Benefield: Despite battered bodies, NFL legends giving back

The scene has elements of irony.

A group of Hall of Fame football players are scheduled to gather in Yountville to watch Super Bowl 50 as part of a fundraiser. Tickets to hang out, eat and drink with these guys, including former Raider Willie Brown and Bengal Anthony Munoz, run from fairly reasonable to fairly steep, depending on the bulk of your wallet.

The recipient of the largesse? The Tug McGraw Foundation, which according to its website, exists to “...promote awareness, and stimulate research and scientific collaboration to improve quality of life for people with brain-related trauma and tumors.”

That’s where I just have to ask, is it weird to raise funds for a non profit group focused on brain trauma while watching a professional football game?

And then add this layer - one of the guys who will be there is none other than Jack Youngblood.

Youngblood, 66, is legendary for his days with the Rams. One of the greatest defensive ends of all time, hardman Youngblood likely secured the first line of his obit when he played in the 1979 Super Bowl (and two playoff games) with a broken leg. In the NFL’s list of “Gutsiest Performances,” Youngblood’s wreaking havoc with a broken fibula is ranked No. 1.

Youngblood embodies a portion of the NFL safety debate.

He’s a guy who put everything out there to play the game he loved and to play alongside teammates he respected. He’s also a guy who is open about some of the health issues he has faced because of it.

So when I asked him whether this event struck a strange partnership considering all of the heat football - and especially the NFL - is taking over concussions, brain injuries and the long-term health of the players, he was gracious.

“You might have a point there,” he laughed.

Youngblood still loves the game, still thrives in the ambassador role. He accepts the damage he sustained as part of competing at the highest level.

“There is no question that we took on concussions time after time and basically, fundamentally, we ignored them for a time so that we could go and perform.”

But at what cost?

Youngblood is candid about his struggles with brain issues. He started suffering severe anxiety attacks in his 40s, was unusually forgetful, was not himself.

He knows football is the cause. He calls stories of other NFL vets suffering severe dementia and committing suicide “horrific.”

He also wouldn’t change a thing about his playing days. No regrets.

“None whatsoever,” he said. “That was my job. My job was to play and to play at that level, every snap of the football. There wasn’t but one way to play and that was wide open.”

This is a guy who, when asked why he went out and played on a broken leg, “Because it was Sunday.”

“We did something that was totally unique,” he said. “The good lord gave us the ability to go and play that game and to be the best of the best at it. It’s an obligation from an individual standpoint - you are obliged to do the best with what you are given. And that just so happens to be rushing passers for me.”

Montgomery High School athletic director Dean Haskins felt the draw of Youngblood and the brand of football that he played.

“I had a Youngblood jersey. I wore it every single day. I wouldn’t take it off,” he said. “The hair, the steel jaw - he was like Captain America to me.”

“But I wonder about their health now because of what they went through when they played,” Haskins said. “Back then, you played hurt. It’s what you did. Being a man was being out there on one leg and being able to tackle somebody. Now, obviously, we know.”

Youngblood said the game has changed to better protect players’ health. He said the NFL isn’t going anywhere.

But his issues were enough that Youngblood helped establish the Jack Youngblood Center for Neuroenhancement in Orlando, Fla., in 2014 to address some of the brain injuries he and others sustained in sport, military and life.

He is clear to state that the therapy doesn’t heal, but simply “change the symptoms from the trauma.”

And he is clear to state that in his mind, the game is worth the risk.

But, as much as I liked talking to him, as much as I love the ferocity of a competitor and story of the broken leg, I wonder if he’s right.

You can reach staff columnist Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield. Podcasting on iTunes at “Overtime with Kerry Benefield.”