her and I sat there on the couch right here and I was like, this is Tyler 100%.

00:30:37Like, every single one of them, the anxiety, the depression, the sleeplessness.

00:30:43When you think about concussion, no one concussion is really the same.

00:30:48You see different symptoms like headaches.

00:30:50You see dizziness.

00:30:52You'll hear fogginess.

00:30:53You know, you'll hear things like sleep deprivation that are associated with it.

00:30:58But ultimately, that means it's very heterogeneous.

00:31:01The brain, there's no one brain the same.

00:31:04If I get hit here and you get hit here, it might be a little bit different response.

00:31:07And that's the thing about concussions is you don't necessarily have to have a thousand

00:31:13to have worse brain damage.

00:31:15You could suffer one concussion and the repercussions could be as bad as having 5,000.

00:31:24We went 5 and 6.

00:31:26We lost three games by a point.

00:31:28Each game by a point.

00:31:30Did you beat Bama that year or did you before?

00:31:32We didn't play them that year.

00:31:33No, we did play them.

00:31:35We did play them.

00:31:38You guys beat Alabama when you played?

00:31:41Why do you act so surprised?

00:31:43We beat Alabama.

00:31:44They haven't lost since.

00:31:45We beat Alabama, and we beat them up and down the field, and we lost 16-14.

00:31:52We kicked a field goal at the end, and our straight-on kicker, I'll never forget,

00:31:57his name's Stump, Jim Taylor, and just hit it.

00:32:01I mean, it's like 20 yards.

00:32:02We lost to them, and then the next week, we go to Auburn and play, and we beat Auburn.

00:32:07If you can imagine two guys, two big, grown men running from opposite sides of the field,

00:32:14full speed, and running to each other, that's exactly what it is.

00:32:17It's like having a bunch of accidents within three hours, you know?

00:32:22I know that we're all going to have it.

00:32:25I know that it's in me.

00:32:27I know it's in a lot of players that played in the NFL, especially those that played right

00:32:33from Papuauna.

00:32:34You know, you played all your life.

00:32:37You're going to have some kind of damage when you keep hitting heads.

00:32:40You got a little headache.

00:32:41You got a little dizziness.

00:32:43You make millions of dollars versus out on the street.

00:32:48I'm going to take the dizziness and just try to go back in and play.

00:32:52But then, you know, at 50, when no one else is, you know, worried about you, no one cares,

00:32:58what, you know, what are you going to be like?

00:33:01For the most part, people that live here, you know, they may say hello, but they're good about it.

00:33:23For me, it's a bit like Sherlock and Holmes.

00:33:27You know, you've got the patient, you've got the clinical symptoms.

00:33:31Last month, Dr. Ann McKee was named the 2017 Bostonian of the Year by the Boston Globe for

00:33:36all this work.

00:33:37You were recently named the time 2018 on the list of the 100 most influential people

00:33:43in the world.

00:33:44I unequivocally think there's a link between playing football and CTE, but the fact that

00:33:50over five years, I've been able to accumulate this number of cases in football players, it

00:33:56cannot be rare.

00:33:58And the other feature of CTE is that the individual themselves complains that they can't control

00:34:04their mind.

00:34:05They have these impulses, they want to behave in certain ways, and it's very difficult for

00:34:10them to control these thought processes or these actions.

00:34:15My first year in Atlanta, I get drafted by Atlanta.

00:34:19A week before the regular season starts, they cut every quarterback except the starter and

00:34:25myself.

00:34:25And I'm like, man, this is pretty good.

00:34:28Why I was thinking out, I have no idea, I put on 25 pounds in about four weeks, I was

00:34:34drinking

00:34:34a lot of beer, eating a lot of hot wings, and I'm thinking, this is a good thing.

00:34:38Well, no more than I said that, they bring in Billy Joe Tolliver.

00:34:43He was walking in the building and had just traded for him.

00:34:45He was a starter in San Diego for a while.

00:34:49And firecracker red hair, cocky as all get out, worse than me.

00:34:54We hit it off, but we hated each other at first, and we sort of hated each other kind

00:35:00of even when we hit it off.

00:35:02But I had a strong arm.

00:35:03One thing I knew, I didn't think anybody in the country or in the world could throw it

00:35:08as hard as far as me.

00:35:10That was kind of my deal.

00:35:12He was five, six years older than me, been around, so he kind of pushed me around.

00:35:16Hey, Rook, you carry my helmet.

00:35:18I'm like, I ain't carrying your helmet.

00:35:19I said, I'll tell you what, I challenge you to a throw-off, because he had a strong arm.

00:35:26He said, oh, let's do it.

00:35:29So everybody in the whole team gathered around at the end of practice.

00:35:33And he said, all right, Rookie, you go first.

00:35:36Didn't matter to me.

00:35:37I backed up.

00:35:39I took two steps, threw it, and it kind of end over end wobbled.

00:35:4483.

00:35:45Billy Joe had a ball, and he went, oh, hell, I quit.

00:35:50And after that, we were fine.

00:35:52We were fine.

00:36:02When I had talked to Dr. Bells, he said, what I'm trying to do is study living players

00:36:08to find out how much tau protein is in your brain.

00:36:14I said, well, I don't know what tau protein is.

00:36:16And he said, well, tau protein, everyone has it.

00:36:18But what we're finding is all these deceased players have a high level of tau protein.

00:36:24And he said, I want to see if living players have it in elevated levels that obviously play football

00:36:33or hockey or whatever.

00:36:35And so I thought, you know, interesting.

00:36:40But my next comment was, okay, doc, so I got elevated levels of tau protein.

00:36:47Do you treat it?

00:36:49He said, no.

00:36:53All we can do is say you have elevated levels.

00:36:56So I chose not to do it because I said, then if I have elevated levels, I'm always going

00:37:02to be wondering, all right, when is, you know, you know, when am I going to deteriorate to

00:37:08a point?

00:37:08So it's best not to know.

00:37:10It's an emotional roller coaster.

00:37:12Some days are good.

00:37:13Some days are bad.

00:37:14I think about if he would have gone the basketball route, you know, this might not have happened.

00:37:19You know, he's not making sense of things.

00:37:22He can't get the insurance.

00:37:23He can't move on because he hasn't had the shoulder surgery yet and he's still sitting

00:37:27here on pain medicine.

00:37:29Or he would be really focused on one thing.

00:37:31One time he would be focused on selling insurance or he would be leaning more towards real estate.

00:37:37He's Googling brain injuries and head trauma and things like that, like on his phone and

00:37:43on his computer.

00:37:45You know, when I would stay there on the weekends, he would maybe get an hour of sleep.

00:37:49If I would wake up, he would be cleaning or he would be watching movies or he would be

00:37:53he was always awake.

00:37:54He could never fall asleep.

00:37:56He would get his mail every day and he'd throw it on the table.

00:37:59And I bet it laid there for a month.

00:38:02And I said, honey, don't you have some, you know, like your phone bill and your, you know,

00:38:07utilities and stuff.

00:38:08And he goes, yeah, I'll take care of it.

00:38:10You know, he just couldn't focus long enough to do the basic everyday tasks.

00:38:16When you do the physics of one person running at eight miles an hour and another person

00:38:21running at eight miles an hour and them colliding helmet to helmet, the force is almost equal

00:38:27to that of standing still and swinging somebody, swinging a sledgehammer and hitting somebody

00:38:32in the head.

00:38:32Think of a woodpecker.

00:38:34Woodpecker smacks its head thousands and thousands of times every hour.

00:38:40Woodpeckers have a tongue that's surprisingly longer than the bird is and it goes back in

00:38:46and it wraps around its brain.

00:38:48And when it starts, when it starts pecking the wood, it's safe inside of that tongue

00:38:54that's wrapped around, it's cushioned in there.

00:38:57That's why a woodpecker can do that and not get chronic traumatic woodpecker encephalopathy.

00:39:02Other animals were made to do that.

00:39:04Humans were not.

00:39:05We have no protection, but a little bit of fluid around our brains.

00:39:09We weren't meant as a species to do that.

00:39:13When I was in college, before I started playing football, I used to hear people say I'm depressed

00:39:19and I'm like, what is that like?

