RIP Aubbie HoF WR Terry Beasley (Links)

[DeepSnap]

Without a doubt the best, fastest WR GT ever played against in the Carson-Fulcher eras, including USC's Lynn Swann & Sam Dickinson, ND's Tom Gatewood, and the long list at Tennessee and UGag.

Pat Sullivan would throw the ball as far & high as he could & Beasley would go get it. Terry even made Jeff Ford look slow.

Possible suicide... he is reported to have had 19 concussions during his Auburn & abbreviated NFL career......

Just hope his brain was left intact for the CTE study group.



ESPN Link

AL.com Link

 

[GT98]

Possible suicide... he is reported to have had 19 concussions during his Auburn & abbreviated NFL career......

Wow. Surprised he could even function if he had that many concussions.

 

[donsue]

Without a doubt the best, fastest WR GT ever played against in the Carson-Fulcher eras, including USC's Lynn Swann & Sam Dickinson, ND's Tom Gatewood, and the long list at Tennessee and UGag.

Pat Sullivan would throw the ball as far & high as he could & Beasley would go get it. Terry even made Jeff Ford look slow.

Possible suicide... he is reported to have had 19 concussions during his Auburn & abbreviated NFL career......

Just hope his brain was left intact for the CTE study group.



ESPN Link

AL.com Link

Saw that. Very sad. Auburn announcer used to call him the “little windup man”.

 

[00Burdell]

I feel bad for these guys (and their families) who gave too much to the game.

I never realized how bad it was until a certain post by Fridgemover (recounting an experience in the NFL).

 

[MWT80]

I never realized how bad it was until a certain post by Fridgemover (recounting an experience in the NFL).

Would you share a link or summarize what he said?

 

[00Burdell]

Would you share a link or summarize what he said?

Too long ago to link. Amounts to: play hurt/ don’t care how bad you think you are hurt or if you think you might have sustained a brain injury - take the field or hit the road. This was while FM was in the NFL and not while at Tech. My recollection is that John played knowing full well he had a concussion because the NFL didn’t give a damn.

If a man as tough as JD says he’s injured and not fit for duty, you allow him the recovery time he needs - you don’t tell him to get out there or we’ll find somebody else. But that’s exactly what they did. And JD, being the hardass that he is, suited up and played with a concussion.

I’m going from my somewhat unreliable memory so do not quote me.

 

[Combat Engineer]

Pat Sullivan's wife, talking to Finebaum yesterday, said Terry's brain would be donated as was Pat Sullivan's brain.

 

[MWT80]

Regarding CTE, my son never showed interest in football so my wife and I didn't have to make a decision about whether to let him play. However, I know a family where the grandfather is a former Tech player and the grandson was not permitted to play at all.

 

[Nehru Jacket]

Pat Sullivan's wife, talking to Finebaum yesterday, said Terry's brain would be donated as was Pat Sullivan's brain.

Since Pat Sullivan died 4 years ago, did his wife make any comment as to whether or not it was discovered that he had brain damage from football?

 

[77GTFan]

Sullivan to Beasley was gorgeous. Beasley had an uncanny ability to run the deep route at full speed and not have to turn his head to find the ball. He would arch his back and pick up the ball coming over his head and Sullivan, knowing that, through right over him as opposed to one side or another. DB’s had no chance if the ball was thrown accurately.

 

[IM79]

Sullivan to Beasley was gorgeous. Beasley had an uncanny ability to run the deep route at full speed and not have to turn his head to find the ball. He would arch his back and pick up the ball coming over his head and Sullivan, knowing that, through right over him as opposed to one side or another. DB’s had no chance if the ball was thrown accurately.

I was lucky, or maybe unlucky, to see Allburn play both Tech and Uga in 71. No doubt they were an awesome combo to watch in person.
Guess I was unlucky to see them whip my favorite team. But I got to go see them beat the dumb dawgs as well. That was fun. And read this story about the UGA game, we were not the first ones to tear up the hedges.

