Recently, I learned about a gut-wrenching story regarding a former football player at my alma mater, Carolina. Ryan Hoffman, an offensive lineman for the Tar Heels from 1994 to 1997, has been on a downward spiral over the last two decades. There are very strong indications that it's due to brain damage from concussions Hoffman suffered during his playing days. Click here to help him.
My sophomore year at Carolina saw the football team have its greatest season in almost half a century. They went 11-1 and finished with their highest ranking in a major poll since the days of Choo Choo Justice in the 1940s. Hoffman was a major cog in that team; he played left tackle--the guy who protected the blind side of quarterbacks Chris Keldorf and Oscar Davenport. However, he went undrafted in 1998, and it's been downhill ever since. For more details on his ordeal, read here.
Hoffman has been unable to hold down a job due to severe cognitive problems, and has been homeless since August. He told the NYT that he's certain football caused his current ordeal. His family agrees; they think he may have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disorder caused by repeated hits to the head. There's no way to diagnose CTE in a living person, unfortunately.
Well, there's some good news. In the days after the NYT broke this, many people and organizations have reached out to help him. The NCAA--as if it had a choice--gave Carolina the green light to provide him with what athletic director Bubba Cunningham describes as basic human necessities. Carolina professor Kevin Guskiewicz, a concussion expert, has offered to evaluate Newman at his center in Chapel Hill. He's also gotten offers to go into rehab from two different groups.
However, Newman is having a lot of trouble processing it all, and is somewhat reluctant to accept that help. His sister, Kira Soto, says that she hasn't heard from him since March 10. To understand why he's having a hard time grasping everything, consider that this is a guy who may have suffered numerous concussions in an era before head injuries were well understood. The numerous concussion protocols in place at nearly every level of football were written specifically to prevent repeats of what happened to Hoffman.
One of Hoffman's former teammates has started a drive at Greatest Fan, a sports version of GoFundMe, to raise $25,000 to help Hoffman get back on his feet. If there was ever a case of a guy needing a hand up, this is it. https://my.greatestfan.com/Ryanhoffman>Click here.