Former Eagle Waters Is Dead At 44

[Bearcat729]

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/ho...l.jsp?id=59919


Former Eagle Waters Is Dead At 44



November 20, 2006

Former Eagles safety Andre Waters was found dead in his home in Tampa, FL of apparent self-inflicted wounds.

He was 44.

Waters, one of the most popular Eagles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, played here in 1984-93. Undrafted out of Cheyney State, Waters impressed the Eagles with his toughness and physical play, and eventually became a starter at the strong safety position.

He and Wes Hopkins formed one of the most successful and loved safety tandems in Eagles history.

SS Andre Waters

"What a devastating piece of news," said Eagles radio voice Merrill Reese. "Andre was a guy who could light up a room with his personality. As a football player, he came from nothing. But he made himself into a fine player by working hard and dedicating himself to the game.

"You think about those defenses, those teams. We've lost three players from that defense now -- Andre, Jerome Brown of course (in 1991) and Reggie White. It's just tragic."

Said former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski: "He was one tough football player. When he made our team in '86, it was because of toughness. Buddy Ryan was the head coach and he was looking for those kinds of guys -- players with an edge and a toughness to their games. That was Andre. He was a ferocious hitter who just got after people. He was a heck of an athlete with a real football atitude. I'm very sorry to hear that about Andre.

"He scared everybody -- receivers, running backs, quarterbacks. He was a tough guy. He believed in the theory of reduction: If you keep hitting people, they don't want to get up."

Waters completed his NFL career with Arizona, and then went on from there to enjoy success as a college coach at Morgan State, the University of South Florida and Alabama State before becoming the defensive coordinator at Fort Valley (Ga.) State University.

Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, officials said.

"I thought he was an awesome guy," said Eagles video director Mike Doughert, who recalled that he rode in the back of the team bus on road trips with Waters. "He was the hardest-working guy to ever come through here. He made himself a great player. He was a young, tough kid out of Cheyney, and (assistant coach) Fred Bruney worked with him every day, every day, watching film. After workouts he would come up to Fred's office, which was right across from mine (at Veterans Stadium) and they would watch film for a couple of hours.

"He worked his butt off at it and made himself a player. Off the field, he was very popular. People made fun of him all the time because he didn't articulate the language real well, but he laughed about it and took it all in stride. He worked at that, too. He was a hard worker at everything. He was a great kids, one of the best to ever come through here."

[WebEwbank]

As Mark Bowden (Black Hawk Down) points out in his superb book on the Iggles, Andre was a VERY interesting guy, with a gentle off-field demeanor and an on-field alter ego - the Dre Master - basically a cross between Rodney Harrison and Hannibal Lector.

[johnnyshaka]

Just read this as well...was fun to watch Andre "Dirty" Waters roam around looking for his next victim. Very sad.

[MizzouRah]

For some reason I was thinking Ricky Watters.

Sad nonetheless...

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

For some reason I was thinking Ricky Watters.

Sad nonetheless...

Ditto on both counts.

Though I was wondering how in the heck Ricky Waters was already 44...

[stevew]

I was thinking "Roger Waters died?" And then that he was in Pink Floyd instead of the Eagles. And then how he would have to be way older than 44.

[Eaglesfan27]

Andre was one of my favorite players when I was a kid. Very sad news.

[Rizon]

Man that guy sucked in Tecmo Super Bowl.

[SFL Cat]

He probably heard about McNabb.

Seriously though, it amazes me how so many professional athletes seem to wind up on the skids, get in trouble with the law, have hopeless addictions, or take their own lives following their careers.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Andre was one of my favorite players when I was a kid. Very sad news.

Wow. One of the best defenses in the history of the NFL is hardly 15 years old and three of them are already gone. So sad and a reminder that we should not take life for granted, even the invicible break down.

[cthomer5000]

A part of my favorite Tecmo Super Bowl team... the Eagles have to have the most dead guys on one team in Tecmo now.

[14ers]

Originally Posted by Dutch

So sad and a reminder that we should not take life for granted, even the invicible break down.

Sorry, I just don't get this feeling from a Suicide.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by 14ers

Sorry, I just don't get this feeling from a Suicide.

You're right, but I was also talking about Jerome Brown and Reggie White, so consider Waters a tag-a-long to the thought.

[Klinglerware]

A very interesting article in the NY Times today. A neuropathologist analyzed samples of Andre Waters' brain, and found the tissue to be similar to the brain tissue of an 85 year old with the early stages of Alzheimers. The scientist is theorizing that the suicide may have been a result of degenerating brain function caused in part by multiple concussions suffered during his NFL career. He is also saying that if Waters had lived, he likely would have been totally incapacitated in ten years anyway.

A rather longish article, but interesting. Some other takeaways for me:

1. The link between multiple concussions with long-term brain degeneration and depression.

In a survey of more than 2,500 former players, the Center for the Study of Retired Athletes found that those who had sustained three or more concussions were three times more likely to experience “significant memory problems” and five times more likely to develop earlier onset of Alzheimer’s disease. A new study, to be published later this year, finds a similar relationship between sustaining three or more concussions and clinical depression.

