Did Playing Football give Bernie Kozar Parkinson's?

Did Bernie Kosar get Parkinson's from Professional Football? ...and did The NFL protect this Star Quarterback enough, or as much as they could?

Do you have any idea how often someone with Parkinson's has been confused with, or accused of being "under the influence"?

Their mumbled, slurred speech and lack of balance control... Sounds like your average, everyday NFL Stud Athlete turned Broadcast Commentator, if you ask me - Or at least, one in particular... After his Pro-Football career, on more than one occasion, this particular Pro Bowl Quarterback was accused of "B.U.I." (Broadcasting Under the Influence) due to his post career slurred speech.

Want to know the rest of the story?

This week, Super Bowl Champion NFL Quarterback, Bernie Kosar, announced he's been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD). Here's the headline -
"Bernie Kosar... NFL legend and Super Bowl winner was diagnosed with Parkinson's... and is also on the surgical waiting list due to Liver failure." Bernie's not the only one on the intersecting lists of Pigskin Players and People with Parkinson's (PWP)...

There was also Louis “The Toe" Groza, an NFL placekicker and offensive tackle who played 21 seasons for the Cleveland Browns (same organization as Kosar), and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in the 1990s. And there was Forrest Gregg, a Hall of Fame player and coach who openly discussed his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2011. Well, that's not many, what's the big deal?

As I write this the 2024-2025 NFL Season is scheduled to kick off in under 60 days... The NCAA College Football season kicks off about two weeks sooner than that... Our local High School Football season begins about the same time, with hot Summer Sun Two-a-day practices before that, just weeks away (I remember, as I "survived" them to play under the Friday night lights in Texas, of all places, so many decades ago)...

With all this intense excitement about to begin, let me ask You my friend, what are they doing about preventing our kids from growing up and getting Parkinson's? Parkinson's and Pigskin? Yep!

Does Head Injury Lead to Parkinson’s Disease?

According to a study published in the journal Neurology, a head injury, specifically a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), does in fact lead to an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease (PD). Details of the study concluded that;

-Patients with mild TBI and brief loss of consciousness had a 56% increased risk of developing PD compared to patients without any history of head injury.
-Patients with severe TBI were at an 80% higher risk of PD compared to healthy subjects.
-A single mild TBI with no loss of consciousness did not lead to a significant risk increase for PD.

Lot's of sports are rough and tough though... What does that say about playing football and Parkinson's?

Boston University has linked American football with an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s, with the greatest risk seen in those who played the sport for the longest and at the highest level... Like how our kids start out wanting to be in the NFL someday, just like Bernie Kosar. More generally, this study adds to the increasing evidence that head trauma, especially repeated head trauma, is likely an important risk factor for developing Parkinson’s disease.

Overall, the risk was 61% higher in those with a history of playing football than in those who had played non-football sports.

So why don't more NFL Players get publicly diagnosed with PD?

According to "Parkinson's News Today", Research Study results showed that 13.3% of the former NFL players studied met the criteria for parkinsonism or PD. Parkinsonism also was found in 10.3% of former college football players and in just 3.3% of the control group (the control group was all Male and involved in some sort of Athletics, but not Contact sport like American Football.)

Revealing numbers, but you're not going to believe the headline for this study though... it was - "American football & Parkinsonism link ‘inconclusive,’ study finds... The percentage of people in the control group with PD/Parkinsonism was about 3% vs the ProFootball percentage over 13%, and someone calls that "inconclusive"?!? The study reports said that, "The association between American football play and parkinsonism is inconclusive and likely dependent on factors related to sample selection and size and comparison groups used among other methodological reasons,”

But wait... Here's what else the study showed;

"All the participants underwent assessments including the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) and the timed up-and-go test (TUG).
TUG is a motor function assessment that measures how long it takes to stand up from a chair, walk a short distance (10ft) turn around, return, and sit down. *Note: the TUG test is given to all my People With Parkinson's/PWP's, who have the ability to perform it (ie; not Wheelchair bound) at their initial assessment and throughout their involvement in the REBOPS for Parkinson's program.

So... Stand up, walk a short distance, turn around, walk back and sit down... Sounds simple enough... Now, what did the study find when comparing The Football Players and The Control group?

The study said - "Former NFL players performed significantly WORSE on average on TUG than controls." Wait... The One-time biggest, baddest, beefiest Bad-Asses on the planet, that our kids look up to, performed SIGNIFICANTLY Worse than those who didn't play in the NFL?!? How does that make sense and still fit under the same headline about this study that read, "American football, parkinsonism link ‘inconclusive’.

Who's definition of 'inconclusive' are they settling on?!?

But what's the point of highlighting Bernie Kosar over the other 13% of studied NFL players with Parkinson's symptoms?

He was one of the best of his day... He could take it and dish it out.

Bernie Kosar was no small Quarterback, at 6'5" and over 215lbs. But if you ask Bernie Kosar about his physical legacy, after the NFL, here's what he's said in the recent past... "I've had almost 40 surgeries, 80 broken bones, 100+ DOCUMENTED Concussions, and 15 Seizures,..." That was the physical, medical toll Bernie Kosar suffered playing Football.

Football is a tough sport, but, did the NFL do what they could've, what they should've, to protect Bernie Kosar, or did they just say "that's tough!" I can't say that the NFL did or did not do what they could have or should have to protect Bernie Kosar from his 100th Concussion, or any of the dozens that came before it, but the NFL should be embarrassed that their Veterans of the trenches couldn't, after their careers were over, stand up from a chair, walk a total of 20 feet as fast as others who'd never put on the pads.

The NFL needs to become "Neurologically Focused Leaders" (NFL) or they're just telling the youth of our Nation, and their parents..." gee, that's tough."

As we grapple with the alarming links between professional football and Parkinson's disease, it becomes imperative to understand the broader impact of this condition and how to combat it proactively. Whether you or a loved one are directly affected or you're simply looking to educate yourself on this critical issue, my new book, "got Parkinson's? (...are You sure?!?)", offers invaluable insights and practical strategies. Discover how to recognize the early signs, implement preventative measures, and live a proactive life against Parkinson's, regardless of diagnosis.

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