00:39:21You know, seriously, what is depression like?

00:39:24I said, I love life.

00:39:25Life is great.

00:39:26You know, why are people depressed?

00:39:30You know, but today I catch myself, you know, sitting at home sometimes.

00:39:37Man, I'm really down right now.

00:39:40I played with a bunch of guys.

00:39:43I know a bunch of guys who took their lives and they were in the same boat as I am.

00:39:49Is that going to be me someday?

00:39:51You know, will I get that low and, you know, something will happen to me?

00:39:56When they talk about helmets, I laugh.

00:39:59I don't care what kind of helmet you put on a football player's head.

00:40:04When you have a collision, you're not going to stop the brain from smacking up against the

00:40:11inside of the skull.

00:40:29I had a traumatic injury.

00:40:31I broke my neck in 2016 against the Dallas Cowboys.

00:40:35And ever since that day, you know, laying on the field and not knowing if I was going

00:40:39to live again, not knowing what was going to happen, you don't feel anything.

00:40:44You just think that you're going to die.

00:40:45And you're just hoping for another chance.

00:40:48And you're thinking about everything you did and you're thinking about, is it worth it?

00:40:51You're thinking about, did I make the best of my time?

00:40:54You're thinking about, if I got another chance, what would I do differently?

00:40:58And it's hard to convince somebody who wants to make money now that the damage that they're

00:41:03going to have five or ten years from now is going to be so significant that they won't

00:41:08be able to function appropriately.

00:41:10There's an aspect to society that we want to be entertained.

00:41:14There's nothing like watching Terry Bradshaw throw a 60-yard pass of John Stallworth and

00:41:19he drags both his toes and inch from the end zone line.

00:41:23He catches the ball and makes a touchdown and wins a Super Bowl.

00:41:25A couple of things.

00:41:26I wasn't the sharpest guy, but I was always one that had a really good memory.

00:41:33And I was able to remember plays and recite plays.

00:41:37And still to this day, I can think of high school plays and how to call them as if it

00:41:41were yesterday.

00:41:43But there are things that happen almost daily where I'll meet someone and see them a week

00:41:52later and know I know that person from somewhere, but I can't remember where I met them.

00:41:57And to me, there's absolutely no reason whatsoever that I, there are certain things that I can't

00:42:04remember, whether it be a word, a word that I've said thousands and thousands of times.

00:42:10And I'm like, yeah, what, I can't.

00:42:13And it happened to me this morning.

00:42:14I was thinking of a person that I know very well.

00:42:19That's actually a doctor in my hometown who I saw two days ago and could not think of his name.

00:42:28What used to not bother me before bothers me.

00:42:31I'm sensitive to noise.

00:42:33I forget things.

00:42:35People's names, I can't remember at all.

00:42:36If you tell me your name, it's gone.

00:42:38I have tied two titanium rods in my neck, in my spine right now with 16 screws, you know,

00:42:45holding me together, you know.

00:42:48So that's one of the things I got from football.

00:42:51Whether it be self-destructing and committing suicide, considering it, losing everything,

00:42:58health declining, not knowing who you are, where you are, where you're going.

00:43:04Those are coming up way, way more frequent.

00:43:07And that's scary.

00:43:08Yeah, there were times where we'd sort of get up and we'd kind of look around and say,

00:43:12wow, he got a big hit there.

00:43:14But there was not the consciousness now of, well, we've got to take him in the tent.

00:43:19We've got to have him examined by an unaffiliated neurotrauma surgeon.

00:43:23We have to get him in the locker room.

00:43:25We have to go through these tests.

00:43:26It just wasn't there on our awareness.

00:43:28Taking the helmet-to-helmet contact out of the NFL didn't affect the game one bit.

00:43:35It's still a great game.

00:43:37The style, the grace, the ballet is still there.

00:43:42We love watching it.

00:43:43Athletes suffer.

00:43:44But that's part of making a lot of money as an entertainer.

00:43:47Tonight we are learning more about former Iowa Hawkeye football standout Tyler Sash,

00:43:52who's in trouble after police say he led them on a chase Saturday in Oskaloosa.

00:43:56So I guess he rode the scooter to this place here in town where all of his friends were at

00:44:03and then had a drink and then he left and there was a cop sitting there.

00:44:10And Tyler, I don't know what his thought process was,

00:44:15but he ditched the scooter when he saw the lights.

00:44:21And the cop said he really was just going to let Tyler know he needed to have a light on

00:44:26that.

00:44:26If he was going to be driving it in the dark, they did have to tase him

00:44:30because they thought he wasn't cooperating by putting his arms back to be handcuffed,

00:44:35but he could not put his shoulders into that position.

00:44:38After talking to Tyler after that happened, he was embarrassed and he felt really bad for what he did.

00:44:45He called me because he wanted to tell me before it came out in the news.

00:44:51I know he came over here and talked to my parents and cried.

00:44:54We asked, you know, why, but why did you do it?

00:44:57And he, he literally just kept saying, I don't, I don't know.

00:45:01I don't really know.

00:45:02I think people, you know, not only does this affect the individual,

00:45:05but the stress and the trauma of taking care of these individuals cannot be underestimated.

00:45:12These people with this disease, they tend to behave erratically.

00:45:16They may be violent.

00:45:17They may be suicidal.

00:45:19They can be homicidal.

00:45:20They can be frightening for the family members.

00:45:23Are you with the patient now?

00:45:25Oh, yes, the baby's crying and he left.

00:45:28Okay.

00:45:29We're on the way.

00:45:32Where's your son at?

00:45:33He left.

00:45:34He left?

00:45:35Yes.

00:45:35Okay.

00:45:36They were arguing and he said, yes, they were arguing.

00:45:39We got a call here at Arrowhead Stadium to their practice facility

00:45:42in regard to a person who was in the parking lot armed with a handgun.

00:45:47Yeah, Jake, we've got, we do have a confirmed shooting.

00:45:50And it is, I believe, Belcher playing with the chiefs.

00:45:56So we have confirmed that.

00:45:57So he would head over to that facility.

00:46:00I'm guaranteed.

00:46:01I guarantee it's him.

00:46:02336, give me a couple more cars, whether they're out of district or what.

00:46:06And if somehow, I don't know if Arrowhead's got security or what,

00:46:09but get somebody on the phone.

00:46:12The GM, the OE, he's on the west side of the lot with a black Mercedes.

00:46:19When the officers arrived, when they were pulling up,

00:46:21they actually observed a black male who had a gun to his head

00:46:24and he was talking to a couple of coaches out in the parking lot.

00:46:27As officers pulled up and began to park, that's when they heard the gunshot

00:46:31and it appears the individual took his own life.

00:46:33A neuropathologist says Belcher's brain showed evidence

00:46:37fully consistent with the pathological presentation

00:46:40of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

00:46:43No one really has an answer for people

00:46:45because they can go to different hospitals

00:46:48and they may not get the advice they need.

00:46:51They may not understand that it's caused by trauma,

00:46:54caused by their exposure to football.

00:46:55So for the families, it's devastating.

00:46:58And it's not just the individual affected,

00:47:00it's everyone around them.

00:47:02Of course I've got CTE,

00:47:04as does anybody, in my opinion, who played ball

00:47:08because Boston University does a study.

00:47:11In the study, 99% of the people that they looked at

00:47:14showed signs of CTE.

00:47:15I'd be a fool not to think that I don't have it.

00:47:18I got my bell rung when I was a little kid.

00:47:21Back then it wasn't, you know,

00:47:22you didn't have these protocols where, you know,

00:47:24you got to go in the locker room

00:47:25and do a certain test and everything.

00:47:27Back then it was, all right, follow my finger.

00:47:29You know, how do you feel?

00:47:31You good?

00:47:32Okay, you're back in the game.

00:47:34Drive, Halen.

00:47:38Other way.

00:47:43Keep going.

00:47:45You know, if something was irritating him,

00:47:48you could see it easier,

00:47:50that it was really bothering him.

00:47:52I think before, Tyler just kind of brushed it off.

00:47:54He let things go easier than he did more recently.

