Former NFL Star Nick Buoniconti Donates His Brain to Scientists
By Ken Reed
As he announced that he was donating his brain to researchers at the CTE Center at Boston University, Nick Buoniconti simultaneously ripped the National Football League (NFL) for failing players and not doing enough to support brain injury research.
“The fact that the NFL pulled its funding from Ann McKee’s research prompted me to come up here and make a statement that the NFL is only in it for the money, and they don’t care about the guys who preceded me,” said Buoniconti, speaking haltingly, in an interview before the announcement.
“I’m really angry because they turned their backs on us and it’s not a responsible way to do things.”
Buoniconti arrived at the news conference in a wheelchair, wearing his Super Bowl VII ring.
“I owe it to the thousands of others who will follow me on this trek,” Buoniconti said in the interview.
“My life is not what it was, and I just want to be able to help with Ann’s (Dr. Ann McKee) research and hopefully the research will end up helping so many other players.”
In recent years, Buoniconti has become more forgetful. He also as had trouble speaking and completing basic tasks. At the news conference, Buoniconti said that he was also falling more frequently, and had to call 911 five times in the past two years.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #33 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Ken Reed Announces His Retirement and Chats With League of Fans Founder Ralph Nader – Ken and Ralph talk about the history of League of Fans and the reasons it was created. They then move into a discussion of a variety of contemporary sports issues that League of Fans has been working on in recent years. Ken and Ralph end by talking about the need for sports fans, athletes, and other sports stakeholders to get involved in the sports reform movement and be activists and change agents on issues important to them, whether that be at the local, state, or national level.
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Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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