Does Richard Sherman have CTE?

ivotuk

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A caller in to John Clayton's Weekend show who is a mental health counselor believes Richard is exhibiting behaviors associated with CTE.

And she was NOT happy with Brock and Salk's podcast mentioning alcoholism and "taking responsibility for one's actions."

As a gratefully recovering alcoholic and addict, it pains me to no end when people that are completely ignorant to such mental health issues start commenting on it. Some people sit on their high horses and pass judgement on others when they should just keep their mouth shut.

They do way more damage than good.

23 minutes in:

JOHN CLAYTON WEEKENDS Hour 2: NFL Training Camp Roundup

John takes a trip around the NFL to look at the most interesting stories that could impact Training Camp, including how the Seahawks NFL West Rivals are shaping up in the off season

and the latest on the Richard Sherman situation.

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/category ... n+Weekends
 

Sports Hernia

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ivotuk":209gxo0x said:
A caller in to John Clayton's Weekend show who is a mental health counselor believes Richard is exhibiting behaviors associated with CTE.

And she was NOT happy with Brock and Salk's podcast mentioning alcoholism and "taking responsibility for one's actions."

As a gratefully recovering alcoholic and addict, it pains me to no end when people that are completely ignorant to such mental health issues start commenting on it. Some people sit on their high horses and pass judgement on others when they should just keep their mouth shut.

They do way more damage than good.

23 minutes in:

JOHN CLAYTON WEEKENDS Hour 2: NFL Training Camp Roundup

John takes a trip around the NFL to look at the most interesting stories that could impact Training Camp, including how the Seahawks NFL West Rivals are shaping up in the off season

and the latest on the Richard Sherman situation.

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/category ... n+Weekends
Likely.
 

knownone

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It's a weird thing for people in the media to be speculating about because there is no way of knowing. In my opinion, it's not sports-related, so leave it alone unless Richard chooses to speak about it.
 

SantaClaraHawk

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It is possible for anyone to have both alcohol use disorder and CTE. In fact I think it's more common than not.

Given that Ashley said he emptied two bottles of hard booze, followed by the DUI crash, followed by him going to the parents' house, that's a problem. His (according to Ashley) not remembering stuff afterwards, also a problem.

CTE or not, this is a problem not worth dealing with.

Yes, I can see why he doesn't want to go to a meeting as Richard Sherman, because that's then what the meeting would be about. But certainly he is not the only NFL player or celebrity to have had this issue, and certain places have closed meetings for exactly this reason. After all, it only takes three people and a coffee pot, right?

I'm not saying at all AA/NA is the only approach, and the religiosity of AA (in particular) irks me, but it does attempt to install and fairly quickly a behavior modification approach.
 

Sports Hernia

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I think most football players (outside of punters and kickers) who make it to the NFL have varying degrees of CTE.
 

Sports Hernia

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I think most football players (outside of punters and kickers) who make it to the NFL have varying degrees of CTE.
 

TwistedHusky

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Go read the stories about Dave Duerson and his family. The experiences people around him had.

Then there is a Saints player where the wife was documenting experiences after his playing days where later he was found to have CTE (found after he had died).

Fits of anger out of nowhere, tending to get emotional and losing control, and trying to self-medicate with alcohol are all symptoms.

Truckdrivers become alcoholics too, so some % would be there regardless - but CTE seems to be pervasive in the NFL.

A symptom of CTE is the loss of the inhibitor that makes you stop yourself when you are tempted to act out. We all get moments we want to haul off and just scream at someone, or punch them in the face - but we know enough to know it doesn't solve things.

CTE-affected people lose the ability to do that, at least on some level. (I actually think it is part of the reason you see domestic violence reports among former NFL players, some of it would have been there regardless but it seems like to makes it much worse.

Sherman's issue MIGHT not be CTE. But it sure as hell fits the bill. Which sucks because there is no cure for it.