00:47:58If he was upset, he just wouldn't talk

00:48:00and he'd leave the room or he would cry.

00:48:02And sometimes, you know, I would ask him why

00:48:05and he couldn't tell me why.

00:48:06And I always thought he didn't want to tell me why,

00:48:09but I really think he didn't know.

00:48:10Eyes on the road.

00:48:12Not on Snapchat.

00:48:14Eyes on the road.

00:48:15Push!

00:48:20Stop!

00:48:22Right by Thomas.

00:48:23Good job.

00:48:30I remember when Charles Martin picked me up from behind

00:48:33and slammed me down.

00:48:35That was actually the start of my neck box.

00:48:37The doctor said,

00:48:38the only way your C1 and 2 can get twisted like this

00:48:41is if you get dumped on your head.

00:48:42And I said, well, here's the replay of that.

00:48:45But I told him, I said, that was 1986.

00:48:49And he said, well, you've been struggling since then.

00:48:53And the problem in this area is that

00:48:58players will not help themselves

00:49:00because from Pop Warner and Little League,

00:49:05they're brought up in a culture of denial.

00:49:09We had to clean out his house.

00:49:13And I saw that he had notebook after notebook

00:49:17and he'd barely written in anything.

00:49:19I think he was trying so hard to be organized

00:49:22because he said to me he couldn't remember anything.

00:49:25And so he thought he'd start out fresh

00:49:27and he'd have a new notebook

00:49:29and he, you know, would be organized.

00:49:31Well, I looked at this and it really,

00:49:34it made me feel really sad

00:49:36because to me this was a visible picture

00:49:38of what CTE does to a mind.

00:49:41This was a night that I watched him on the news

00:49:44and doing this interview

00:49:46and he just kind of struggled for something to say.

00:49:49And when I saw this note,

00:49:50I couldn't believe, you know,

00:49:53how confused his mind was

00:49:55because what he wrote at the very top half of the page,

00:49:58he wrote almost identically the same thing

00:50:01on the bottom half of the page.

00:50:02You can see what he's thinking,

00:50:04how confused his thinking would have been.

00:50:27I talked to Dave Dewarson probably three months

00:50:29before he killed himself

00:50:30and, you know, he seemed like the same kind of,

00:50:34same old guy,

00:50:35but he was a little more reserved,

00:50:37a little quieter.

00:50:39And he was explaining to me his frustrations with,

00:50:42you know, I can't remember where I'm at.

00:50:44You know, I get in the car to go pick up my kids,

00:50:46I can't find my way home.

00:50:48And I started having those same thoughts

00:50:50and the same, you know,

00:50:52I walked down the hall to the kitchen.

00:50:54I couldn't remember why the hell I went down there.

00:50:56I'd have to go back and start again.

00:50:58And it's very frustrating for guys that,

00:51:01you know, we're very competitive people.

00:51:03And at the time,

00:51:04I couldn't figure out how, you know,

00:51:05it could get so bad that, you know,

00:51:07you'd think about taking your own life.

00:51:08But I had the same thoughts.

00:51:10I mean, if I had a gun,

00:51:11I probably wouldn't be here.

00:51:14Do you think there is a link between football

00:51:17and degenerative brain disorders like CTE?

00:51:20Well, certainly Dr. McKee's research shows

00:51:22that a number of retired NFL players

00:51:24were diagnosed with CTE.

00:51:25So the answer to that question is certainly yes.

00:51:28But there's also a number of questions

00:51:30that come with that.

00:51:31What's the answer?

00:51:32I guess I just want,

00:51:34is there a link?

00:51:35Yeah, yes.

00:51:36Because we feel that,

00:51:38or I feel that,

00:51:40you know,

00:51:40that was not the unequivocal answer

00:51:43three days before the Super Bowl

00:51:46by Dr. Mitchell Berger.

00:51:48Well, I'm not going to speak for Dr. Berger.

00:51:50Well, you're speaking for the NFL, right?

00:51:56Well, this is just like big tobacco.

00:51:58I mean, they said for years

00:52:00cigarettes don't cause cancer.

00:52:01But, you know,

00:52:02obviously we know differently now.

00:52:04And it's the same with the NFL.

00:52:05They've known for years

00:52:07when this settlement,

00:52:08we just got this settlement,

00:52:11but they didn't have to disclose

00:52:13what they actually knew.

00:52:15So they, you know,

00:52:17it's still a big lie,

00:52:18but at least now it's out in the open.

00:52:20At that time,

00:52:21the NFL said to players,

00:52:24one concussion has no effect on another.

00:52:28It doesn't matter how many you get.

00:52:29We haven't found any long-term consequences.

00:52:32But intuitively, you had to understand

00:52:36that something had to be happening.

00:52:40Today, we'd like to inform the public

00:52:41of some of our findings

00:52:43as we continue to investigate

00:52:44the death of Aaron Hernandez.

00:52:46I would have to wonder and ask

00:52:49what your reaction was to this

00:52:51considering how young Aaron Hernandez was.

00:52:53It's very frightening.

00:52:56I was shocked by the information.

00:52:58I was shocked by the recent study

00:53:00of the 110 former players,

00:53:04111, 110 of them having some form

00:53:07or advanced stages of CTE.

00:53:10The numbers were shocking.

00:53:11The numbers were 110 NFL players

00:53:14out of 111 that were examined

00:53:16had histologic evidence of CTE.

00:53:20The implication is that individuals

00:53:23who play football,

00:53:24particularly football for long periods of time

00:53:27and at a high level,

00:53:28develop CTE at a much higher rate

00:53:32than those who do not play football.

00:53:34You could play flag football

00:53:35and that would reduce a considerable amount.

00:53:38But there'd be an occasion

00:53:39a guy trips and hits his head

00:53:41or two guys bump into each other

00:53:42and get a concussion.

00:53:44But you get maybe two per game

00:53:48as opposed to 20.

00:53:50And I still think that

00:53:52there's probably a lot of concussions

00:53:54that are not revealed.

00:53:55There's some good in what they have done

00:53:58as far as putting the right rules in place,

00:54:00but it's tackle football.

00:54:01And unless you reduce the athlete

00:54:04to 150 pounds,

00:54:068 flat 40,

00:54:07as weak as can be,

00:54:09you're not,

00:54:10I mean,

00:54:12two guys 300 pounds running full speed,

00:54:14something's got to give.

00:54:18It was always confusing to us

00:54:20because he would say

00:54:22how much he missed his parents

00:54:24and his family,

00:54:25but he wouldn't come over.

00:54:27We could never figure that out.

00:54:29And now,

00:54:30after knowing about the CTE,

00:54:32we understood why he didn't come over.

00:54:34Because he would kind of expose

00:54:36some of the things

00:54:37that were wrong with him.

00:54:38And he really,

00:54:39bless his heart,

00:54:40he tried not to,

00:54:42he tried not to let us know

00:54:45all that was going on

00:54:46because he didn't want us

00:54:47to worry about it.

00:54:49The kids over here,

00:54:51of course,

00:54:51with Uncle Tyler

00:54:52playing softball.

00:54:54So he was pitching to them.

00:54:56He was running the bases.

00:54:58He was trying to tag them out,

00:55:01sprinting after all of them

00:55:02and just cheering

00:55:03and kind of acting

00:55:04like his wild self.

00:55:06So they all had,

00:55:08they all had a lot of fun with that.

00:55:10I remember that we were

00:55:12watching a movie

00:55:13in my grandma and grandpa's bed

00:55:15and he kept,

00:55:16we kept on bumping heads together.

00:55:18And she kept saying,

00:55:19ow!

00:55:20And he said,

00:55:21he just,

00:55:21does that hurt?

00:55:23No.

00:55:24And he said,

00:55:24so why did you say ow?

00:55:26And then she'd say it again.

00:55:27And so they just sit there

00:55:28bumping heads

00:55:29and giggling about it.

00:55:31We were laughing

00:55:32and we were also watching

00:55:34a movie at the same time.

00:55:36When we started building

00:55:37this house,

00:55:37I hadn't played

00:55:38but about half of my career.

00:55:42Fortunately,

00:55:43I was able to play longer,

00:55:46but I also got more game balls.