2. There appears to be a few other examples of the effect:

He chose Dr. Omalu both for his expertise in the field of neuropathology and for his rare experience in the football industry. Because he was coincidentally situated in Pittsburgh, he had examined the brains of two former Pittsburgh Steelers players who were discovered to have had postconcussive brain dysfunction: Mike Webster, who became homeless and cognitively impaired before dying of heart failure in 2002; and Terry Long, who committed suicide in 2005.

3. And unsurprisingly:

Dr. Bailes and other experts have claimed the N.F.L. has minimized the risks of brain trauma at all levels of football by allowing players who sustain a concussion in games — like Jets wide receiver Laveranues Coles last month — to return to play the same day if they appear to have recovered. The N.F.L.’s mild traumatic brain injury committee has published several papers in the journal Neurosurgery defending that practice and unveiling its research that players from 1996 through 2001 who sustained three or more concussions “did not demonstrate evidence of neurocognitive decline.”

As in other areas of scientific inquiry, there are multiple viewpoints to these issues. But I do think it is an intriguing explanation for the suicide.


EDIT: I forgot the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/sp.../18waters.html

[Dutch]

Dr. Bailes and other experts have claimed the N.F.L. has minimized the risks of brain trauma at all levels of football by allowing players who sustain a concussion in games — like Jets wide receiver Laveranues Coles last month — to return to play the same day if they appear to have recovered.

This doesn't read right to me.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Dutch

This doesn't read right to me.

I think that word should have been minimalized?


A fascinating area for me and I look forward to actually reading the full study later this year.

[dawgfan]

Hmm. Either SI or ESPN the Magazine (I think it was ESPN) had an article recently regarding the issue of the NFL and concussions, criticizing the NFL's stance and the man they have in charge of setting their concussion policy.

I suspect this is a case of "where there's smoke, there's fire" and the NFL will in the near future be forced to re-evaluate their policies regarding concussions.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Dutch

This doesn't read right to me.

Are you referring to the "NFL" and "all levels of football" part? Yeah, that's not clear. I also have the print version of this, and this sentence is not edited down (as the Times sometimes does in the web versions of its articles). Perhaps they are saying that the NFL policy sets a bad example for other levels of football?

[Dutch]

No, the part where they have minimized risk of brain trauma by letting people who suffered concussions back onto the field that day. They used the wrong word in there or forgot a word.

[Klinglerware]

Originally Posted by Dutch

No, the part where they have minimized risk of brain trauma by letting people who suffered concussions back onto the field that day. They used the wrong word in there or forgot a word.

Gotcha -- the way they constructed the sentence makes you have to guess the context of "minimized". They most likely meant "minimized" as in "devalue the importance of" and not "reduce the risk of"...

Edit to add: or should I say, the context is clear if the whole article is read. With my selective quoting, I had inadvertently removed the context...

[Synovia]

As tragic as this is, maybe it will help convince more NFL players that they SHOULD be wearing the Concussion reducing helmets that were developed 10 years ago.

Some players say they restrict vision, but Brady and P.Manning seem to play fine with them on. Ben Roethlisburger refuses to wear one. Seriously.

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Gotcha -- the way they constructed the sentence makes you have to guess the context of "minimized". They most likely meant "minimized" as in "devalue the importance of" and not "reduce the risk of"...

Edit to add: or should I say, the context is clear if the whole article is read. With my selective quoting, I had inadvertently removed the context...

Gotcha. Thanks.

[molson]

For all the wrestling fans on the board, it's interesting that Chris Nowinski is the driving force behind this new research. His wrestling career ended after a series of in-ring concussions, and he's apparently become one of the foremost sports-related concussion experts.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

Gotcha -- the way they constructed the sentence makes you have to guess the context of "minimized". They most likely meant "minimized" as in "devalue the importance of" and not "reduce the risk of"...

Edit to add: or should I say, the context is clear if the whole article is read. With my selective quoting, I had inadvertently removed the context...

That is what I was getting at as well with my above post.

[QuikSand]

A pretty sad, and revealing, follow-up on this story (and others like it) from Malcolm Gladwell. A bit longer than the usual fare, but he's a gifted writer, and it's worth your while:

Football, dog fighting, and brain damage : The New Yorker

[Logan]

Lengthy article about him, Mike Webster, etc in this month's GQ as well. Focused more on the doctor that Gladwell referenced (Omalu I believe).

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

A pretty sad, and revealing, follow-up on this story (and others like it) from Malcolm Gladwell. A bit longer than the usual fare, but he's a gifted writer, and it's worth your while:

Football, dog fighting, and brain damage : The New Yorker

Very interesting and sobering article. In terms of the head trauma related injuries, what really can be done to stop them? Better helmets? I'm afraid to admidt that this will always be part of the game, not sure if there's anyway around it.