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Bruce Parkman on Youth Contact Sports, Concussion Prevention and Protecting Children's Brains | Broken Brains · Broken Brains with Bruce Parkman

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Hey folks, Bruce Parkman here from the Mack Parkman Foundation, your host of Broken Brains, our official podcast, where we talk about the issue of repetitive brain trauma, repetitive head impacts from contact sports, and repetitive blast exposure for our military veterans and what they're doing to the futures, brains, and mental health of our children, athletes, and veterans.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Today, a little short segment.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of proud to say we've got a new book.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, look at this.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's even thicker, which doesn't mean more reading, more pictures, because I'm an army guy.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Why is this important?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, number one, it's free.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like zero, right?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Go to the website, download it, read it on your, you know, your Adobe Acrobat app.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: But this book represents a long journey.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to keep updating it too.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: But in the last five years, what we have learned about the issues of repetitive blast and repetitive head impacts has been astounding.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and as you know, it started with the loss of that beautiful child up there.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Who should be here?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But his dad didn't know better.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Allowed him to play a bunch of sports, couldn't see, didn't ask the questions, well, you know, he asked them, and of course, your kids may tell you what you want to hear, I'm fine, you know.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Till they're not.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And to understand that this entire foundation shouldn't exist, that this is all preventive, if our researchers who know that this is a problem would say more, that our politicians who are so afraid of not being voted or going against, you know, organized sports would listen, would prioritize our kids, to the parents out there who, you know, they don't even know.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know it yet.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: To all the neurologists that know and don't let their kids play contact sports, you know, to all the people that are aware that this is an issue, which represent a very statistically like single digit of that segment of the population.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that this is preventable.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: That if we had their knowledge, then we would make better decisions.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what this is.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: This book represents more knowledge and more awareness, scientific research, logic, that you can now decide, hey, you're gonna let your kids play contact sports or not.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's not a, oh yeah, you should play contact sports kind of decision.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like they're safe or anything.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: We are kind of, we are purposely led to believe they're safe.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Big marketing game, you know, Gatorade commercials, under armor commercials, all with these little kids with these big elements.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yet they're not.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just the truth.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: And one of these shows I'm gonna talk about risk, you know.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when you take risks, you know, you take the chance and you get in your car, you're taking the risk that you're gonna have an accident.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we all know that.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we have insurance.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: But if you knew you were gonna get in an accident, would you get in the car that day?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Nah, probably not.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody likes to have the car in the shop and be without a car or deal with rental car agencies.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, when your child goes on the field, there is a risk of them getting hurt.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's why we sign those waivers.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: You get the risk of a broken leg, even death.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Some of the football waivers, risk of death.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Why do you take the risks?
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're very, very small.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: But what if the risks are not there?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: What if there is an absolute, there is an absolute certainty that your child is going to get injured?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are you going to let them play?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why a lot of folks might not want you to read this book.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you are educated and you are aware, you can make an informed decision.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: The fact is, when your child gets on that field and heads that soccer ball, that brain just shook.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: When you tackle, I don't care if it's on a rugby field, if it's on a football field, and I don't care if his head is part of the tackle or is off to the side, that brain shook.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Every time that brain shooks, shakes, neurons are stretched.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Different, you know, uh substrates of the brain, the gray and white matter, at different densities, they move.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Stretching neurons, shearing neurons, tearing myelin.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And just knowing that that brain is unprotected until 14.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: You are literally punching a computer chip and then expecting the computer to work when you turn it on at 18.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: The brain doesn't work like that.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why the book is so important.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we look at, you know, the purpose of this foundation, we're not here to end contact sports.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's the last thing we want.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, contact sports, I love rugby.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think it is one of the most elegant games in the world.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: When that ball is flowing from guy to guy and tackles are being made, whatever, there's no doubt.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: We love our sports.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: We can, we can't probably, some of us can't live without them, I guess, you know, with all these fantasy football leagues, whatever, whatever your gig is, right?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: I really don't care.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: But sports, I think we can all agree.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: If there's one thing we agree on as a human being, is that sports should not occur.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, physical illnesses, absolutely, man.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: I've got I've got torn pecs, torn quads, torn hamstrings, I've got neck problems, lower back problems.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I do it all over again because I love playing rugby.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's the way it is.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, not to mention the fact that everybody thinks you're crazy.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: My son loved the wrestling.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: My son loved playing football.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And those physiological, you know, issues as a man, okay, and a grown woman, those are ours to take on.