00:55:49The longer you play,

00:55:50the more good or bad

00:55:51you get records.

00:55:54So it's like,

00:55:54then you get to a point

00:55:57when you break a record.

00:55:58The next week,

00:55:59you're always breaking a record.

00:56:01And I'm like,

00:56:02all right,

00:56:03we give out the game ball

00:56:04to Brett

00:56:04because this is his,

00:56:06he just broke the record

00:56:07that he set last week.

00:56:08After a while,

00:56:09you know,

00:56:09they were like,

00:56:10I think the guy's gonna play

00:56:11another hundred games.

00:56:12So we ain't giving out

00:56:13any more balls.

00:56:14Only with the brain

00:56:16do they not treat that immediately

00:56:18other than the treatment being

00:56:20go into a room,

00:56:21turn the lights off,

00:56:23don't let somebody talk as loud

00:56:24as I'm talking right now,

00:56:26whisper.

00:56:26That's not treatment.

00:56:28I know I got it.

00:56:29I don't really care about

00:56:30how severe it is.

00:56:32It's just,

00:56:33you know,

00:56:33I know because

00:56:34that stuff sat on my brain

00:56:36for 20 years.

00:56:38I'm lucky to have a brain,

00:56:39I guess,

00:56:39right now.

00:56:40You still have the same mentality

00:56:41in the players.

00:56:42My mentality

00:56:43is to run through you.

00:56:44My mentality

00:56:45is to dominate you.

00:56:46So no matter

00:56:47what rules you change,

00:56:49I'm gonna figure out

00:56:49a way around the rules

00:56:50to get that done.

00:56:51You know,

00:56:54knowing what I know now,

00:56:56probably I wouldn't

00:56:57have played football

00:56:57because my dad

00:56:58didn't want me playing football

00:57:00when I told him

00:57:01that I would want

00:57:01to play football.

00:57:02Probably wouldn't have played

00:57:03when I was hurt

00:57:04as much as I did,

00:57:05but especially

00:57:07the head trauma.

00:57:09Two.

00:57:11No, they didn't even

00:57:12see Martin behind him.

00:57:14Well, we expected

00:57:16the rough stuff.

00:57:16I mean,

00:57:17after a concussion,

00:57:20I probably wouldn't

00:57:21have went back

00:57:21in the game,

00:57:22but back then,

00:57:23you did.

00:57:23Would I have done

00:57:24it different

00:57:26had I known?

00:57:29I don't know that.

00:57:30I consider myself

00:57:31a warrior.

00:57:32You know,

00:57:33it meant a lot to me

00:57:34to play and play

00:57:35every play

00:57:35and be accountable

00:57:37game after game.

00:57:38And it got to a point

00:57:40where it almost took

00:57:41on a life of itself

00:57:42that I can't miss.

00:57:44You know,

00:57:44I've come this far,

00:57:45I'm not gonna miss.

00:57:47Regardless of how

00:57:48much it hurts.

00:57:49Well, you know,

00:57:50you're in the moment.

00:57:51You're 28,

00:57:52you're 33,

00:57:53you're 35.

00:57:54Did one more game

00:57:55or did one more hit

00:57:57or one more play

00:57:58make a tremendous

00:58:00difference in the

00:58:01quality of life

00:58:03after football?

00:58:16whenever he came over,

00:58:18he bought something

00:58:19for me and my brothers

00:58:21and he would always

00:58:23come over with

00:58:24something for us.

00:58:25We played in the

00:58:26backyard.

00:58:27who would win

00:58:28in the sophomore,

00:58:28your uncle

00:58:29or you

00:58:29and your brother?

00:58:31Um,

00:58:32he would win.

00:58:33Your uncle,

00:58:34Tyler would win.

00:58:37Birthday to

00:58:38you.

00:58:40And Tyler.

00:58:44Happy birthday

00:58:45to Tyler.

00:58:48Tyler was that

00:58:49kind of person

00:58:50that he used

00:58:52what he had

00:58:53to try and benefit

00:58:55Oskaloosa

00:58:56and the kids

00:58:56that were in it.

00:58:57They raised a lot

00:58:58of money

00:58:58and then they

00:58:59had a little boy

00:59:00that died of cancer

00:59:02here and

00:59:04they raised

00:59:05$106,000.

00:59:06And there was

00:59:07hundreds and

00:59:08hundreds of people

00:59:08that came out

00:59:09and he sat

00:59:10and he signed

00:59:11autographs for hours

00:59:12until every person

00:59:13that wanted one

00:59:14got an autograph

00:59:15and he made sure

00:59:16that that money

00:59:17went to help

00:59:18that kid

00:59:19as he fought

00:59:19cancer.

00:59:20So those are

00:59:21just a small

00:59:22illustration

00:59:22of some of the

00:59:23things that he did.

00:59:24I would say

00:59:25the holy grail

00:59:26here is getting

00:59:27a marker,

00:59:28a biomarker

00:59:29to detect CTE

00:59:30in the living.

00:59:31That will change

00:59:32everything.

00:59:34First of all,

00:59:34we'll know

00:59:35the prevalence

00:59:36of the disease

00:59:36in college players

00:59:38and maybe high school

00:59:38players if we have

00:59:40a way to diagnose

00:59:41it during life.

00:59:43And importantly,

00:59:43if we can find

00:59:44a way to detect

00:59:45it during life,

00:59:46not only will we

00:59:47have a diagnosis

00:59:48for individuals

00:59:49that are concerned

00:59:49about it,

00:59:50but we'll have a way

00:59:52to monitor treatments.

00:59:54The NFL has 15

00:59:55padded practices

00:59:56a year.

00:59:57Now that is

00:59:58since I retired.

01:00:00When I was playing,

01:00:02you could,

01:00:03you know,

01:00:03depending on the coach,

01:00:04you'd practice

01:00:05some pads all the time.

01:00:06But yet we're

01:00:07putting our youth

01:00:108, 9, 10, 11, 12

01:00:13and up

01:00:16kids

01:00:17in full pads

01:00:18and we're telling them

01:00:19to go out and tackle,

01:00:21which I don't think

01:00:22is a good thing,

01:00:23any,

01:00:24whether it be

01:00:24for a game

01:00:25or practice.

01:00:31I got more interested

01:00:32in looking at this epidemic

01:00:35which is concussion

01:00:36or mild traumatic

01:00:37brain injury.

01:00:39Knowing that we were

01:00:39going to have to create

01:00:40a drug

01:00:41that could be given

01:00:42longer

01:00:43to be able to handle

01:00:44a period of time

01:00:45when things wax and wane

01:00:46and knowing that

01:00:47the outcome

01:00:48measure

01:00:49to predict

01:00:50its efficacy

01:00:50was not going to be

01:00:51whether the patient

01:00:52survived or not.

01:00:53You know,

01:00:54because for the most part

01:00:55you're going to survive

01:00:56concussion.

01:00:57What I realized

01:00:57is we just really

01:00:58had not put any effort

01:01:00into trying to find

01:01:00a way to treat it

01:01:02acutely

01:01:02in hopes that

01:01:03if you could get

01:01:04that pathological

01:01:05cascade of events

01:01:06stopped

01:01:07in the short term

01:01:09then you wouldn't

01:01:10end up

01:01:11with post-concussion

01:01:12syndrome.

01:01:12In the sports world

01:01:13and especially

01:01:14in the violent

01:01:15sports world

01:01:17the individuals

01:01:18are violent

01:01:18and there's a pattern

01:01:20of violence

01:01:21that can spill over

01:01:22into other parts

01:01:23of life.

01:01:24Here's a flag

01:01:25as...

01:01:26Whoa!

01:01:27Hello!

01:01:27Whoa!

01:01:30That is...

01:01:31Beyond words, Joe.

01:01:32Oh, gosh.

01:01:33Especially when there is

01:01:34something that is

01:01:35perceived as irritating

01:01:37that actually then

01:01:38can be addressed

01:01:39in an impulsive way

01:01:41if you will.

01:01:42And they've developed

01:01:43protocols

01:01:44to test for a concussion

01:01:46that can also be used

01:01:48as a measure of

01:01:50whether a drug

01:01:50for a concussion

01:01:51is working.

