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Families don't donate brains of their loved ones unless they're concerned about the person.
Ann McKee -
My three children played soccer and lacrosse. I grew up as a Green Bay Packers fan. I am not against sports. We want kids to play sports, but we want them to be safe.
Ann McKee
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This is what I do. I look at brains. I'm fascinated by it. I can spend hours doing it. In fact, if I want to relax, that's one way I can relax.
Ann McKee -
Football is an American sport. Everyone loves it. I certainly would never want to ban football.
Ann McKee -
Junior Seau's CTE finding raises a lot of issues for everyone. He is such a beacon. He was so young when he died. He was an active player for so long. He was such an amazing individual who was well loved by his teammates and his community.
Ann McKee -
Certainly, our work has identified CTE in many professional football players, but we're also seeing it in a very high percentage of college players.
Ann McKee -
The beginnings of CTE can start quite early.
Ann McKee -
Football is an extraordinarily popular sport, and the whole game is played around this issue. The whole makeup of the game involves these subconcussive hits. I don't know how they're going to solve that problem. I don't think they know how they're going to solve that problem.
Ann McKee
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Is there a way that we would actually recognize the game of football with fewer tackles and fewer collisions? I'm not sure. But I think that's the direction we're going to have to go. Bigger fields? Fewer players on the field? I think we are ultimately going to have to change some of the major rules of the game.
Ann McKee -
My brothers played football. In fact, I was an absolutely enormous Packer fan, and because I was raised in such a football-centric community, I have always had a terrific admiration for football players.
Ann McKee -
I run a number of different brain banks.
Ann McKee -
We're hoping that there is large-scale recognition that CTE is a risk when playing football.
Ann McKee -
I definitely agree about the future of youth football being flag. There's just more and more evidence that the youth brain is particularly susceptible to the injury - thin necks, big heads. They're not as coordinated; they're not as skillful. For many reasons, I think the wave of the future is flag football for youth.
Ann McKee -
I'm a Cheesehead.
Ann McKee
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We've now found CTE in former NFL players who played every position except kicker.
Ann McKee -
While we know, on average, that certain positions experience more repetitive head impacts and are more likely at greater risk for CTE, no position is immune.
Ann McKee -
I do love the way the brain looks. I love the way it's shaped.
Ann McKee -
CTE can be caused by smaller hits to the head over time.
Ann McKee -
I can't say I love football anymore.
Ann McKee -
I started out as a neurologist. I then trained in neuropathology and was focused on neurodegeneration. So, for years, I studied Alzheimer's, aging, Parkinson's, that kind of thing.
Ann McKee
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It makes common sense that children, whose brains are rapidly developing, should not be hitting their heads hundreds of times per season.
Ann McKee -
They're elite athletes. They're amazing athletes. That's why I love football. I mean, it's incredible to me to see them go out for an unbelievable pass and actually make the catch. It's just an amazing game of athleticism and skill. They're different; there's no question. They're huge, they're fast, and they're all these wonderful things.
Ann McKee -
The overwhelming evidence is that trauma is a major factor in CTE.
Ann McKee -
I love sports, OK? But I think we really need to take it on ourselves to not be so crazy about sports, not to risk someone's future just because we think they might be the next star.
Ann McKee