Reality is far more terrible than movies. 99%NFL retired players have brain lesions.

In 2015, the movie "Shock Effect" starring Hollywood movie star will smith caused quite a shock.

This is a film about the theme of football. In the film, will smith plays the role of a neurologist, who finds that NFL (Major League Football) players are prone to a brain disease called CTE (Chronic Traumatic Brain Disease) due to a large number of severe head impacts. Because it touches the interests of all parties, this expert’s research has been resisted by peers, NFL officials and other aspects.

The Shock Effect is adapted from a true story. The chronic traumatic brain disease mentioned in the film is exactly the brain disease that scientists have been studying in reality, and the NFL tried to resist this research.

Recently, the American media CNN revealed that the real situation is even more terrible than that revealed by Shock Effect. According to the investigation of JAMA, an authoritative medical magazine, 99% NFL players suffered from chronic traumatic brain lesions after retirement.

Pathological sections of brain lesions of football players in JAMA investigation report.

Only one of the 111 former NFL players survived.

This survey pointed out that chronic traumatic brain disease is a kind of disease caused by a large number of repeated head collisions, which will produce redundant microtubule-binding proteins in the brain, which will block normal neural channels, thus producing a series of neurological diseases.

These symptoms include memory loss, confusion, poor judgment, depression, nervousness, etc. Victims may even have aggressive behavior because of impulse out of control, and some people commit suicide because of unbearable pain.

Without any clinical experience, the researchers can only conduct this study through brain slices of 202 football players who volunteered to donate their brains after death.

The results show that among the 111 former NFL professional football players, 110 have different levels of chronic traumatic brain lesions; Among the 53 former college football players, 48 suffered from brain lesions; What’s even more amazing is that among the 14 high school football players, 3 were actually diagnosed with chronic traumatic brain lesions.

Dr. Ann McKee, who is in charge of this study, asserted to the media: "There is no doubt that there is something wrong with rugby, and everyone engaged in this sport may suffer from chronic traumatic brain lesions."

On the one hand, NFL officials are grandiose and bureaucratic, on the other hand, they are lucky to avoid the problem. An official said: "There are still many unconfirmed places about the cause, probability and long-term impact of CTE."

The NFL is unwilling to surrender to scientists, but we should know that many professional football players may have suffered for decades because chronic traumatic brain diseases can not be diagnosed until the patient dies.

NFL star David Dulson who committed suicide because of brain lesions.

There was an NFL star who committed suicide because of the pain of brain lesions.

In 2015, Chris Bohlander, a 24-year-old san francisco 49ers inside guard, suddenly announced his retirement. In an interview with ESPN, his response was full of frustration. "I just want to live a healthy life, and I don’t want to get any neurological diseases or die young."

In fact, Bohlander is lucky enough. Before 2011, NFL star David Dulson shot himself in his home. In his suicide note to his wife, he wrote: "Please, for the truth, please donate my brain to the NFL brain bank."

Dulson’s suicide stems from unbearable concussion pain. In this investigation, his brain was reintroduced into the study, and sure enough, Dulson was diagnosed with severe chronic traumatic brain lesions.

Although there are statistics showing that a professional NFL player encounters an average of 1,500 impacts every season, the NFL is reluctant to admit that the brain pain on those players is related to frequent head impacts during the game.

The plot of "Shock Effect" is quietly staged in reality. With the efforts of several generations of players, it was not until last year that the league was forced to "let go" and admit the danger of rugby.

At that time, faced with questions from members of Congress, Jeff Maitreya, NFL vice president of health and safety, personally admitted that rugby was directly related to CTE, but NFL officials also seemed to be at a loss as to how to avoid such dangers.

NFL President Roger Gould said: "Injury is always part of the game. Rugby is a sport that requires physical contact. There is not much we can do."

More and more data show that football can hurt the brain.

Danger has not brought more expensive rewards.

Does the dangerous sports meet bring expensive rewards?

In the average salary of players in the four major North American leagues (baseball, rugby, ice hockey and basketball) published by Forbes magazine in 2012, the average annual salary of rugby players is 1.9 million US dollars, ranking the last among the four major leagues, while the average annual salary of NBA players is as high as 5.15 million US dollars, which is 2.7 times that of NFL players.

After several years, this situation has not changed, but it is getting worse. One of the reasons for the "low salary" of NFL players is the huge number of teams. The number of applicants for each NFL team is 53, but the number of players playing is only 11.

As a result, players in many positions can’t play any games all season. In addition, the draft system supported by the huge player base also makes NFL players "worthless", and more than 200 new players join the NFL major leagues every year.

The particularity of rugby (easy to get hurt) makes the league must adhere to such a team structure and draft mode, but it also causes the proliferation and worthless players.

Under the fierce competition of survival of the fittest, many young players have been in the league for only one or two years, and they are in danger of being "dismissed" with a basic salary contract. When they enter the league, they have dreams and enthusiasm, and they are eager to change their destiny through football, but in the end they may only get an injury and lifelong brain trauma.

Even if you make a big splash in the league and earn a lot of money, the longer your service life, the more likely you are to be seriously injured. After retiring, you just don’t have to worry about your livelihood, but brain pain will often torture you for life.

This "endless road" is the story behind professional football.

"I am a neurologist, and my duty is to ensure that my patients enjoy a healthy brain, but you need to realize why people love sports. (Being a professional rugby player) This is a personal choice after all, and everyone has got different things from sports."

At the end of the investigation, a doctor who had contacted some patients diagnosed with CTE after death said this. He has no intention to stop people from taking part in this sport, but he hopes that the health of rugby players can attract more attention.

"What kind of arc is an athlete’s life? You need to understand what kind of health they will be at the end of their career."