I would much rather Sherman, a guy I will always love watching play, be a raging alcoholic than affected by a terrible amount of brain damage that appears to get worse over time.

Fingers crossed for him that this is just him being a jerk or alcoholic and not something so much worse.
 

LTH

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I'm sure glad I'm not being diagnosed by a mental health pro on the radio... I think this is a streach being that nobody really knows what's going on with Sherm... I'm not liking this much I think this is an invasion of sherm's personal life that really the media has no business talking about what Sherm might have.. come on man...


LTH
 

mikeak

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LTH":2dcdt1td said:
I'm sure glad I'm not being diagnosed by a mental health pro on the radio... I think this is a streach being that nobody really knows what's going on with Sherm... I'm not liking this much I think this is an invasion of sherm's personal life that really the media has no business talking about what Sherm might have.. come on man...


LTH

+1,+2,+3

We simply don't know and it is not our job to speculate.

I wish him the best and hope he figures it out. If he wants to play again then I hope that happens for him, but if it is better not to them I wish him the best retirement
 

TwistedHusky

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Except CTE is not a 'mental health problem', it is a physical problem.

It wouldn't be some sort of private problem then, but a workplace injury. And since we literally have threads on here about how fans wish the NFL would go back to being more violent - this is the counterpoint.

If Richard has CTE, it is because the violence cultivated in high school, college, and now the NFL all have consequences. CTE is the cumulative effect of some of that. And that violence is cultivated because the fans of the sport encourage it.

Then it ISN'T just a private problem because the impact needs to be public in order for people to support the people impacted AND in order for changes that curb CTE to be implemented.

I love the violence. Love it. Miss it.

But understand that I don't want Lynch, Kam, or Sherman or anyone else to end up having their lives ruined after their playing days - because we like watching someone get violently slammed to the ground.

At this point it is speculation because you cannot confirm CTE until someone is dead. But it does change the culpability, it becomes less about Sherman could or shouldn't do and more about what the NFL can do or should do to help him.

There is a good % that the alcohol issues and other issues described are symptoms of a larger problem. Considering that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
 

Sgt. Largent

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TwistedHusky":1xgs5pjj said:
Except CTE is not a 'mental health problem', it is a physical problem.

I'd say the family member of players like Junior Seau and Tyler Hilinski would argue with you that it's not a mental health problem.

Complications and side effects from CTE absolutely has been proven to affect the person's brain chemistry and lead to mental health issues. Obviously, suicide.
 

TwistedHusky

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Fair enough Largent.

When people use words like 'mental health' they generally refer to in the context of a treatable condition.

For some that can be therapy and counseling. And for some, it can be some sort of treatment combined with prescriptions. Maybe something else, but at least there is treatment and a possibility of recovery.

Not to diminish the impact of mental health challenges on those afflicted, but the use of the word diminishes the impact. There are mental issues due to the brain damage but CTE is a physical injury, at a minimum it is tissue damage.

You can treat depression. You can even treat chemical imbalances that cause mental illness.

You cannot treat holes in the brain, especially holes that appear to multiply and get worse over time.

There is also a perception that mental health is a private matter, for the most part. And the challenges surrounding it can be overcome.

Again, you are not overcoming CTE and the impact it has - certainly not right now. Maybe in the future.

So the point is, if this is CTE (to be determined apparently only after death), then it isn't something Sherman could or should take responsibility for. He could 'manage' it, but mainly in the way that a terminal cancer patient can manage how they display symptoms to the outside world - by hiding it or doing his best to keep the impact of it away from those that are not him.

The whole thing sucks.

This is one of the few times I would be rooting for alcoholism instead of some sort of slow, creeping, enervating, death sentence. The CTE thing isn't even unlikely. That is the worst part of it. It isn't assured but some of the flack he took shows me he isn't getting the benefit of the doubt.

The question is, how many other people got impacted like Seau and we don't know?
 