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: We own that.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: We take that risk.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's a risk, okay?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: You don't sign up to get a busted back, a busted neck, torn peck, and all that stuff.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: You don't sign up for that.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: It just happens.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's part of the game.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: But it shouldn't happen to children.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why we are at where we why we are at where we are at now as a society.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because we have been groomed that these sports are absolutely safe for kids, and they are not.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Not even close.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And should kids be playing sports?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, gosh, I mean, we should have more kids playing more sports.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we have brainsafe forms of all the contact sports out there.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, wrestling's a little bit tough.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'd say actually wrestling should be probably an adult sport.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing with gymnastics.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: When you look at all the impacts that those little girls deal with, I mean, I, you know, it's crazy.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: But for most of the sports, you know, lacrosse, soccer, rugby, hockey, football, there's there's not, you don't have to use the head.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's the whole thing.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Are you all aware that in the Boston University CTE Bank, there are no baseball brains or basketball brains?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: What does that say?
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's one baseball brain, he was a catcher, they took a lot of hits, got it, maybe he played football, but that's one.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: There's no basketball brain.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's all about the head.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: I can't say it more bluntly than that.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: You take the head out of sports, we have safer sports.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: And can't we agree that, I mean, sports, we love sports.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: We love it when our Super Bowl team wins.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: We hate it when they lose.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: I got it.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: All right, been there.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And sports gives us something to live on, to live for, it gives us something to coalesce around and become, you know, brothers and sisters, you know, and it crosses demographics and racial lines.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, sports are awesome, but not when they hurt and not when they incapacitate mentally.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Everything that we are dealing with right now on this show, with athletes that are post-career and cannot find their way through life, veterans who have been misdiagnosed because of blast exposure.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to keep this mostly focused on sports.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then children who are mentally ill and are not here is all completely preventable by making a few minor changes to how we play sports.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, things like pop warner football have to go.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: There is absolutely no place for five and six-year-olds to be hitting each other in the head with helmets when they have a large head, a little tiny neck, and and not to mention an undeveloped brain.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just say a developing brain.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's even worse.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's no place for that.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's no place for kids to practice heading soccer balls.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: No place for kids to be checking in hockey, you know, and even throwing each other down on mats.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: And there's absolutely no place for travel teams, if you ask me.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because all that does is extend the amount of damage.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because we have two problems here.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just the repetitive nature of the sport, it's how long we play it.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: For example, Mac, as many of you know, was a wrestler player, was a football player from July to October, then wrestling from October, and they actually overlap till March, and then, man, hey, this snow.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go, man, snowboard, right?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Not a good lifestyle.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know that.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And most parents don't.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why, again, this is so important to at least read it.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: You might not agree with me, and I'm good with that, bro.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't, I mean, I'm all about it.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: You got your way, I got mine.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I just happen to have thousands of research papers, studies, and suffering parents and children that are not here with me.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: You have passion.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: I got it.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: You believe that football is all your life and soccer and hockey and all this, and it and you feel it safe.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you feel it safe, it's okay.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's not.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you and everybody out there to take some time and just read through this book.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's only 150 pages, got a lot of pictures, big letters, you know, for guys that have to like me need glasses.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: And become informed.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, right now we live in a society where we listen to people and we don't do our own research.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: When it comes to our children, you know, and what we're seeing with parents right now, they're starting to do research.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the overwhelming amount of them, once they do their research, are saying no to these contact sports.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because if there's one underlying factor amongst all of us that agree that sports are absolutely cool, is that we do love our kids.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we can all agree that kids should not be hurt.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we look at those things that we love, you know, our Lord, our families, our country, okay, love is that's the absolute power of this world.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: And love should be driving our decisions to do what's right, which is simply delay participation in contact sports till the brain is more resolved.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Wait till the brain starts myelinating at least at 14.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: I say, look, your brain doesn't really mature till 25.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't start playing at rugby till 29, thank God.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: But you get my point.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, wait.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Then if you're really gonna roll the dice after reading this book and you still want to play contact sports, that's fine, man.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: One season.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the year, take it off.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm gonna tell you what, Jack, your kid's not playing in the NFL or the NHL.