Merril Hoge/Twitter
By Cross Warnock
Retired NFL running back Merril Hoge said his career did not end early because of head trauma.
“That’s an absolute lie,” Hoge said. “My career ended because of improper care.”
Hoge said he was unable to cognitively function after the concussion but was cleared to play five days later.
“Even in 1994,” Hoge said, “that is purely archaic.”
Since then, Hoge said one thing the NFL does differently compared to when he played is having proper protocol.
“It’s the most exciting time to be playing sports at any level,” Hoge said, “as long as these protocols are in place because they didn’t exist for years.”
Hoge insisted football does not promote CTE and most head trauma comes from improper tackling and hitting.
“All we got to do is go back to the art of the tackle, which is striking the opponent in the right targeted area,” Hoge said. “If you do that alone you clean up the game.”
Hoge said you can’t blame football for CTE.
“Look at all the contact sports to this point and the billions of people who played in an archaic state.” Hoge said. “Equipment was garbage, there was no instruction and protocol for any type of head trauma.”
Rich Jones, former neurology nurse practitioner, acknowledged that of the billions of people who play football at all levels, only a small percentage reach a severe level of CTE.
“People who play significant amounts of football for years get thousands of bumps on their head, but there’s a lot of those guys who don’t get CTE.” – Rich Jones
Rich Jones, former neurology nurse practitioner (Photo by Cross Warnock)
However, Jones said you can’t deny football increases the chance of someone being diagnosed with CTE.
“Denial is a powerful emotion,” Jones said. “If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and swims like a duck, it’s probably a duck.”
Hoge said the brain is the most protected organ in our entire body.
Bennet Omalu (Evan Agostini/AP)
“Our brain is so compactly protected,” Hoge said.
Jones agreed with Hoge.
“The brain is housed in a very strong vault that protects a lot of it,” Jones said. “You got the skull; underneath is the brain. The brain is covered by a tough leathery covering called the dura.”
In the movie “Concussion,” there is a scene where Bennet Omalu, (the first to “discover CTE” in NFL Hall of Famer Mike Webster) is describing how the brain moves inside the skull by jiggling an egg in a jar full of water.
“If that’s how he thinks the brain is structured in the skull,” Hoge said, “then you have to question anything he says.”
While Jones didn’t mention Omalu, he acknowledged the brain floats inside the skull to a minimal degree.
Hoge revealed Webster didn’t die of CTE.
“Mike Webster’s brain was a normal aging 54-year-old brain, Hoge said. “He had heart failure.”
Mike Webster – Pittsburgh Steelers (AP) – Listen to Merril Hoge on former teammate Mike Webster here.
Hoge assured every neurologist who looked at Webster’s brain before said the same thing; Omalu was the only one who said he found CTE.
Hoge added when Omalu was asked to present Webster’s brain he lost it.
“They wanted DNA samples to verify the tissue came from Mike Webster,” Hoge said, “but if you had nothing to hide and found something pretty historic, wouldn’t you want to say, ‘here it is’?”
While Hoge called Omalu a “piece of junk,” his opinion on Ann McKee, neurologist and professor at Boston University, is no better.
“They’re all the same cloth,” Hoge said. “They’re ego-driven, money-driven, greedy and nasty human beings.”
Hoge claimed Boston University is creating a narrative of fear and abusing and misusing science.
“Nobody has been able to come up with anything that Boston University has,” Hoge said. “What they have done is harmful to people.”
Hoge said this is evident by their consensus meeting.
“You must have consensus to be a disease,” Hoge said. “In 2016, they tried to make consensus with people that sat on the board.”
Hoge added most of the board members walked out and rejected it.
“They’re taking their garbage and trying to draw consensus,” Hoge said. “They’re ignoring the other nine papers that tried to duplicate what they did and none of them could do it.”
Hoge said CTE is scientifically not a disease and the meeting only showed a pattern of it in an observational state.
McKee wasn’t available for comment but referred Senior Research Assistant Madeline Uretsky.
Uretsky provided a link related to the meeting mentioned by Hoge.
Uretsky said it was the first consensus meeting to define neuropathological criteria for the diagnosis of CTE.
Madeline Uretsky, research assistant with Boston University CTE Center (BU CTE Center website)
Hoge said they’re trying to meet in Paris on consensus.
“That’s what they do on every other brain disease and everything else,” Hoge said. “You bring everybody’s work together to draw consensus.”
Hoge pointed out Boston University does not want this meeting to occur.
“Because they’ve already forgone the consensus meeting and declared symptoms and staging,” Hoge said. “You can’t do that.”
Hoge specified no other sport has been in charge or ahead of head trauma other than football.
“I stepped in front of Congress in 2009 to lay out the same protocol we launched in 2012,” Hoge said. “That became a national law and is what we do today.”
Hoge said there needs to be credit where credit is due because of the increase in player longevity.
“The helmets are 100% better than before; the helmet gets credit,” Hoge said. “How we go about playing with all the things we talked about gets credit.”
Hoge said youth sports from 7 to 11 years old have the same type of impact as a pillow fight.
“A majority of the collisions are the equivalent to a pillow fight,” Hoge said.
Hoge claimed tripping and falling is the leading cause of head trauma in the country.
“You can take all of sports together and you can’t come close to tripping and falling,” Hoge said. “If Boston University was so smart, why aren’t they banning tripping and falling? This would clear up all their worries and concerns about head trauma.”
Hoge accused Boston University of misinforming the public in regard to CTE.
“The biggest and most corrupt department in the country,” Hoge said.
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