Author Interview -- NFL Concussions

This is a groundbreaking topic, as the New York Times has run story after story about NFL players dying young of Alzheimer's disease and teenaged players just plain dying on the field. Check in with the KBOO front desk to find available studio times, write down three that work for you, and THEN call up the PR guy to schedule....remember, you're shooting for 28 minutes final runtime.



Pre-Season NFL Segment / Interview Dr. Bennet Omalu About His Book "PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG" & the Effects of Multiple Concussions
Contact: Adam Rifenberick
Press Box Publicity
Phone: (716) 741-8495
E-Mail: adam@pressboxpublicity.com

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Pre-Season NFL Segment / Interview Dr. Bennet Omalu About His Book "PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG" & the Effects of Multiple Concussions

Dr. Bennet Omalu will be available for interviews from Tuesday, May 20th through Monday, May 26th

As we start to gear up for another NFL season, spend a few moments discussing one of the most important issues in the game today: the long-term health of its players. Interview Dr. Bennet Omalu, author of the new book "PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG" (Neo-Forenxis Books) as he discusses one of the scourges of our favorite sport-the cumulative effect of multiple concussions on the game's superstars.

It's an issue that is not going away and it's an issue that isn't being talked about nearly enough. As a part of you pre-season coverage, please consider an interview with Dr. Bennet Omalu. Dr. Omalu will be available for interviews from Tuesday, May 20th through Monday, May 26th. For more information about "PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG" and/or to schedule an interview with Dr. Omalu, please contact Adam Rifenberick, Press Box Publicity @ Adam@PressBoxPublicity.com or 716.741.8495.


____________________________

Mike Webster. Terry Long. Andre Waters.

Three men who took the hard hits and survived the NFL.

So why couldn't they survive retirement?

From the first physician to examine in autopsy the long-term brain injuries suffered by the league's best .

"PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG"



"Every NFL player ought to be issued a copy of (PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG) when he reports to training camp. Let him know up front the risks that lie ahead. I'd recommend the book to families of NFL players as well."-Rick Gosselin, Dallas Morning News

Each week in the NFL, young men wage war on the field of play. Fans marvel at the jarring hits. At the speed of the game. We are amazed as massive bodies explode into one another. The collisions are loud. The bodies fly, fold, fall, before finally coming to rest on the turf. We hold our breaths until reassured by the first sign of movement. What happened? Nothing. He's shaking it off.

We put these players on a pedestal because of their talent, size and speed. We draft them for fantasy football, collect their trading cards, wear their jerseys, teach our children to emulate them. But they are human. Their bodies are essentially the same as ours. Bigger maybe, but still flesh and bone. Vulnerable. Joints are damaged. Ligaments strained. Brains jostled. Over the course of a career, a player subjects himself to more punishment than can possibly be imagined. Hit after hit. Strain after strain. Concussion after concussion. And as readers will find out, there is no such thing as "shaking it off".

"PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG: Football Dementia, Depression, and Death", by Bennett Omalu, MD (Neo-Forenxis Books) represents the findings of the only forensic pathologist who has examined the brains of retired NFL players and identified a specific type of football-induced brain injury: gridiron dementia. His ground-breaking research exposes the extent of the trauma associated with multiple concussions so many players accept as part of the game.

Dr. Omalu uses three case studies to illuminate a controversial topic. We remember Hall-of-Famer Mike Webster on the field. He was tough. A champion. We remember Terry Long and Andre Waters as fierce competitors. What happened after they left the NFL? Dr. Omalu fills us in-from the first day of retirement to the autopsy table after their untimely deaths. Gridiron dementia is devastating. Dr. Omalu describes the decline of these men from depression to financial turmoil to paranoia and, in two cases, to suicide.

Their bodies are destroyed in stoic silence, as they work in a culture where they can't complain about pain or disorientation for fear of being sidelined, losing starting positions, changing their roles on the team, or losing their jobs. They experience haziness, dizziness, fatigue, headaches, nausea, vomiting, memory problems, sensitivity to noise, sensitivity to light, depression, nervousness, irritability, poor concentration, and poor balance all in the pursuit of perfection on the field. Then when their playing days are done, they are sent out and told to live "normal" lives.

"[T]he estimated incidence of dementia in the U.S. population at ages sixty to sixty-nine is about sixty-six dementia cases per one hundred thousand people per year. Already we know close to sixty retired NFL players who are registered with the NFL dementia plan. The amazing thing is that there are fewer than ten thousand living retired NFL players."-From PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG

With bodies pushed past their limits, retired NFL players may have been well-paid in their playing days, but they pay the price for decades after the cheers have faded. The cumulative effects of concussions cloud their minds. Webster, Long and Waters struggled against symptoms caused by years of abuse. They lost. Others players struggle at this very moment.

Some say that professional football is the soul of America . Nobody wants to antagonize the NFL or put the game in jeopardy. PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG simply begins an important dialogue about what needs to happen next to ensure the safety of these athletes in the long term. It also provides information for family members who are in the process of coming to terms with a dangerous career in the NFL-or any organized full-contact football league. Finally, it is a wake-up call to the NFL, which could be accused of being slow to act on an increasingly obvious and tragic problem.

These are just three stories of many, but this is an issue that will sweep through the sport when the book is released after this year's Super Bowl. Dr. Omalu hopes to help change the culture of this beloved sport so that no more need to be asked to PLAY HARD, DIE YOUNG.

"Omalu's disturbing manuscript gives me a new appreciation for the 'precipice of football history.'"-Dave Krieger, Rocky Mountain News

Bennet Omalu is a medical doctor with an MPH degree, as well as four board certifications in anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, forensic pathology, and neuropathology. He is currently completing a master's in business administration degree program at the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University . Dr. Omalu performs autopsies and examines the brains of individuals who suffered brain injuries. Dr. Omalu was the first person to identify gridiron dementia in the brains of NFL players. He has examined the brains of retired NFL players who suffered from dementia and major depression due to repeated concussions sustained from playing professional football.