Tim Krumrie wants you to read his story about coping with brain trauma

[jowczarski]

I know, I know - I have my own thread. But thought this might be worth a cross over.
Spent time with Tim in Colorado and he's truly an amazing guy. He wants his story out there, and I'm privileged to tell it. Any questions, by all means - fire away. Any shares always appreciated!

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2017/12/07/tim-krumrie-brain-trauma-wont-settle-sad-fate/905801001/

[sandwedge]

Thanks for sharing! I can only hope that other ex-players and anyone with these injuries can someday function as well as they once did...

[3wt]

Amazing piece of reporting on an increasingly complex set of diagnoses related to the game so many of us love.   I was totally humbled by what it took for Tim to seek out the treatment, accept the diagnosis and come out publicly to share with his peers.

You can really see the damage.  It must have been so bad before.  What an awesome and courageous man.  What stands out to me is the lack of stand out concussions.  And this was not CTE!

Just opens up a whole new dimension to the risks involved in the game.

Really thought provoking and heart breaking.


Thanks

[BengalHawk62]

That's an awesome read!  Every former football player, from junior high and high school to professional players should read that.  I know I've gotten my bell run more than once in football, I wouldn't be surprised if I have some of that too. 

Thanks for sharing!  

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-08-2017, 04:36 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: That's an awesome read!  Every former football player, from junior high and high school to professional players should read that.  I know I've gotten my bell run more than once in football, I wouldn't be surprised if I have some of that too. 

Thanks for sharing!  

Yeah, me too.  My brother and I have discussed this quite a bit recently.  Are memories fading because of age?  Or is it something else?


Thanks for the share Jim, awesome read, and empowering knowledge to have.

[reuben.ahmed]

I never played football and I can't remember why I walked upstairs, starting at age 30. So I'm sure the brain damage doesn't help, though.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-08-2017, 05:53 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: I never played football and I can't remember why I walked upstairs, starting at age 30. So I'm sure the brain damage doesn't help, though.

......well, that makes me fell better! :andy:

[BengalHawk62]

(12-08-2017, 05:50 PM)Wyche Wrote: Yeah, me too.  My brother and I have discussed this quite a bit recently.  Are memories fading because of age?  Or is it something else?


Thanks for the share Jim, awesome read, and empowering knowledge to have.

For you Wyche.....I'm saying old age. 



I'm 40 and I can't say I have a bad memory or anything like that.  I've gotten headaches more as I've aged, but is that because of age and not anything football related?  I don't know.  There is one game I got my bell rung pretty bad.  I don't even remember playing the 2nd half.  The coaches called my folks on our way back home and told them to watch me for signs of being concussed.  I guess at half time they asked me what team we were playing that night and I couldn't tell them the answer.  But they gave me some smelling salts and sent me back out in the 2nd half.  ???  I know I've decided I'm not going to push my new born son into playing tackle football when he gets old enough.  If he wants to, that fine, but not until junior high.  Kids, here are starting to play tackle football with pads and helmets on at around the 2nd grade.  That's just crazy to me.  There's no way I'm pushing my kid into that.

[jowczarski]

Thanks all!

You're right - he struggled with admitting something was wrong, but he felt once he KNEW, all the competitive instincts kicked in and he was able to find some treatment options. He felt a lot of friends/teammates are just letting themselves waste away when they don't have to be.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-08-2017, 06:04 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: For you Wyche.....I'm saying old age. 



I'm 40 and I can't say I have a bad memory or anything like that.  I've gotten headaches more as I've aged, but is that because of age and not anything football related?  I don't know.  There is one game I got my bell rung pretty bad.  I don't even remember playing the 2nd half.  The coaches called my folks on our way back home and told them to watch me for signs of being concussed.  I guess at half time they asked me what team we were playing that night and I couldn't tell them the answer.  But they gave me some smelling salts and sent me back out in the 2nd half.  ???  I know I've decided I'm not going to push my new born son into playing tackle football when he gets old enough.  If he wants to, that fine, but not until junior high.  Kids, here are starting to play tackle football with pads and helmets on at around the 2nd grade.  That's just crazy to me.  There's no way I'm pushing my kid into that.

Hey now, I'm only one year older than you pal.....lol.  My brother is 51, and he has smelled the salts quite a few times.  I only had it once myself.....got blindsided on a kickoff.  My legs were still moving in a running motion when I hit the ground.   I remember the game, so I obviously wasn't hit as hard as you were, but I had a helluva time finding the sidelines. Hell man, we used to knock the shit out of each other in practice, can't count the times I've seen stars.

I've been in three pretty violent car crashes though, one of them quite vicious, ejection, the works.  You combine 10 years of football, and that, kinda makes you wonder.

I started playing at 8, so, third grade.  I have two girls, but if I had a son, I'd be just like you.....maybe even wait until high school.