01:01:53Alright, here we are

01:01:54at the traditional

01:01:56great American

01:01:57We've got a lot

01:01:58of disturbing

01:02:04We're all in

01:02:08We're going to go

01:02:10through the clinic

01:02:11here or something

01:02:12So what will happen

01:02:13is in Phase 1B

01:02:15there will be

01:02:15a concussed patient

01:02:16at the hospital

01:02:17right down the road

01:02:17They will be

01:02:19transitioned here

01:02:20There will be

01:02:20intake done

01:02:21in this room

01:02:22They will have

01:02:23the drug delivered

01:02:24nasally

01:02:24in this room

01:02:25and then they will

01:02:26sit in here

01:02:27and have blood draws

01:02:28and testing

01:02:28after that drug

01:02:29for a period

01:02:30off and on

01:02:31once a day

01:02:32for five days

01:02:33Football has

01:02:34increased awareness

01:02:35of brain injury

01:02:36and it's increased

01:02:37awareness of the

01:02:38consequences of brain injury

01:02:39and that's been good

01:02:40for all of society

01:02:41I think what's

01:02:42important to realize

01:02:43is that sports

01:02:44have risk-benefit

01:02:45and it's in my opinion

01:02:47not proven

01:02:48to ban activities

01:02:50without understanding

01:02:51the full ramifications

01:02:52of such a ban

01:02:54We looked at 53

01:02:55college players

01:02:57and 48

01:02:58had CTE

01:02:59for about 91%

01:03:01and then we also

01:03:02looked at

01:03:02high school players

01:03:04and we had

01:03:0421 high school players

01:03:06that had come

01:03:06into the bank

01:03:07and three of those

01:03:08had CTE

01:03:10but what that study

01:03:12says

01:03:12is that this can

01:03:14affect amateur

01:03:15athletes

01:03:15this can affect

01:03:16players who don't

01:03:17go on to play

01:03:18professionally

01:03:19and at least

01:03:20in our experience

01:03:21it's fairly common

01:03:22My husband said

01:03:24one day

01:03:25he remembers

01:03:26Tyler getting up

01:03:28after getting hit

01:03:28by this kid

01:03:29and Tyler had tears

01:03:31in his eyes

01:03:32and I never

01:03:33I never saw that

01:03:34and I never knew that

01:03:35He even remembers

01:03:36sometimes

01:03:37when Tyler

01:03:38was in

01:03:40maybe third

01:03:41or fourth grade

01:03:41football

01:03:42and he

01:03:44he was kind of

01:03:46dazed

01:03:46coming off the field

01:03:47after a hit

01:03:48and

01:03:49I remember

01:03:50my dad

01:03:50getting very choked up

01:03:52about

01:03:52telling him

01:03:54that he was alright

01:03:55and sending him

01:03:55back out there

01:03:56because it's just

01:03:57you know

01:03:58it's just

01:03:59the

01:04:00competitive

01:04:00nature

01:04:01of it

01:04:02like

01:04:02you can work

01:04:03through this

01:04:04and

01:04:04you think

01:04:07that

01:04:07hardcore

01:04:08competitive

01:04:10spirit

01:04:10like

01:04:11nothing can break

01:04:12me

01:04:13is exactly

01:04:14what broke

01:04:14my brother

01:04:15Another thing

01:04:16is that people

01:04:17think that

01:04:17college athletes

01:04:19are catered to

01:04:20and

01:04:21you know

01:04:21maybe

01:04:21maybe they are

01:04:22in some

01:04:23in some ways

01:04:24but

01:04:25I think that

01:04:26those people

01:04:26also don't realize

01:04:27the cost

01:04:28to those athletes

01:04:30for what

01:04:30for their pleasure

01:04:32for their

01:04:33entertainment

01:04:33you know

01:04:35that they get

01:04:35on a Saturday

01:04:36or a Sunday

01:04:37how much it

01:04:38actually costs

01:04:39those people

01:04:39I told my husband

01:04:40I said honey

01:04:41you know

01:04:41because he played

01:04:42football

01:04:43you know

01:04:43I said

01:04:43and he loves

01:04:44sports

01:04:45and I said

01:04:45if you want

01:04:46to go

01:04:46you go

01:04:47and he said

01:04:47no I don't

01:04:48want to go

01:04:49because I don't

01:04:50want to keep him

01:04:50back just because

01:04:51I can't watch it

01:04:52anymore

01:04:52so I just

01:04:54see more than

01:04:55I want to see

01:04:55we've had kids

01:04:56from our church

01:04:57their parents

01:04:58have asked me

01:04:59what do you think

01:05:00should we let

01:05:01our kid play

01:05:01you know

01:05:02should we let him

01:05:02play

01:05:03and like I had

01:05:04one dad say

01:05:05well my son's

01:05:05a senior

01:05:06you know

01:05:06and I'm like

01:05:07you know

01:05:08you have to do

01:05:08what you have to do

01:05:09what's really

01:05:11I take from

01:05:11looking at all this

01:05:12is how fast time

01:05:13goes by

01:05:15and

01:05:17life goes on

01:05:19man

01:05:19you know

01:05:19when I coached

01:05:22and my two daughters

01:05:23if they were here

01:05:24right now

01:05:24they'd tell you

01:05:25the same thing

01:05:25dad's always

01:05:26talking about

01:05:27enjoy the moment

01:05:29because before

01:05:30you know it

01:05:31you look back

01:05:33and you go

01:05:33I remember

01:05:34just having that

01:05:35discussion

01:05:35and that was

01:05:35ten years ago

01:05:36what happens

01:05:37when you go

01:05:38from birth

01:05:39through those

01:05:39early 20s

01:05:40when brain development

01:05:41continues and develops

01:05:43what happens

01:05:44if it's interrupted

01:05:45along the way

01:05:46so for example

01:05:47if a child

01:05:48really hits

01:05:49the frontal regions

01:05:51of the brain

01:05:52and sustains injury

01:05:53there

01:05:54at age

01:05:55say

01:05:55eight or nine

01:05:56we might not

01:05:57really see

01:05:58what's happening

01:05:58to that brain

01:05:59and that brain

01:05:59development

01:06:00until the child

01:06:01is 16

01:06:0117 or 18

01:06:02if 50%

01:06:04of the moms

01:06:05in this country

01:06:06understand

01:06:08the danger

01:06:09of playing

01:06:10football

01:06:11and tell

01:06:12their teenage boys

01:06:13you can play

01:06:15any sport

01:06:15and your dad

01:06:17and I

01:06:17will back you

01:06:18but not tackle

01:06:20football

01:06:20it won't kill

01:06:22football

01:06:22it will just

01:06:24change the

01:06:24socioeconomics

01:06:26but they need it

01:06:27to escape

01:06:28economic poverty

01:06:30they'll play

01:06:31the state

01:06:32has limited

01:06:33the amount

01:06:33of time

01:06:34that you can

01:06:34have full contact

01:06:35and teach

01:06:36how to tackle

01:06:38which in turn

01:06:39turns it around

01:06:42they sent this

01:06:43to you guys

01:06:44sent it to the

01:06:45high school

01:06:46so like

01:06:47it's like

01:06:47it's called

01:06:48the high school

01:06:49honor roll

01:06:49and so they did

01:06:50this at the

01:06:50fifth year

01:06:53and they sent

01:06:54a football

01:06:54gold football

01:06:55to every

01:06:56every high school

01:06:57that had a

01:06:59player play

01:07:00in a Super Bowl

01:07:02for the last

01:07:0250 years

01:07:07you see a lot

01:07:08of guys retiring

01:07:09early

01:07:09young guys

01:07:11not even at

01:07:12the peak

01:07:12of their career

01:07:12they haven't

01:07:13even gotten

01:07:13to that point

01:07:14retiring

01:07:14we're looking

01:07:15at a dangerous

01:07:16full contact

01:07:17sport

01:07:17where too many

01:07:18players play

01:07:19too long

01:07:20and therefore

01:07:20suffer

01:07:21physical consequences

01:07:22including

01:07:22especially

01:07:23importantly

01:07:23CTE