SE174

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Sgt. Largent":iyvr3rt6 said:
TwistedHusky":iyvr3rt6 said:
Except CTE is not a 'mental health problem', it is a physical problem.

I'd say the family member of players like Junior Seau and Tyler Hilinski would argue with you that it's not a mental health problem.

Complications and side effects from CTE absolutely has been proven to affect the person's brain chemistry and lead to mental health issues. Obviously, suicide.

It's a physical, medical condition with mental health symptoms.

Considering Sherm hasn't previously exhibited behavior to this extreme with serious legal consequences (to the public's knowledge), I think he most certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's a high profile player in a high profile profession; that alone would be difficult to deal with on a daily basis, without adding in the impending downslide of his career and possible exacerbation of all the aforementioned due to CTE.

While no one but Sherm and possibly his wife truly knows what's going on with him, I do appreciate the caller bringing attention to this very possible if not likely factor, because no one deserves to have their character dragged through the muck by those without direct knowledge of the situation (unless their previous behavior has been proven to be the norm instead of the exception).

I hope he gets the help he needs.
 

Sgt. Largent

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SE174":1jovuwme said:
Sgt. Largent":1jovuwme said:
TwistedHusky":1jovuwme said:
Except CTE is not a 'mental health problem', it is a physical problem.

I'd say the family member of players like Junior Seau and Tyler Hilinski would argue with you that it's not a mental health problem.

Complications and side effects from CTE absolutely has been proven to affect the person's brain chemistry and lead to mental health issues. Obviously, suicide.

It's a physical, medical condition with mental health symptoms.

Considering Sherm hasn't previously exhibited behavior to this extreme with serious legal consequences (to the public's knowledge), I think he most certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's a high profile player in a high profile profession; that alone would be difficult to deal with on a daily basis, without adding in the impending downslide of his career and possible exacerbation of all the aforementioned due to CTE.

While no one but Sherm and possibly his wife truly knows what's going on with him, I do appreciate the caller bringing attention to this very possible if not likely factor, because no one deserves to have their character dragged through the muck by those without direct knowledge of the situation (unless their previous behavior has been proven to be the norm instead of the exception).

I hope he gets the help he needs.


This is obviously pure conjecture and speculation on my part, but IMO Sherman's latest erratic outburst hasn't been all that different than any of his previous ones on the field, locker room or sidelines.

Only difference is this happened in his personal life.

He's always had a hair trigger chip on his shoulder anger edge to his personality, I think we're just starting to see it rear it's ugly head in his personal life now that Richard's grappling with his career possibly being over.

So CTE? Eh, Idk about that.
 

TwistedHusky

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Largent,

You are correct that some of seems to a more extreme mirror of his past behavior on the field.

We will leave aside whether that behavior is a 'character' or not.

The question is whether he has CTE? but it really seems to be a 'Could Sherman have CTE" question.

Could he have it? Absolutely.

In fact, his earlier behavior could have been an indicator.

Remember they have found CTE in college football players, so getting to the NFL with the beginning of CTE or even existing CTE would not be impossible, or even unlikely.

To me, it is more whether Sherman deserves the benefit of the doubt. I would say yes. At the least.

I am weirdly pulling for him to be an alcoholic here and or some kind of jerk, and not someone dealing with some kind of encroaching death sentence.

But he should get the benefit of the doubt at the least.
 

Sgt. Largent

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For sure, and that's why I said pure speculation.

We don't know all the details, and probably never will. But on the surface what went down sounds more like a VERY proud yet volatile athlete grappling very poorly with the reality of his career being over, and his marriage not going so well either.

Rather than some addiction or CTE issue going on.

My point is some people are saying what happened is out of character for Sherman, therefore it must be CTE or some other mental issue going on, and I'm saying it kinda is in character. He's been volatile since college with outbursts and anger issues, it's what's given him his edge while playing.

Now he's trying to deal with that anger and edge outside of the one outlet he could direct it, and it's not going well.
 
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