Hamilton's plight makes you wonder

[dragondawg]

At first, they held him out for precautionary purposes.

Then they thought it would be a week or two.

Then he missed the entire preseason.

Now it's reached the point where the Broncos can't be sure. The truth is, they don't know when Ben Hamilton will return to his job at left guard.

Hamilton sustained a helmet-to-helmet hit early in training camp and since hasn't been able to work out without feeling nauseous. He recently traveled to Pittsburgh to see a concussion specialist, who told him to rest for two weeks.

Not that he'll be in the lineup after that. Far from it. He'll be re-evaluated then and no one knows if he'll be any better.

And so it is that the Broncos will go into the season without one of their most
reliable offensive linemen. Hamilton, a fixture at left guard since his early days in Denver, has been replaced in the lineup by Chris Myers, who will make his first NFL start Sunday at Buffalo.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Makes you wonder about all those concussions suffered by NFL players in the '60s and '70s. The ones that were called "dings to the head." The ones that often caused a player to miss a few plays, not several weeks.


http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_6798512

[400HZ]

The more you read about concussions, the more you realize that nobody really knows much about them. A real big thing right now for soldiers and marines returning from Iraq is Traumatic Brain Injury. It's essentially a long term brain condition that you receive from all those IED concussions. I went through the screening for it last time I returned and it was painfully obvious that nobody really knew anything about it, only that people were having brain-related issues. CAT scans and MRI's don't tell doctors everything that they need to know.

[bpc]

If we weren't already at where we are, I easily would have slipped Holland into that LG spot and moved Myers and Kuper to compete at the RG spot. I just think the fit would have been so much better.

Anyways, I'm glad we have depth and just hope that Ham can recover.

[dragondawg]

dam bush, your responsible for all the deaths of the soldiers and innocent iraq people just so you can have oil, plus cheney is also banking on this war since halliburton i read provides something for the war i read

[rovolution]

i just dont want to see Myers starting (no offense to his father who i believe posts on this message board).

If he does, his pass protection leaves a lot to be desired and he needs to learn QUICK.

Holland at LG w/ Kuper at RG would be my ideal scenario, but whatev.

[Moon§hiner]

It seems that once a concussion happens, it makes the next one to occur just that much easier....It's driven a few decent QB's out of the league prematurely. I appreciate the info 400. If you experienced such trauma, it explains your posts a lot more. :)

[orinjkrush]

didn't cutler get one last year? i hope he's wearing one of those special helmets now.

[BroncoBuff]

This is an interesting topic, I'm glad Armstrong wrote about it and dawg started a thread.

[ward63]

Hamilton is valuable, but if he has a severe concussion, then he needs to resolve it first. I'm all for getting him out there, but his life is more important and it makes you wonder how some QB's have went w/getting so many.

[BroncoBuff]

Hamilton is valuable, but if he has a severe concussion, then he needs to resolve it first. I'm all for getting him out there, but his life is more important and it makes you wonder how some QB's have went w/getting so many.
Steve Young, Chris Miller and Troy Aikman were QBs whose careers were ended/shortened by concussions. I pontificated profusely on this topic and on Shanahan poor history with concussions in this thread two days ago: http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showthread.php?t=60173

[dragondawg]

aikan had too many that forced him into retirement

[BroncoBuff]

By the way, in case you haven't seen my thread ...


The Broncos have lost THREE STARTERS in the last nine months to season/career ending concussions: Al Wilson, Warrick Holdman, Ben Hamilton.
The Broncos missed the playoffs (kind of) because of Cutler's concussion in the 49ers game. It's a round-about theory, but Jay went out with the concussion, and almost immediately threw that strange, Blackledge-like pick-six when he came back. It was still early in the game, but you can argue that lost us the game. My point is, he mightta been groggy.
At any rate, I hope they check out Karl Paymah ten ways to Sunday, and I hope the NFL will research and mandate better head and neck protection ... because this is getting ridiculous. THREE STARTERS in nine months is too much.

[TallyBronco]

By the way, in case you haven't seen my thread ...


The Broncos have lost THREE STARTERS in the last nine months to season/career ending concussions: Al Wilson, Warrick Holdman, Ben Hamilton.
The Broncos missed the playoffs (kind of) because of Cutler's concussion in the 49ers game. It's a round-about theory, but Jay went out with the concussion, and almost immediately threw that strange, Blackledge-like pick-six when he came back. It was still early in the game, but you can argue that lost us the game. My point is, he mightta been groggy.
At any rate, I hope they check out Karl Paymah ten ways to Sunday, and I hope the NFL will research and mandate better head and neck protection ... because this is getting ridiculous. THREE STARTERS in nine months is too much.

You need a few lessons in sample size and random error. It is likely that at least one team in the NFL each season will suffer an unusually high number of concussions due to no fault of their own. You have more hysteria than evidence. But I imagine it makes you feel better.

[BroncoBuff]

You have more hysteria than evidence. But I imagine it makes you feel better.
Hysteria? What an odd thing to say ...

If you think that's hysteria, you should go over to my own concussion thread ... now THAT'S hysteria! :~ohyah!:

I am merely advocating that the super-rich NFL take player safety more seriously, and spend some real money on R&D into better equipment. If you think losing THREE STARTERS in nine months - for seasons/careers - is just "the breaks of the game," then I can see why you post so rarely here. Whadd'ya say you keep it that way, huh? :thumbs:

[elsid13]

By the way, in case you haven't seen my thread ...