01:07:24there's an

01:07:25enormous backlash

01:07:26against that

01:07:26that I believe

01:07:27is a bigger

01:07:28threat to the

01:07:29game than

01:07:29anything

01:07:29in terms of

01:07:30marginalizing

01:07:31the game

01:07:31but football's

01:07:32here to stay

01:07:33I love watching

01:07:34it

01:07:34at what age

01:07:35do you start

01:07:36playing tackle

01:07:37football

01:07:37I wouldn't let

01:07:38kids put helmets

01:07:39on until they

01:07:39were juniors

01:07:40in high school

01:07:40they should

01:07:41start playing

01:07:42football

01:07:42as a junior

01:07:43there's no

01:07:44reason whatsoever

01:07:45for anybody

01:07:46to have any

01:07:47kind of contact

01:07:47in my opinion

01:07:48before the age

01:07:48of 12

01:07:49my son is 8

01:07:49he plays football

01:07:50he plays tackle

01:07:51as well

01:07:52the only reason

01:07:53he plays

01:07:53is because I'm

01:07:54the coach

01:07:54there's nobody

01:07:55that can coach

01:07:57my son better

01:07:57than me

01:07:58I think I would

01:07:59come down

01:07:59on the side

01:08:00of saying

01:08:01we shouldn't

01:08:01have sports

01:08:02in this society

01:08:04that we know

01:08:05injure kids brains

01:08:06if everyone

01:08:08plays flag football

01:08:09until you're 17

01:08:11then during that

01:08:13time you can

01:08:14teach tackling

01:08:16fundamentals

01:08:16without tackling

01:08:17I really don't

01:08:19see any reason

01:08:20why someone

01:08:20would need to

01:08:21play tackle

01:08:21football

01:08:22until they're

01:08:23in high school

01:08:24I had two

01:08:25teenage sons

01:08:27both of them

01:08:28had heard me

01:08:30talk about this

01:08:30many times

01:08:32and both of them

01:08:34played

01:08:34you know

01:08:35I think there's

01:08:36a risk

01:08:36at any age

01:08:37but at least

01:08:37when you're

01:08:38old enough

01:08:39to make a decision

01:08:40for yourself

01:08:40I think that's

01:08:41when you should

01:08:42start playing

01:08:42tackle football

01:08:43so maybe

01:08:44that's 18

01:08:45you know

01:08:46I see

01:08:46sports can be

01:08:48a way out

01:08:48from a tough

01:08:48situation

01:08:50but you can

01:08:50still do it

01:08:51a better way

01:08:51you know

01:08:52we like to tell

01:08:53people with

01:08:53football

01:08:54no one's

01:08:55getting recruited

01:08:55off of their

01:08:56fifth grade

01:08:57film

01:08:57right

01:08:58you can still

01:08:59have a great

01:08:59football career

01:09:00waiting till

01:09:00high school

01:09:01for the tackle

01:09:01part

01:09:02don't play

01:09:02tackle football

01:09:03too young

01:09:04there's a

01:09:05sort of an

01:09:05inflection point

01:09:06that if you

01:09:06play before 12

01:09:07and you get hit

01:09:08in the head

01:09:08while your brain

01:09:08is still developing

01:09:09you're worse off

01:09:10in the long run

01:09:11you have a greater

01:09:11risk of having

01:09:12symptoms

01:09:13or a greater

01:09:13risk of having

01:09:14earlier symptoms

01:09:15related to CT

01:09:16or brain damage

01:09:17I just think

01:09:18that you pass

01:09:18a law that says

01:09:20no tackling

01:09:21till the age

01:09:22of 17

01:09:22if you don't

01:09:24want to give

01:09:25a cell phone

01:09:26to a 10

01:09:27or 12 year old

01:09:29because their

01:09:30skull is not

01:09:30fully developed

01:09:31then why

01:09:33are we putting

01:09:34a football helmet

01:09:36on a 10

01:09:37or 12 year old

01:09:38I have a 12 year

01:09:40old son

01:09:42and I don't

01:09:43want him

01:09:43playing football

01:09:44but his mom

01:09:45insists that he

01:09:46plays football

01:09:47he's had two

01:09:48concussions already

01:09:49and his mom

01:09:50still insists that

01:09:51he plays

01:09:53go figure

01:09:55all the work

01:09:56that I've done

01:09:56with these doctors

01:09:57the past couple

01:09:57of years

01:09:58and what they've

01:09:59told me about

01:10:00the head trauma

01:10:00he said

01:10:01there's probably

01:10:0290% of kids

01:10:03shouldn't be playing

01:10:04because their necks

01:10:05and their heads

01:10:05are just not

01:10:06strong enough

01:10:07like you've probably

01:10:09never heard of

01:10:09Pat Dye

01:10:11legendary coach

01:10:12he's what

01:10:13Bear Bryant is

01:10:15to Alabama

01:10:15he is to Auburn

01:10:16he actually

01:10:17coached under

01:10:20under him

01:10:21was really

01:10:21his mentor

01:10:22was Bear Bryant

01:10:22but we go stay

01:10:24at Pat Dye's

01:10:25house every year

01:10:26we do a bike ride

01:10:27at Bo Bikes

01:10:27Bama

01:10:28just outside of

01:10:29Auburn

01:10:31and he shows me

01:10:32around his place

01:10:36coach Dye

01:10:37is 78 years old

01:10:38but he's still

01:10:39sharp as a tack

01:10:40he goes

01:10:41he says

01:10:41alright

01:10:42this is y'all's room

01:10:43this is our kitchen

01:10:46we kind of hang out

01:10:47in the living room

01:10:48right here

01:10:48he says

01:10:49now the upstairs

01:10:50bedroom

01:10:50is

01:10:51we go over here

01:10:52and he said

01:10:54now that room

01:10:55really don't mean

01:10:56a hell of a lot

01:10:56it's got

01:10:57my memorabilia

01:10:58in it

01:10:59he said

01:10:59I'm 78 years old

01:11:01ain't none of it

01:11:03means

01:11:03a hill of beans

01:11:05I'm still thankful

01:11:07in many ways

01:11:08that Tyler playing football

01:11:10brought us together

01:11:11so many times

01:11:12we went to

01:11:13Josh was away

01:11:15but the rest of us

01:11:16went to most of the games

01:11:18all of the games

01:11:19together

01:11:19and Josh came back

01:11:21for as many as he could

01:11:22so

01:11:23you know

01:11:24we probably would not

01:11:25have

01:11:25have enjoyed

01:11:26that

01:11:26that time

01:11:28together

01:11:29I just couldn't

01:11:30even bring myself

01:11:31to watch it

01:11:31because it wouldn't

01:11:32ever be

01:11:33what it once was

01:11:34it just

01:11:35flatlined for me

01:11:38you know

01:11:39I know there's

01:11:39a lot of guys

01:11:40out there

01:11:40that would still

01:11:41play football

01:11:41even knowing

01:11:42all the facts

01:11:45but I'd like them

01:11:46to make them

01:11:47all aware of it

01:11:48when they come in

01:11:48as a rookie

01:11:50and let them choose

01:11:52sometimes it's good

01:11:53to talk about it

01:11:55you know

01:11:56it's not always good

01:11:57and there's times

01:11:57when I get to a place

01:11:59where I have to say

01:12:00Lord I can't go there

01:12:01you know

01:12:01I can't

01:12:02think about that

01:12:05and I guess

01:12:06there's other times

01:12:07that I just feel like

01:12:08I don't want other people

01:12:10to have to go through this

01:12:11I want to help the cause

01:12:13I want the awareness

01:12:14to be out there

01:12:16and I feel like

01:12:17I'd be honoring Tyler

01:12:18because he'd like

01:12:19to help people

01:12:20you know

01:12:20one of the things

01:12:21that really hurts me

01:12:23is when I look

01:12:24at Tyler's baby pictures

01:12:26and him as a little boy

01:12:29you know

01:12:30you think of an NFL player

01:12:31you think there's

01:12:32some big tough guy

01:12:33but this is

01:12:34somebody's child

01:12:36this is a little boy

01:12:38that was blessed

01:12:39with that talent

01:12:42it's just hard

01:12:43to see