Auburn won the huge 1971 Georgia game because ‘the night before kind of ticked everybody off’

Few iterations of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry have kept Auburn players up at night more than the 1971 game.

www.thewareaglereader.com

 

[Liberty]

Too long ago to link. Amounts to: play hurt/ don’t care how bad you think you are hurt or if you think you might have sustained a brain injury - take the field or hit the road. This was while FM was in the NFL and not while at Tech. My recollection is that John played knowing full well he had a concussion because the NFL didn’t give a damn.

If a man as tough as JD says he’s injured and not fit for duty, you allow him the recovery time he needs - you don’t tell him to get out there or we’ll find somebody else. But that’s exactly what they did. And JD, being the hardass that he is, suited up and played with a concussion.

I’m going from my somewhat unreliable memory so do not quote me.

Wasn’t just the NFL, college and HS also.

Different occupation but I’m sure I’m not the only military guy that retired rather than be forced out via med board.

 

[DeepSnap]

I was lucky, or maybe unlucky, to see Allburn play both Tech and Uga in 71. No doubt they were an awesome combo to watch in person.
Guess I was unlucky to see them whip my favorite team. But I got to go see them beat the dumb dawgs as well. That was fun. And read this story about the UGA game, we were not the first ones to tear up the hedges.

Auburn won the huge 1971 Georgia game because ‘the night before kind of ticked everybody off’

Few iterations of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry have kept Auburn players up at night more than the 1971 game.

www.thewareaglereader.com

We took our share of the "damned weeds" - privet is a weed, not a hedge - when we won in The Cesspool in 1970. I wish I had preserved what I broke off.

 

[Liberty]

The sadness of seeing our generation or earlier ones no longer with us is pretty damn humbling when you think how lucky we are to have made it thru whatever we experienced. A split second here or there or a spur of the moment choice is often the difference between a looming catastrophe and making it out ok.

When I started thinking about playing and working thru injuries, I got to thinking it's a wide swath of occupations this happens to not just football, military, etc. Neighbor down the street was a bricklayer. Broke his back in his 40's and his family damn near lost it all. Rotator cuff injuries aren't just for guys like Drew Brees, they impact mechanics, carpenters, etc. A lot of guys I know had to pack it in before their time. It just didn't happen to them on tv with millions tuned in or with 50k people watching them play in person. It just happened over decades of making a living or sometime during a random freak accident at work.

What we used to expect back in the day was just insane. We played thru concussions and we laughed about it. Our generation was geared to stay in the game be it work or a game, don't lose that competitive edge. We grew up admiring Lou Gehrig and didn't want to be Wally Pipp. Looks like that wasn't a very good plan often, for others even worse.

 

[Nehru Jacket]

The sadness of seeing our generation or earlier ones no longer with us is pretty damn humbling when you think how lucky we are to have made it thru whatever we experienced. A split second here or there or a spur of the moment choice is often the difference between a looming catastrophe and making it out ok.

When I started thinking about playing and working thru injuries, I got to thinking it's a wide swath of occupations this happens to not just football, military, etc. Neighbor down the street was a bricklayer. Broke his back in his 40's and his family damn near lost it all. Rotator cuff injuries aren't just for guys like Drew Brees, they impact mechanics, carpenters, etc. A lot of guys I know had to pack it in before their time. It just didn't happen to them on tv with millions tuned in or with 50k people watching them play in person. It just happened over decades of making a living or sometime during a random freak accident at work.

What we used to expect back in the day was just insane. We played thru concussions and we laughed about it. Our generation was geared to stay in the game be it work or a game, don't lose that competitive edge. We grew up admiring Lou Gehrig and didn't want to be Wally Pipp. Looks like that wasn't a very good plan often, for others even worse.

I look at it not so much of a generational thing, but as a personal thing. As you said for every Lou Gehrig, there was a Wally Pipp. We have all worked with people who just did not miss work. This is probably a result of genetics as much as anything. Currently, it would be foolish not to reap the benefits of recent medical knowledge. This runs the gamut from realizing the danger of smoking to working or playing with a concussion.

 

[USCJacket]

What we used to expect back in the day was just insane. We played thru concussions and we laughed about it. Our generation was geared to stay in the game be it work or a game, don't lose that competitive edge. We grew up admiring Lou Gehrig and didn't want to be Wally Pipp. Looks like that wasn't a very good plan often, for others even worse.

