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This former football star is already showing signs of brain damage. He's 36.

Antwaan Randle El is only 36 years old, and his regrets should make the NFL take a long look in the mirror.

In 2006, Antwaan Randle El achieved something thousands of kids across the U.S. dream about: throwing a game-clinching touchdown pass in the Super Bowl.

Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images.


The most unbelievable part? He wasn't even the quarterback.

Photo by SteelCityHobbies/Flickr.

He was a wide receiver.

There's a good chance you remember this play, especially if you're a Pittsburgher (or, more ruefully, if you're a Seattleite,) but if you don't, do yourself a favor and take a look. Pure awesomeness.

It's the kind of feel-good, unlikely success story that, under different circumstances, might have turned the former Pittsburgh Steeler into an ambassador for the game.

Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images.

Instead, in an astonishing interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Randle El dropped a bombshell: He regrets ever playing football.

"If I could go back, I wouldn’t," Randle El told the paper. "I would play baseball. I got drafted by the Cubs in the 14th round, but I didn’t play baseball because of my parents. They made me go to school. Don’t get me wrong, I love the game of football. But, right now, I could still be playing baseball."

The reason?

A healthy brain, left, and a brain with signs of advanced CTE, right. Photo by Boston University Center for the Study of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy/Wikimedia Commons.

According to the interview, since his retirement in 2010, Randle El has been contending with progressive physical and mental deterioration. He frequently loses his balance walking down stairs. He has trouble remembering things that happened just a few minutes earlier.

Randle El is only 36 years old.

Although Randle El has not received a diagnosis, his symptoms raise fears of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder which has shortened the lives of too many former NFL players.

Frank Gifford, a former NFL player, was posthumously diagnosed with CTE. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

The result of repetitive mild head trauma, CTE often begins by subtly shifting the mood and personality of those who suffer from the disease. Alzheimer's- and Parkinson's-like symptoms often follow, and early death is a common result.

There is evidence that former football players are among the most commonly affected.

A landmark study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University examined the brains of 91 former NFL players and found evidence of CTE in a whopping 96% of them. That same year, The NFL settled a lawsuit with thousands of former players affected by symptoms of the disease for $1 billion.

What can be done about this?

No one really knows for sure. By most important metrics, football is more popular than ever. Given the sport's paramount place in American mass culture and the billions of dollars involved, major reform feels a long way off.

Some change, however, might be achievable in the short term. Making sure players are wearing helmets correctly can help prevent concussions. And education at the high school level, specifically making parents aware of the risks of playing and the slim odds of going pro, could help protect children from injury when their brains are most vulnerable and build a constituency for change from the ground up.

Randle El told the Post-Gazette that he's ultimately pessimistic that the game can be changed in a way that makes it more safe.

Randle El speaks at a pep rally before Super Bowl XLV. Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images.

"There’s no correcting it. There’s no helmet that’s going to correct it. There’s no teaching that’s going to correct it. It just comes down to it’s a physically violent game. Football players are in a car wreck every week," Randle El told the paper.

While that may or may not be true, with any luck, getting the word out about football's frequently devastating impact on former players will ensure that parents and young people considering a football career at least know the risks before they become reality.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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Bruce Willis recently celebrated his 68th birthday.

Back in March 2022, legendary action actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with aphasia and took an official step away from the spotlight. Then, in February 2023, the beloved "Die Hard" star progressed into frontotemporal dementia, an incurable brain disorder often mistaken for Alzheimer’s that mainly affects personality, behavior and language, according to the Mayo Clinic.


Despite the tragic news, Willis is supported by loved ones, as seen in a video posted by ex-wife Demi Moore. The clip, posted to Twitter on March 19, captures Willis' family surrounding him in celebration of his 68th birthday.
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Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

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A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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Pop Culture

Kelly Clarkson correctly pronouncing a guest's name on her show seems simple but it speaks volumes

Viewers appreciated how respectfully Clarkson handled her interview with K-pop group TWICE when she asked performer Tzuyu how to properly pronounce her name.

The Kelly Clarkson Show/Youtube

It really is as simply as that.

What’s in a name?

A lot, actually. We know that names reflect certain aspects of one’s identity. We know that repeated mispronunciation of a person’s name potentially undermines that identity. We know that sometimes this is unintentional, and other times, more insidious intentions of “othering” are at play. Especially when it comes to those with non-English names.

We also know that, on the flip side, making the effort to properly pronounce a person’s name is one of the simplest forms of kindness and respect that someone can offer. And it really pays dividends.

Just take a page from Kelly Clarkson’s book.
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Pop Culture

Woman shares 5 questions to ask potential employers and people are taking notes

"Being in both senior leadership and directly involved in candidate recruitment, these questions are fire. 10/10 recommend."

TikTok creator gives people 5 questions to ask potential employers.

You know the end of the interview where they ask, "Do you have any questions for us?" It's a dreaded question for a lot of people. Even though you know it's coming, the question still catches you off guard and you wind up asking something possibly irrelevant or nothing at all. Then the whole ride home, approximately fifteen questions pop into your head.

But don't you fret, because TikTok creator Kyyah Abdul has a list of five questions to keep tucked in your brain's pocket to close out an interview. And folks in the comments are applauding the creator's ability to figure out if the company is a fit for you and clarify any concerns the interviewer may have. Her advice was so genius that even a person who is involved in candidate recruitment chimed in saying, "Being in both senior leadership and directly involved in candidate recruitment, these questions are fire. 10/10 recommend."

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