Former B.C. Lions defensive lineman Rick Klassen was no stranger to giving and taking hits.
During his stellar CFL career, Klassen, who passed away from cancer at age 57 earlier this month, said he suffered multiple concussions and saw stars thousands of times.
“When I played they knew very little about concussions,” Klassen said prior to his death. “Based on ignorance, they didn’t know how to treat them or how to prevent them.”
It all added up and affected him and his family.
“It changed a lot of things,” said Klassen’s son Chad, a reporter with CFJC in Kamloops. “He was very quick to anger following football. He was very irritable. If you said the wrong thing, that would maybe set him off. I think the concussions and the effects of those really had an impact on our family. Growing up it wasn’t always a fun environment to be in.”
Like the NFL, the issue of head trauma and its link to cognitive disorders like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been a hot-button issue in the CFL. Former B.C. Lions wide receiver Arland Bruce filed a lawsuit that alleged players weren’t properly protected from concussions. The suit was tossed out by a B.C. judge earlier this year.
WATCH: CFL commissioner denies any link between CTE and football
Prior to this year’s Grey Cup, CFL Commissioner Jeffrey Orridge refused to acknowledge a connection between repeated blows to the head and long-term cognitive disorders.
“The last I heard it’s still a subject of debate in the medical and scientific community,” he said.
That stance contrasts with the NFL, which earlier this year admitted a link between football and CTE.
Well before his death, Klassen decided to donate his brain to the Canadian Concussion Centre in an effort to help others better understand the after-effects of head trauma.
Klassen said he hoped researchers can eventually improve how they detect concussions so that “young people don’t have the same experiences that some of us older players had.”
Chad Klassen said his father’s brain has been sent to Toronto Western Hospital for examination. The family hopes to get results in late February or early March of 2017.
– With files from Jennifer Palma, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
- Joffre Lakes to close for 3 periods this year under agreement with First Nations
- ‘Why aren’t we doing more?’ White Rock on edge with killer on the loose
- B.C. carjacking victim says she doesn’t trust the ‘catch-and-release’ system
- Inquest into fatal Surrey hostage-taking recommends cameras for ERT teams
Comments