01:12:44see that

01:12:45and think of

01:12:46what could have been

01:12:49what you could have

01:12:50had grandchildren

01:12:51you know

01:12:52we were planning

01:12:53on more grandchildren

01:12:54Tyler helped me

01:12:55put together a crib

01:12:57that I never bought

01:12:59a new one

01:12:59for any of my own children

01:13:01but when the grandkids

01:13:02came along

01:13:03I bought a new one

01:13:04and Tyler helped me

01:13:05put it together

01:13:06and totally planned

01:13:08on having more grandchildren

01:13:10and a future

01:13:11you know

01:13:12for Tyler

01:13:13but it wasn't

01:13:15in the plan

01:13:15and so

01:13:17God's ways

01:13:18are different

01:13:20than our ways

01:13:21and I accept that

01:13:25the story

01:13:26of Tyler Sash

01:13:27in some ways

01:13:28revealing

01:13:29of what

01:13:29this CTE

01:13:30is about

01:13:31obviously

01:13:32in the prime

01:13:33of his

01:13:33I say career

01:13:34but also

01:13:35in his life

01:13:35probably the most

01:13:37healthy

01:13:37he would ever be

01:13:40by all accounts

01:13:42was

01:13:42was a

01:13:43a model citizen

01:13:45I think

01:13:46good things

01:13:47will come

01:13:48from Tyler's story

01:13:52former Hawkeye football star

01:13:54Tyler Sash

01:13:55found dead

01:13:55in his Oskaloosa home

01:13:56in September

01:13:57diagnosed Tyler with

01:13:59CTE

01:14:00it's a degenerative brain disease

01:14:01caused by repeated trauma

01:14:02it's rarely seen

01:14:03in someone Sash's age

01:14:06the shock

01:14:07of the

01:14:08death

01:14:09of Tyler Sash

01:14:10I mean

01:14:10I haven't seen Tyler

01:14:11in a couple of years

01:14:12I didn't see that coming

01:14:13obviously

01:14:14our condolences

01:14:15go out to his family

01:14:17and his friends

01:14:17and all those

01:14:18that cared for him

01:14:19he was an outstanding

01:14:20teammate now

01:14:21there's

01:14:21when he was here

01:14:22during the time

01:14:23he was here

01:14:24the players

01:14:25really enjoyed

01:14:26Tyler Sash

01:14:31we traveled back here

01:14:33for Labor Day weekend

01:14:34in 2015

01:14:36came on a Friday

01:14:38and my husband

01:14:39didn't come with us

01:14:40because he had a

01:14:41a bachelor party

01:14:42and they were in Ames

01:14:44and so

01:14:44I brought the kids

01:14:45and Friday night

01:14:46Tyler came over

01:14:48with his girlfriend

01:14:48and Halen

01:14:49kids all played together

01:14:51and their favorite thing

01:14:52to do is

01:14:52is slide down the stairs

01:14:54here at Grandma

01:14:55and Grandpa's

01:14:56store have a dance party

01:14:57dance competition

01:14:59Tyler would play

01:15:00some crazy music

01:15:00and make a mage

01:15:02take a turn

01:15:02dancing

01:15:03so that was

01:15:04that was pretty fun

01:15:05for them

01:15:06there was an Iowa game

01:15:08my brother had just

01:15:09moved in

01:15:09to a house there

01:15:10in Ottumwa

01:15:11so we all traveled

01:15:12down to Ottumwa

01:15:13and watched the game

01:15:15there with Tyler

01:15:16and Tyler

01:15:18was very confused

01:15:19that day

01:15:20he

01:15:21multiple times

01:15:22asked me

01:15:23I take

01:15:24Advocare Spark

01:15:25and he

01:15:25multiple times

01:15:26asked me

01:15:27if he could

01:15:28have a spark

01:15:28and I was like

01:15:30you just had one

01:15:31and I said

01:15:32you can have

01:15:32another one

01:15:33I don't care

01:15:33and he'd make

01:15:34another spark

01:15:35and then he

01:15:36would say

01:15:38hey anybody

01:15:39know where my drink

01:15:40is

01:15:40and it was probably

01:15:42five times

01:15:43that he

01:15:44he would ask

01:15:45where his drink

01:15:45went

01:15:46and we're like

01:15:46it's right there

01:15:47on the counter

01:15:47right where you

01:15:48left it

01:15:48he went and

01:15:49played with the kids

01:15:50there

01:15:50we watched the game

01:15:51and I know Tyler

01:15:53fell asleep

01:15:54during that game

01:15:55which wasn't like

01:15:57him at all

01:15:58and he kept saying

01:16:00that he

01:16:00he had allergies

01:16:01like my mom

01:16:02and he kept saying

01:16:04that his head hurt

01:16:06well Tyler

01:16:07came over Sunday

01:16:08and he was

01:16:09playing out in the

01:16:10backyard with them

01:16:11all you know

01:16:11all day

01:16:12it was really

01:16:12a hot day

01:16:14and he

01:16:15you know

01:16:15just was sprinting

01:16:16up and down

01:16:17the yard

01:16:17and throwing balls

01:16:18and they were just

01:16:19doing all kinds

01:16:20of fun things

01:16:21and they were laughing

01:16:22and having fun

01:16:22and the kids

01:16:23all played

01:16:24and that's when

01:16:24they had the softball

01:16:25game here in the back

01:16:27and we all just

01:16:28hung out as a family

01:16:30and he seemed better

01:16:31on Sunday

01:16:32than what he was

01:16:33on Saturday

01:16:34grandson was in the

01:16:36house sleeping

01:16:37and I came in

01:16:38to check on him

01:16:39and meanwhile

01:16:39Tyler had come in

01:16:40and

01:16:43but then

01:16:44right before he

01:16:45left here

01:16:46on

01:16:47on that Sunday

01:16:48night

01:16:49he

01:16:50it was the

01:16:51strangest thing

01:16:51he

01:16:52went to get a drink

01:16:54at the sink

01:16:55in the kitchen

01:16:57and

01:16:58after he took

01:16:59his drink

01:16:59he

01:16:59he dropped

01:17:00to his knee

01:17:01and

01:17:02really just like

01:17:03grabbed his head

01:17:04and

01:17:05sat here

01:17:06for about

01:17:0715-20 seconds

01:17:08and I was looking

01:17:10at him

01:17:10and I said

01:17:11Ty

01:17:11I said

01:17:12what's wrong

01:17:13honey

01:17:13and he said

01:17:14I just feel like

01:17:15I could die

01:17:16and we're like

01:17:17what is wrong

01:17:18and he said

01:17:19my

01:17:19my head hurts

01:17:20so bad

01:17:23and that's haunted

01:17:24me

01:17:24ever since then

01:17:26because I thought

01:17:27what could have

01:17:28been going on

01:17:29with him

01:17:30to make that

01:17:31statement

01:17:32and then

01:17:33he just stood up

01:17:34ran out the backyard

01:17:35and started playing

01:17:36with the kids

01:17:37all over again

01:17:38and so I

01:17:39you know

01:17:40I didn't think

01:17:41much of it

01:17:41at the time

01:17:42later that day

01:17:44Tyler left

01:17:45with his girlfriend

01:17:46and her little girl

01:17:47and he said

01:17:48they were going

01:17:49to go get

01:17:49something to eat

01:17:50he

01:17:52called me

01:17:53about

01:17:53I think

01:17:53it was

01:17:54quarter to

01:17:54nine

01:17:54that night

01:17:55and he said

01:17:56mom

01:17:56did I leave

01:17:56my billfold

01:17:57there

01:17:57I can't

01:17:58find it

01:17:59and I said

01:18:00look

01:18:01and so I

01:18:02looked around

01:18:03the house

01:18:03and I

01:18:05I couldn't

01:18:06find it

01:18:06and I said

01:18:07no I don't

01:18:07see it here

01:18:08anywhere honey

01:18:09and he said

01:18:09I was just

01:18:10going to buy

01:18:10a couple

01:18:10Gatorades

01:18:11and so

01:18:11she gave

01:18:12him

01:18:12a $20 bill

01:18:14and I

01:18:14really hardly

01:18:15talked with him

01:18:16because he'd

01:18:16been here all

01:18:17day and I

01:18:18was helping

01:18:19the grandkids

01:18:19getting them

01:18:20ready to get

01:18:20to bed

01:18:21so he left

