Does NFL great Richard Sherman have the onset of CTE? Or was it the booze talking? (updated and expanded)

I could have sworn that the original linked to Sherman as well as anybody else. Sometimes, it seems, that when you've done the name links already, then you post a player photo, by URL, right next to the link, it deletes the player's link. 

So, not meaning to look like a troll, but, this is being reposted for that reason. And, with updates. (And, according to Pro Football Reference, the original DID have the link as well.) But, I still like the update.

Richard Sherman, former All-Pro corner for the Seahawks at peak Legion of Boom, then on to the 49ers and now looking to maybe come back to Seattle, was recently arrested for DWI and domestic abuse. He has pled not guilty.

At Ken Silverstein's Washington Babylon, Jon Jeter speculates his actions are signs of the onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, something affecting ever-more retired NFL players who suffered repeated concussions, and some just-retired players, even.

He notes Vincent Jackson and Phillip Adams, rough peers of Sherman's, committed suicide earlier this year. He also cites Aaron Hernandez, Junior Seau and Dave Duerson as other examples of relatively young players with CTE.

To me? It is "interesting and possible." I would certainly like to see a brain scan, if Sherman's had one.

On the other hand, whether as a one-time or short-term reaction to a  marriage going bad and child custody issues, or a longer-term problem, maybe it's just that Sherman was drunk off his ass. If it's a shorter-term issue, getting past the divorce may help. If not? Maybe he needs help in quitting alcohol. 

I mean, Ken Stabler and other players had booze problems (as well as drugs) while playing. Brett Favre probably washed down his Vicodin with a shot or four. And, let's not even start with Joe Namath. Though not violent, other symptoms of his drunkenness could certainly be seen as similar to CTE. And, looking into the NFL's long-ago past and minority players, from the pre-helmet era? Today, we might say Jim Thorpe had CTE. Or, we might say he was an alcoholic drinker. (Or, we might say he was both and the issue is somewhat chicken and egg.)

And, baseball? Maybe Mickey Mantle wasn't that kind of drunk, but Billy Martin was. Somebody in the days before batting helmets could have argued that one too many beanballs had their effect. Or, on the mound side, look at the antics of Rube Waddell. Or, even more modern, and wearing a batting helmet all the time, how much did booze add to the effect of speedballs on Ken Caminiti, who also eventually committed suicide? Lastly, with the old-timers, don't forget Jim Thorpe may have taken a beanball or two as well as a head-on tackle or two.

After all, pro athletes are as bad as society in general in still not wanting to admit how booze can be, in many ways, the world's most dangerous drug (with possible exception of nicotine). 

I've just scratched the surface, as an article like this shows. Combine booze with roids (I'm not saying Sherman does that, but I'm not saying he doesn't), and you have a potential for going full OC.

And, taint NOTHING new. Some historians theorize that Viking berzerker warriors used a mix of booze and magic mushrooms.

That said, whether Jeter is right or wrong, the whole piece is worth a read.

He comments on other sports issues, including noting Scottie Pippen was right in insinuating Phil Jackson a racist, complete with the goods on Phil, for example. (That still doesn't mean that Pippen wasn't generally full of crap last month, from being butt-hurt about  Michael Jordan to being wrong about Toni Kukoc taking that shot.)

On the larger issue of racism on pro sports? I have no doubt it's still there. At the same time, I also don't doubt that it's getting better.

And, on the larger issue of denialism of alcohol problems, both inside and outside of pro sports? I have no doubt it's still there. And, I don't know that it's necessarily getting better. And, I'm not just talking players. Boorish fan behavior in the past few months is surely fueled in large part by booze.