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This is what a lot of people, myself included, suspected after his suicide. I remember threads here and other places with posters rallying against people assuming it was CTE, but with the new emphasis on neurological health over the past decade, anyone who had been paying attention knew where this was headed from the beginning. Seau is one of the more high profile athletes to have this confirmed, I wonder if we see a new wave of people donating their brain to science (like Lofa). Either way, this doesn't necessarily prove that CTE caused Seau to kill himself, but definitely another point of data to add to the growing list.

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Pretty sad stuff.

The NFL helmets have got to change. I have no doubt they contribute a considerable amount to the brain trauma.

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The helmets won't prevent concussions, though. They can't stop the brain from moving inside the skull.

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There are anti-concussion helmets.

Also, the current helmets are used as weapons because they're like 8 damn pounds. That's ridiculous.

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My single greatest contribution to the board: "42-13" (formerly 24-14)

There are some helmets that are better at absorbing the impact, thus making concussions less likely. The problem is two fold, the NFL's standards of testing helmets isn't as strict as some of the safety industry would like them to be, and the NFL doesn't require a certain type of helmet be used during the games/practice. They allow players to pick which equipment suits them best, and unfortunately the overwhelming majority go for style rather than protection. They have had "safe" helmets around for a long time, no one wants to wear them. All of this is on top of things like the NFL not mandating mouth guards; it is so juxtaposed to their stance on safety over the last few years. If the NFL wanted to make the game safer, they could take several small steps that would do much more good than some of the more recent politicized changes.

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The mouthguard one is another great point. I remember hating the mouthguard requirement while playing baseball and basketball as a kid, but now I'm glad I did. I thought it was just to protect my teeth/lips, but they do a lot more to absorb constant impacts than I would have ever thought.

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My single greatest contribution to the board: "42-13" (formerly 24-14)