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: And they're probably not gonna play on the USA women's soccer team or be in the Olympics and could be there.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And outside of, you know, the very, very few in the NFL that make a lot of bling, okay, they're probably not gonna make a lot of money.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, professional gymnastics, lacrosse players, all, you know, they don't make a lot of money.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: They don't have a career.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: All right, but they can be doctors, engineers, architects, they can be very, very successful young kids that are also athletic and have lots of dad and mom lore from playing sports, and their brains are intact.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that what we want?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that one sport a year, no multiple sports like my poor son?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then take the contact out of practice.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: If there's one thing that we can do to make sports safer than anything right now, is to stop practicing like it's game day.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: That is 80% of the unnecessary trauma.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: The NFL doesn't practice during the season.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, contact during the season.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: Why do 95% of our high schools do it?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: All right?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that is not an excuse to make contact for kids down the line.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a, you know, that's not a rational, oh, we'll just take the contact out of practice, and our kids can hit.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Your kids shouldn't be hit.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Your kids should be good kids.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we do a few things, right?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Wait till at least 14, play one form of sports, take the contact out of practice.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: What the hell is so hard about that?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then guess what happens?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: You got the genes, you got it, you're gonna make it.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: You got the genes and the will.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because, bro, you look at some of these smaller ball players that make it all the way up.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: That is hard, man.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what that wrestling coach said about my son at his at his um at his uh at his um at his funeral.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Said to win in that first round of wrestling takes, you know, takes skill.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, to win in the second round takes endurance.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: To win in the third round takes heart.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: And my son had heart.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: But that heart doesn't beat anymore.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it should be.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: In this book, and my mission, and this foundation's mission, and my wife's mission, and our mission collectively, is to make sure that you are informed so there's no more Macs.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because it doesn't have to be.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you get a chance, please.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Read the book.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: You want some bracelets?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Email us.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: We'll send you a bag of them.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: Put them in a local gym, put them in a local supermarket.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: You want books?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Send you books, send everybody to the website.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: That book should be read by every parent in this world.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it ain't about us, because they don't have the knowledge yet.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Sooner or later, awareness about contact sports and kids will be as prevalent as seatbelts and helmets, and there'll probably be some legislation, if necessary, to go ahead and make sure that we protect our children.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: We protect our treasure and the future of this country.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: By optimizing their brains, we do more for the future of America than anything else we can do right now.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: Brain health is absolute, absolutely a priority and needs to be.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And this is part of the problem.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, free book.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Never turn down free.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Bag of popcorn, you know, a couple root beers, get on this thing.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe one day we'll turn it into a movie.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's now an e-book, right?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: An audio book.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, we've made it that easy.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: And espanol también.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you can get it.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, our job is just to get the word out there.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: For all of you that pay attention to our podcast and help spread around, thank you so, so much.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: This book is also about hope.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: I got a whole chapter in here about hope, the new innovations, the new modalities, the new way we're finding these children that are now adults and helping them find their way back.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is this is so timely an issue.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And again, it's it's not about the it's not just about tragedy.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, all right, we've made some mistakes as a society.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just admit it and move on.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody has to go to jail, nobody has to end, no sports have to go away.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: We can fix this.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's that easy.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think everybody can agree that we just want safer sports.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: We still want our Doritos.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: I got it.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: We want all that.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: We can have it.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: We're Americans.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: We want our cake and we want to eat it too.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: We can.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Read the book, become hopeful.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's make some change.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: Till next time on Brook and Brains, the official podcast of the Mac Parkman Foundation.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Bruce Parkman.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: Sign it off saying, thank you.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have children, please.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: They only got one melon.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: Take care of it.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: It bruises so easily.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Learn how fragile it is.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Till next time.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like us, subscribe us, send us out there, and uh we'll see you again.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you all.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: Take care.