The Broncos have lost THREE STARTERS in the last nine months to season/career ending concussions: Al Wilson, Warrick Holdman, Ben Hamilton.
The Broncos missed the playoffs (kind of) because of Cutler's concussion in the 49ers game. It's a round-about theory, but Jay went out with the concussion, and almost immediately threw that strange, Blackledge-like pick-six when he came back. It was still early in the game, but you can argue that lost us the game. My point is, he mightta been groggy.
At any rate, I hope they check out Karl Paymah ten ways to Sunday, and I hope the NFL will research and mandate better head and neck protection ... because this is getting ridiculous. THREE STARTERS in nine months is too much.

Holdman doesn't have a concussion. He has spinal cord bruising when Mike Bell ran into him. It different and separate issue.

[Atlas]

dam bush, your responsible for all the deaths of the soldiers and innocent iraq people just so you can have oil, plus cheney is also banking on this war since halliburton i read provides something for the war i read

I want to see what kind of (signing bonus) Cheney is going to get once he returns to work for Haliburton. They'll probably cut him a $50 million check.

[BroncoBuff]

It's the same issue to me. Holdman's spine was the part of his body that was injured, but that injury was the result of a concussion - a blow to the head. From Andrew Mason:

the Broncos learned that he will be out for at least three months following the spinal-cord concussion he suffered nine days ago.

http://blog.denverbroncos.com/mason/category/warrick-holdman/

[elsid13]

It's the same issue to me. Holdman's spine was the part of his body that was injured, but that injury was the result of a concussion - a blow to the head. From Andrew Mason:



http://blog.denverbroncos.com/mason/category/warrick-holdman/

It not the same type of injury. Hamiliton has brain swelling and brain bruising, Holdman has a bruise to his spinal cord.

[TheReverend]

By the way, in case you haven't seen my thread ...


The Broncos have lost THREE STARTERS in the last nine months to season/career ending concussions: Al Wilson, Warrick Holdman, Ben Hamilton.
The Broncos missed the playoffs (kind of) because of Cutler's concussion in the 49ers game. It's a round-about theory, but Jay went out with the concussion, and almost immediately threw that strange, Blackledge-like pick-six when he came back. It was still early in the game, but you can argue that lost us the game. My point is, he mightta been groggy.
At any rate, I hope they check out Karl Paymah ten ways to Sunday, and I hope the NFL will research and mandate better head and neck protection ... because this is getting ridiculous. THREE STARTERS in nine months is too much.

You mean 1 concussion, 2 neck injuries?

[defenseman]

dam bush, your responsible for all the deaths of the soldiers and innocent iraq people just so you can have oil, plus cheney is also banking on this war since halliburton i read provides something for the war i read

Take it to the WRP thread. Stick to sports topic at hand, not your politics, that doesn't belong on the sports threads...dman

[BroncoBuff]

You mean 1 concussion, 2 neck injuries?
No ... I mean three head/neck concussions that resulted in brain injuries, neck injuries and spinal cord injuries. All the original hits - blows - were to the head/neck. The parts of the body that sustained the injuries include heads, brains, necks, etc...

[BroncoBuff]

TODAY it was announced that repeated concussions causing multiple brain injuries over his lifetime is a probable causative factor for CHRIS BENOIT'S murder-suicide:


Benoit's father, doctor speculate wrestler had brain damage
Autopsy showed effect of multiple concussions

By MIKE MORRIS (mmorris@ajc.com)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/05/07

The father of Chris Benoit and a doctor who examined brain matter from the former pro wrestler said Wednesday that brain damage caused by multiple concussions might have contributed to the deaths of Benoit, his wife and his son.
Authorities say Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, on June 22 and then killed their son, Daniel, the next day before taking his own life at their Fayetteville home.
<!--endtext--><!--endclickprintinclude--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=175 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=170 bgColor=#cccccc border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=9 width=168 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=body>• More Fayette news (http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/fayette/index.html)


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Dr. Julian Bailes, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at West Virginia University and a founding member of the Sports Legacy Institute, told ABC's Good Morning America Wednesday that damage to the wrestler's brain was "striking and maybe shocking."
Bailes showed images of Benoit's brain matter, and said the images showed "dead brain cells" and damage that mimicked that found in Alzheimer's patients.

He said his study had found brain damage that was "very abnormal and something you shouldn't see in a 40-year-old."

Asked whether previous concussions could have led to the damage, Bailes said, "We think we have great anatomical damage here from previous trauma," Bailes said. "Whether it had a psychiatric or behavioral expression, we certainly think that's most likely."

Benoit's father, Michael Benoit, said his son suffered "quite a number" of concussions during his wrestling career.

"Our research has shown that three major concussions may be the threshhold that serious later consequences may occur," Bailes said.

The Sports Legacy Institute, a research group founded to study degenerative brain conditions caused by repetitive brain injuries, planned a late-morning press conference in New York to release the findings of the study on Benoit's brain.

In July, a GBI toxicology report showed Benoit had highly elevated levels of testosterone. But medical experts warned against automatically assuming that steroids were responsible for Benoit's alleged murder of his wife and son.

[Eldorado]

Atlas!

One Q: Who IS she??

[Old Dude]

I'm just wishing Ben a thorough recovery. If it takes some time, it takes some time.