A former Calgary Stampeder and business icon has donated his brain to advance concussion research.
John Forzani, 67, died of a heart attack in Palm Springs, California last Friday. He had been in hospital on life support.
His brain was donated to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project, the world’s first study on the long term effects of concussions on professional football players.
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“John and I talked about brain donation three or four years ago,” said Forzani’s former teammate Basil Bark in a statement.
“I was experiencing some depression and memory loss and I discussed this with John,” Bark added.
Bark was a business partner and close friend of Forzani’s for nearly five decades.
“We looked more into what CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is about and agreed that if this helps put the discussion further and helps anybody that is coming up in the ranks, we agreed that it is definitely worthwhile,” he said.
Bark said Forzani suffered several concussions while playing football, including one severe hit which broke his helmet.
“He was glassy-eyed after the game and who knows what the effects were? I knew John for 47 years and everything seemed fine. But his brain should be examined,” said Bark.
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Forzani was a Stampeders lineman from 1971-1976, and won the Grey Cup in 1971.
He went on to found a national chain of sports stores and became a part-owner of the Stamps, but recently retired.
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The Canadian Sports Concussion Project is led by Dr. Charles Tator, a neurosurgeon and brain injury prevention expert who is recognized around the world.
Other former CFL players have also donated their brains to the project, which is based in Toronto.
They include Bill Frank, Jeffrey Croonen, Peter Ribbins, Tony Proudfoot, Jay Roberts, Bobby Kuntz, Doug McIvor, “Cookie” Gilchrist, Ted Toogood, Bryan Illerbrun, and a number of anonymous donors.
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