Meiko Locksley fought deep bouts of paranoia. Most families did not connect the dots to C.T.E., with symptoms that can include impulsivity, moodiness and memory loss. When is a battered helmet merely the mark of a gritty, hard-hitting player, and when is it a cracked shell hiding something damaged and darker?Įach athlete had his unique struggles. For some players, maybe most, they may never add up to anything serious, or maybe not for many years. There is no counting the ones that don’t. Those are just the injuries that get noticed. There is worry, there is empathy, there is relief. There are times when the situation becomes scary. Their father, George Atkinson, is a former Oakland Raiders defensive back known as the “Hit Man.” His sons died by suicide less than a year apart.Īll young athletes get hurt. Josh and George Atkinson III were twins who played for the University of Notre Dame. Hunter Foraker played at Dartmouth College before quitting over concerns about concussions. Meiko Locksley was a former college football player and the son of Michael Locksley, who is now the head football coach at the University of Maryland.

Wyatt Bramwell dreamed of playing football at the University of Missouri and then the N.F.L. How dangerous could it be? They are so small.

Watch their helmets jiggle as they run down the field. Watch their faces as they put on the pads. Lives spin around the game: afternoon practices, Friday night games, Saturdays and Sundays spent huddled around televisions. This is America, and football is laced into its cultural soul.

It is hard to imagine their childhoods without football. I have grandsons now that love football andĪre playing contact football before high school. We still have a son that plays football.” See these young kids in helmets and pads, I wouldn’t want to take that away from him.” Or you’re part of a solution to the problem. “The Dallas coroner went into his apartment,Īnd in his apartment were football helmets and The concussions played any part in the connection Midst of this pain that we were experiencingĪfter we found out that Meiko was killed.

Teens playing with dicks