[BengalHawk62]

(12-08-2017, 06:17 PM)Wyche Wrote: Hey now, I'm only one year older than you pal.....lol.  My brother is 51, and he has smelled the salts quite a few times.  I only had it once myself.....got blindsided on a kickoff.  My legs were still moving in a running motion when I hit the ground.   I remember the game, so I obviously wasn't hit as hard as you were, but I had a helluva time finding the sidelines. Hell man, we used to knock the shit out of each other in practice, can't count the times I've seen stars.

I've been in three pretty violent car crashes though, one of them quite vicious, ejection, the works.  You combine 10 years of football, and that, kinda makes you wonder.

I started playing at 8, so, third grade.  I have two girls, but if I had a son, I'd be just like you.....maybe even wait until high school.

Yikes!  No, I don't remember getting hit or anything.  Just don't remember much from that game, other than pregame stuff.  But you're right, practice had countless times we'd knock the snot out of each other. Its all part of the game we thought. 

Jesus dude, we're lucky we have you here today!  I've only been in one bad accident, but NOTHING, as serious as that.  That was also in high school.  I was knocked out for a brief minute or two.  Took 14 stiches above my right eye, another 20 in my knee. but the worst pain thru that whole ordeal was the rug burns on my left side, shoulder-hip-thigh. 

I'm sure we got something wrong upstairs....hell we're Bengal fans for crying out loud! That oughta be enough proof in itself!  



Sorry.....kind of derailed the thread.   There's a reason Krumrie has always been one of my favorite Bengals of all time.  I still remember feel sickened when broke his leg.  I honestly think if he wouldn't have gone down in that Super Bowl, we would have won that game.  I'm glad he recognized something going on upstairs and that he's got a kick ass wife who's helped him every step of the way.  I didn't realize he coached as long as he did through out the league. 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

What a badass dude and what a great read Jim O!

[*bengalfan74*]

Tim Krumrie has been and always will be one of my favorite Bengals. I wish nothing but the best for him and hope he has a great life with whatever's left.

Many Thanks for sharing Jim !

[jfkbengals]

Awesome story.

Thanks for sharing his tale, Jim.

And here's to Tim conquering this and inspiring others to do the same!

[grampahol]

It definitely ain't just football that causes brain injuries. We know that much for certain. I'd like to have a nickel for every time I got clocked in the noggin on the job, fights in and outside of bars, other sports, falling out of trees, car wrecks and on and on.. 
One of the many reasons I've never worn my hair short is all the scars on my head. I still remember the comments when the Navy cut off my hair in boot camp. 
We're not all privileged to be able to access all this nice medical treatment. Many of us have zero medical coverage with fewer and fewer options being made available to many of us. I'm lucky to be able to access medical care at the VA, but a lot of people are not. My son, now 35 just recently had a heart attack and had a stent put in him with no medical insurance whatsoever so he'll be paying for that till he dies of old age .. Sure, hospitals will perform the operations and surgery, but if you don't have insurance the follow up care can be next to impossible for many of us. His employer offers insurance through his job, but it's far too expensive for him if he wants to be able to pay his rent and buy groceries..
These medical advances are great, but only if you can get access to them and there seems to be little willingness on the part of our government to make this access easier to more people. In fact they want to deny it to more and more people when more and more people actually need it. 
I'm not trying to turn this into a political debate, but if you can't access these great medical advances they mean exactly nothing. 

[jfkbengals]

(12-09-2017, 02:34 AM)grampahol Wrote: I'm not trying to turn this into a political debate, but if you can't access these great medical advances they mean exactly nothing. 

While this is very true, the more publicity things like this receive, the more folks will invest in researching the effectiveness.  This will lead to reasearch so that there can be lower cost ways of utilizing the same treatment.  Additionally, if many wealthy individuals are able to be helped by these treatments, some are bound to want to push to make the treatments more accessible via foundations and other causes so others can receive the treatments that so impacted their own lives.  So while access to these types of treatments are limited now, if they are truly successful they will become more and more in reach as time goes on.

[Utts]

This need to be spread far and wide.

[*jason*]

(12-08-2017, 06:04 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: For you Wyche.....I'm saying old age. 



I'm 40 and I can't say I have a bad memory or anything like that.  I've gotten headaches more as I've aged, but is that because of age and not anything football related?  I don't know.  There is one game I got my bell rung pretty bad.  I don't even remember playing the 2nd half.  The coaches called my folks on our way back home and told them to watch me for signs of being concussed.  I guess at half time they asked me what team we were playing that night and I couldn't tell them the answer.  But they gave me some smelling salts and sent me back out in the 2nd half.  ???  I know I've decided I'm not going to push my new born son into playing tackle football when he gets old enough.  If he wants to, that fine, but not until junior high.  Kids, here are starting to play tackle football with pads and helmets on at around the 2nd grade.  That's just crazy to me.  There's no way I'm pushing my kid into that.

Between the head trauma hysteria, political bullshit, and the lack of guaranteed money I predict that football will be as dead as boxing in the next few decades anyway.

But yeah... It's crazy that they let you finish that game. Actually it's not crazy. It's just crazy to hear about it now.

[HarleyDog]

Great piece.

[Sled21]

Tim is my all time favorite Bengal. I wish him well.....