100% nailed it. And as someone who played both football and soccer through H.S. in the late 90’s, I can personally attest like others to hiding concussion's. Had nothing to do with pressure from parents, etc. Reality is, none of us wanted off the field, court, etc. So unless you just couldn’t get up, you kept playing whether you felt dizzy, etc. You pretended nothing was wrong.

I applaud the medical field for stepping in to try and add as much safety as possible to football. What I do laugh about however, are the over the top parents who won’t let their kids play football, but are OK with soccer that has just as many concussions from headers / players colliding. But that doesn’t fit the narrative, and or, leagues have banned headers to curtail the issue.

I hate it for anyone who suffers from CTE whether sports, military service or work related. The impact of the hits most don’t notice until later in life, when one small incident can set things off down a path of anxiety, depression and the unthinkable if help isn’t accepted.

 

[IM79]

100% nailed it. And as someone who played both football and soccer through H.S. in the late 90’s, I can personally attest like others to hiding concussion's. Had nothing to do with pressure from parents, etc. Reality is, none of us wanted off the field, court, etc. So unless you just couldn’t get up, you kept playing whether you felt dizzy, etc. You pretended nothing was wrong.

I applaud the medical field for stepping in to try and add as much safety as possible to football. What I do laugh about however, are the over the top parents who won’t let their kids play football, but are OK with soccer that has just as many concussions from headers / players colliding. But that doesn’t fit the narrative, and or, leagues have banned headers to curtail the issue.

I hate it for anyone who suffers from CTE whether sports, military service or work related. The impact of the hits most don’t notice until later in life, when one small incident can set things off down a path of anxiety, depression and the unthinkable if help isn’t accepted.

“but are OK with soccer that has just as many concussions from headers / players colliding”

follow the money the NFL has the money, so that’s where the lawsuits will go. If soccer leagues ever get money approaching the NFL level, the lawsuits will come.

 

[ncyj]

You are obviously only considering US based pro soccer when talking about not having much money. Euro premiere league soccer is the most well funded in the world(at least the top teams). I think brain injury due to headers is more of a cumulative thing just like football linemen banging helmets every play. Concussions in soccer are almost always player collisions. I have never seen anything talking about cte, als, etc in older soccer players but will look it up.

 

[IM79]

You are obviously only considering US based pro soccer when talking about not having much money. Euro premiere league soccer is the most well funded in the world(at least the top teams). I think brain injury due to headers is more of a cumulative thing just like football linemen banging helmets every play. Concussions in soccer are almost always player collisions. I have never seen anything talking about cte, als, etc in older soccer players but will look it up.

Correct. I was only considering the situation here.

I don't know how American lawyers and players would do in getting money out of the Euro premiere league. Are Euro courts as generous in awarding damages as American courts? I don't know.
I do know several college soccer players that have gotten concussions, all girls by the way, so it should be studied I think.

 

[DeepSnap]

You are obviously only considering US based pro soccer when talking about not having much money. Euro premiere league soccer is the most well funded in the world(at least the top teams). I think brain injury due to headers is more of a cumulative thing just like football linemen banging helmets every play. Concussions in soccer are almost always player collisions. I have never seen anything talking about cte, als, etc in older soccer players but will look it up.

CTE is not a new "injury" or phenomenom, just the 20 year old acknowledgment of it and getting it studied.

People used to look at pro boxers - the Rocky Balboas of the Gillette Friday Night Fights in the '50s & '60s, e.g. - and you could barely make out what the boxers were saying in their interviews.

Only recently has it manifested itself with the likes of Larry Morris, Tommy Nobis, Mike Webster, and a whole slew of more recent NFL players. I wouldn't be surprised if MLB catchers and umpires aren't eventually diagnosed in a few years.... how many foul tips to the face mask does it take? Can NASCAR (the recently retired Kurt Busch?) & F1 be far behind? I've got a at least five GT teammates from 50+ years ago who are good candidates for CTE.

Euro futbol? Funded like F1 racing..... makes IndyCar look like pikers. Doubt you'll find much, but you know it's there..... they just aren't as litigious-happy as the US.