This probably won't be of interest to most here, but I thought it deserves a mention. Bill Stanfill, former All-Pro Defensive End with the Miami Dolphins, and a member of the "No-Name" Defense that went undefeated in 1972, has died at the age of 69.
I was 16 in 1972, and a season ticket holder for the Miami Dolphins (as I had been since their inception in 1966), and Bill Stanfill was a personal favorite of mine.
As everyone who follows the NFL is aware, concussions and brain injuries are a major concern these days, but weren't back in the 1970s. Stanfill had been dealing with diagnosed brain damage since 2003 that had been getting progressively worse. Coincidentally, he was interviewed earlier this year by a Miami Herald columnist as part of an article on how former players from the Miami Dolphins have been struggling with these issues.
Here's the section of the article pertaining to Stanfill:
Stanfill, a first-team All-Pro during the Dolphins’ 1972 undefeated season, said he was diagnosed with frontal lobe damage in his brain in 2003 and tests last October indicated he is “20 percent worse.”
Stanfill, 69, who lives about an hour away from Fernandez in rural southwestern Georgia, said he took thousands of hits to his head as a player and has no doubt his lobe damage was caused by that.
There are days “I can’t remember where to go,” said Stanfill, who receives assistance from his wife. *“And even some old friends, I don’t have a clue what their name is. I want to be cremated but I want my brain tested [for CTE].”
Stanfill worked as a real estate broker after his playing career but retired five years ago because “my memory was so bad. I felt I needed to retire because I didn’t want to screw over my clients.”
Like many former players with cognitive difficulties, Stanfill is awaiting financial relief.
The NFL and players agreed to a potential*$1 billion settlement of a lawsuit brought by former players to compensate them for brain damage, but some former players are appealing because it doesn’t include CTE. That has delayed payments in the range of $190,000 for every former player diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or moderate dementia.
“I deserve every cent I can get out of this lawsuit,” Stanfill said.
The entire article can be found here:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sport...-quantita.html
Scroll down until it says Friday Buzz Column.