01:18:26Monday

01:18:27would have

01:18:28been the day

01:18:28I left

01:18:29town

01:18:30because my

01:18:30kids had

01:18:31school on

01:18:32Tuesday

01:18:32and so I

01:18:33took them

01:18:33back on

01:18:34Monday

01:18:34and I had

01:18:35texted him

01:18:35when I left

01:18:36town but I

01:18:37thought he was

01:18:37busy because

01:18:38he was supposed

01:18:38to be at a

01:18:39party with his

01:18:40girlfriend

01:18:40and so I

01:18:41didn't think

01:18:42anything of it

01:18:43that he didn't

01:18:43message me

01:18:44back

01:18:44took the dog

01:18:45for a walk

01:18:45and I went

01:18:46over to his

01:18:46house and I

01:18:47opened the

01:18:47door and I

01:18:48saw him

01:18:48sleeping on

01:18:49the couch

01:18:51and so the

01:18:52dog came

01:18:52running to

01:18:53the door

01:18:53and I took

01:18:54her and we

01:18:54went for an

01:18:55hour walk

01:18:55and I came

01:18:56back and he

01:18:58was still

01:18:58asleep and I

01:18:59was really

01:18:59surprised because

01:19:00he did not

01:19:01sleep very well

01:19:02so I kind of

01:19:03snuck in and

01:19:04tiptoed really

01:19:05pretty close to

01:19:06him that I

01:19:06could have

01:19:07reached out and

01:19:07touched him and

01:19:08I didn't look

01:19:08at him

01:19:12I hadn't heard

01:19:13from him yet

01:19:15that morning it

01:19:16was still 8.30

01:19:179 o'clock and

01:19:18then I hadn't

01:19:19heard from him

01:19:19the day before

01:19:20which is when I

01:19:21assumed he was

01:19:21catching up on

01:19:22his sleep

01:19:22I got a text

01:19:24message from his

01:19:25girlfriend saying

01:19:26hey have you

01:19:28heard from Tyler

01:19:29she said

01:19:29Jane just

01:19:31text me and

01:19:33said that Tyler's

01:19:34medicine is still

01:19:35here at the

01:19:35pharmacy from

01:19:37yesterday and he

01:19:38hasn't come today

01:19:39yet

01:19:40and I asked

01:19:40her you know

01:19:41if she saw

01:19:41him before she

01:19:42left and she

01:19:43hadn't and so

01:19:44she was going to

01:19:45get a hold of

01:19:45her mom and

01:19:46that's when we

01:19:46kind of put

01:19:47everything together

01:19:48my daughter had

01:19:49called and said

01:19:51that his girlfriend

01:19:54had called her

01:19:55and said she had

01:19:56text Tyler a few

01:19:57times and she

01:19:58didn't hear back

01:19:58from him she was

01:19:59concerned she said

01:20:01are you going over

01:20:02there to get

01:20:03Bella and I said

01:20:04yeah I'll be over

01:20:04there probably in a

01:20:05half an hour so I

01:20:07felt a little sense

01:20:08of relief and then

01:20:09I then that fear

01:20:11started creeping

01:20:12back up in me and

01:20:13I said I said just

01:20:14go make sure because

01:20:16I thought you know

01:20:17she didn't talk to

01:20:18him so I went over

01:20:19and I opened the

01:20:21door the dog was

01:20:22sitting in the chair

01:20:23scared to death I

01:20:25opened the door and

01:20:26she bolted right for

01:20:27me I took her out

01:20:28and put her in my

01:20:29car I could see

01:20:31him and so I went

01:20:34back in after I got

01:20:35the dog and I it

01:20:37was like somebody

01:20:38else was inside my

01:20:39body walking up to

01:20:40my son because I

01:20:44knew it would be

01:20:45the last time I'd

01:20:46ever see his face

01:20:48and it wasn't a

01:20:49good picture and I

01:20:53just I don't know

01:20:56I was hoping to get

01:20:57some kind of peace

01:20:58by seeing him but I

01:21:03didn't get that

01:21:04his sister Megan

01:21:05called me and was

01:21:06crying hysterically and

01:21:08I couldn't really

01:21:08understand what she

01:21:09was saying all I

01:21:10could make out was

01:21:11she kept saying he's

01:21:12gone he's gone he's

01:21:13gone Heather and then

01:21:15I started crying and I

01:21:17picked up my stuff and

01:21:24went out the door and

01:21:26went over to the house I

01:21:29just stayed outside

01:21:30died because the police

01:21:31were just getting there

01:21:32and then eventually his

01:21:33mom came out and said

01:21:35he was gone

01:21:40in a sea of stars

01:21:46I can find you shine

01:21:50I can find you shine

01:21:55reflections on the water

01:22:00for a million miles

01:22:09just don't say goodbye

01:22:29and when you feel like flying

01:22:35and when you feel like flying

01:22:42I still see it in the shadows

01:22:48If you could have two minutes

01:22:50with Tyler what would you

01:22:51tell him?

01:22:56Oh that's a hard one

01:22:59two minutes huh

01:23:01is this the two minute drill

01:23:05um I guess I would tell him

01:23:07how sorry that I was

01:23:10that I didn't know

01:23:13that I didn't have the

01:23:15compassion for him

01:23:17because I didn't understand

01:23:19because as a parent I was

01:23:21still hard on him

01:23:24I didn't understand why he

01:23:26wasn't going to get a job

01:23:28even though he couldn't

01:23:29his mind was not there

01:23:33I just thought I needed to

01:23:35use tough love on him

01:23:38but I would have told him

01:23:40that I was so sorry

01:23:41Tyler was the type of person

01:23:43that especially in the last

01:23:46couple years of his life

01:23:48would just randomly text me

01:23:51and say I love you Megan

01:23:52I'm so proud of you

01:23:54for this this and this

01:23:55he just didn't leave it

01:23:57unsaid

01:23:58he he made sure to tell

01:24:00the people that he loved

01:24:01how much he cared about

01:24:02them and so because he did

01:24:05that it was reciprocated

01:24:06by by me and him and I

01:24:10had many of those

01:24:11heartfelt conversations

01:24:13I think I'd tell him I

01:24:16loved him and I would have

01:24:17done anything for him

01:24:19but I know he already knows

01:24:21that

01:24:24I'd tell him I loved him

01:24:25I'd tell him how much we care

01:24:29about what he stood for

01:24:31that's great

01:24:33that's what I'd do

01:24:35because you know

01:24:37special person

01:24:42you know a special

01:24:44special family person

01:24:46great player

01:24:49I would tell him that

01:24:50and it had nothing to do

01:24:52with football

01:24:53I'd tell him I loved him

01:24:54and I'd tell him

01:24:54what he stood for

01:24:56was was really important

01:24:57I'm still kind of

01:24:59lost

01:24:59I don't really know

01:25:01where I want to be yet

01:25:03or

01:25:04what I'm doing

01:25:07I just hope everyone listens

01:25:09and

01:25:10the awareness is raised

01:25:12for it

01:25:13the facts come out

01:25:16thanks

01:25:41did that hurt

01:25:42then why did you say ouch

01:25:57what do you miss most

01:25:58about your uncle today

01:26:00no

01:26:09for people 15 20 years

01:26:11down the road

01:26:12I'd want them to say

01:26:13that kid came out

01:26:14every day

01:26:15no matter what it was

01:26:16he'd do it

01:26:17he'd get it done

01:26:19and he'd work hard

01:26:20he was a good role model

01:26:21for kids

01:26:22kids looked up to him

01:26:24and

01:26:24he was a leader

01:26:36well the good news

01:26:37well the good news is

01:26:37that my son knows Jesus

01:26:40and my son's gonna be

01:26:41waiting for me

01:26:43on the other side

01:26:44and so I have that hope

01:26:46is

01:27:06for you

01:27:14and so on the other side

01:27:16I came with a kid

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