Ken Stabler, the late, great Raiders quarterback who died of colon cancer in July, might make news Saturday night when he’s considered for Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.
But Wednesday, Stabler served as a reminder of pro football’s growing dark side.
The news that Stabler’s brain showed an advanced stage of CTE, or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, didn’t come as a shock to those among his Raiders family. But it did reignite concerns about what might lie ahead for many former players.
“It doesn’t surprise me because he played in an era, and I played in an era before him where we weren’t protected,” former Raiders coach and NFL quarterback Tom Flores said when reached by phone Wednesday. “We got hit in the head all the time. It was a common thing for a defensive linemen to whack you in the head.”
Another former Raiders quarterback, Jim Plunkett, agreed.
“Oh yeah, there was no two-step rule. Hitting above the shoulder pads, it didn’t make any difference,” Plunkett said. “You couldn’t slide. You couldn’t get out of the pocket and throw the ball away, because if you did it would be intentional grounding and a 15-yard penalty.
“We were targeted. Everybody used to say, you knock the quarterback out and you’re going to win the game, probably.”
Former Raiders safety George Atkinson, 69, said, “I saw quarterbacks picked up, dumped on their head, blindsided, with no protective rules.”
CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been found in former NFL players, including Hall of Famer Junior Seau, who committed suicide in 2012. The New York Times revealed the news of Stabler’s CTE on Wednesday, as well as that of former Miami Dolphins quarterback Earl Morrall, who died in 2014 at age 79.
The disease is believed to be related to repeated blows to the head — not only concussions but thousands of symptomless blows football players absorb over the course of a career.
Stabler, who led the Raiders to their first championship in Super Bowl XI, died July 8 at age 69 from colon cancer. His brain was examined by researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine.
“He had moderately severe disease,” Dr. Ann McKee, chief of neuropathology at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System, told the Times. “Pretty classic. It may be surprising since he was a quarterback, but certainly the lesions were widespread and they were pretty severe, affecting many regions of the brain.”
CTE has been found in the brains of 90 of the 94 former NFL players it has examined, according to the Times.
‘My head was rattling’
Stabler’s longtime partner, Kim Bush, told ESPN that the former Raiders star had been suffering from severe headaches for the past few years and also had some disorientation and forgetfulness. In her interview with ESPN, Bush said Stabler began repeating stories and also had trouble sleeping.
“He would say, ‘My head is rattling,’ ” Bush said. “And it was, in fact, rattling.”
Bush said Stabler wanted to donate his brain for research, telling her. “That’s the right thing for me to do.” Stabler would be pleased to know that donating his brain might lead to helping others avoid similar injuries, Bush told ESPN.
“He would want this science to change this horrible thing that’s happening to so many players and find a way to make the game safer and better,” Bush said.
Ronnie Lott, the Hall of Fame defensive back for the 49ers and Raiders, acknowledged Wednesday he assumes he has CTE and is taking precautionary measures despite feeling fine.
“Everyone should think they have it and then work to slow it down by working to have a better life,” Lott, 56, told this newspaper.
“As far as symptoms, I don’t have anything,” he added.
Lott told Newsday that he hopes the growing awareness leads to medical progress.
“We were able to discover this disease, now we have to combat it,” he said. “To me, that’s the next step and the next evolution of football. Hopefully in Super Bowl 60, we’re talking about the things that people are doing (to combat the symptoms of CTE) and hopefully at that point it will allow us to be even better athletes and better human beings.”
Flores said the increased number of CTE cases has already had an impact on the sport with rules changes designed to prevent leading with the head.
“It has drawn a lot of awareness,” Flores said. “The culture of the game had to change, no question, the way it’s taught, the way it’s officiated.”
Plunkett, however said there will always be an element of danger.
“They try to improve the safety of the player with no hitting above the shoulders, no helmet to helmet, no targeting,” Plunkett said. “It’s still a violent game. There’s no doubt about it. Players are certainly well rewarded, but it doesn’t take the place of catastrophic brain injuries. We know the risks more, but today’s players are still willing to take it.”
‘Tip of the iceberg’
Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon expressed mild surprise to 95.7 The Game at Stabler’s CTE given he was a quarterback but conceded he’d had six concussions during his 23-year career in the CFL and NFL.
“Who knows what I have inside my brain right now,” Moon, 59, said. “I don’t have any symptoms, and if I do have it in my brain, it’s not affecting me right now.”
Longtime sports agent Leigh Steinberg was a Raiders season ticket holder and fan of Stabler back when he was going to law school in Berkeley and found the news of his CTE “heartbreaking.”
Steinberg has been at the forefront of education on brain trauma and football, holding a “concussion conference” 22 years ago with players and neurologists and advocates of better helmet design.
“People used to ask me what it would take to get action, and I would say sadly that it’d be the death of a player,” Steinberg said. “Now we’ve had that — Junior Seau and Dave Duerson and Mike Webster and Justin Strzelcyk. And now Kenny Stabler.
“This is a superstar player. Hall of Fame player. And the fact that the family was generous enough to allow this information to come to light to try and help other people is a real testimony to their heart. But how many will it take to get urgent action.”
Rather than focus on concussive blows, which he calls “the tip of the iceberg,” Steinberg warned of “sub-concussive blows — not enough to knock someone out but aggregate more and more and more over the years and have the same impact.”
Atkinson said he has experienced memory loss and is seeing a neurologist.
“We all probably have a touch of (CTE), I would think,” Atkinson said. “As more players die and donate their brains, you’ll see more of it. Certainly I’m concerned about it.”
Atkinson said he had no knowledge of the dangers of head injuries when he played but doesn’t believe being educated would have made any difference.
“You play because you love the game,” Atkinson said.
Plunkett, 68, has had numerous health issues from playing football, including a shoulder replacement, but is most concerned about the possibility of the long-term effects on his brain.
“I’ve been tested, but in truth, I worry about it,” Plunkett said. “I seem to be forgetting more and more. I go upstairs and I forgot why. … I don’t want to forget my grandson.”
Staff writers Carl Steward and Daniel Brown contributed to this story.
