Carolina Panthers: Jarrod Cooper and CTE
Former Carolina Panthers player Jarrod Cooper suffers from brain dementia from his eight year career in the league.
The 2003 Carolina Panthers had attitude. There was attitude all over the team. If it wasn’t the road grade running game of Stephen Davis, it was wondering if Steve Smith would kick someone in the head. It was Kris Jenkins and Brentson Buckner on the defensive line.
That attitude also extended to the special teams unit. That was where two players set the tone for the return units. One was Rod ‘He Hate Me’ Smart, off of his stint in the XFL as one of the bright spots of that league. The other was hard-hitting reserve safety Jarrod Cooper, who played for contact and hits all of the time.
These days Cooper is wishing that he did not. In a report by Elliot Almond of the San Jose Mercury News, Cooper reveals that he has been dealing with the trauma of his aggressive play style ever since. In the week that the NFL agreed to a connection between brain injury and football, it only solidified something that Cooper already knew.
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Cooper, only 37, has been dealing with the symptoms of degenerative brain illness. He has fought seizures, depression, and sudden mood swings. Migraines have kept him in bed for more than half of a month.
Cooper is relatively lucky is that he figured out was wrong with himself. He retired in 2008 when he didn’t feel right. Eventually he got the advice of Dr. Bennett Omalu, the main character that the movie ‘Concussion’ was based on. Omalu told him it sounded like CTE and Cooper went to get treatment. He is suffering from dementia and sees doctors from time to time to deal with the symptoms. There is no way to get his full brain back.
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Cooper is taking things in his stride. He got married and has two kids. He reads to keep his mind sharp. He understands that it has to be managed.
Still Cooper is not adverse to letting his own kids play football as long as it is handled the right way. He also still has a hard time letting the idea that is was worth it go. The closest he comes is when he says that he would have chopped off the final two years of his career. What made those years different is hard to say off hand, but that was the year he was caught with steroids.
I would recommend Almond’s full article to those interested in addition my brief treatment of it here.