There was for me a sad story in this morning's news cycle. Matt Blair died of has dird. Blair was a linebacker for the Iowa State Cylones graduating in 1974. At the time I was a 28 year old coach in Iowa and followed his career with a passion. Man, could he hit runners and he kept on hitting for all sixty minutes of a game.
After college he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings and went on to stardom.
It's sad when someone dies at what I consider a young age. Blair's cause of death has been listed as dementia. It is not foreign to football players.
Matt made the choice to play except in the 70's not many people realized the ramifications of constantly ramming one's head against a wall that is sometimes moving at you at mach speed.
We all make choices in life. I made a choice for my children trying to be fatherly and explaining the ins and outs of football. Being the recipient of numerous sports related brain concussions I fully know the downside of certain sports; soccer included.
I very much enjoyed coaching football. It brought out the animal in me. I'm not crazy about the long term results.
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