It's "a byproduct of my case," he said, alluding to the series of concussions, at least six, that forced his early retirement from professional hockey in 2006. Now 37, Primeau says, "I am not a crusader," but is aware that his decision last spring to donate his brain to research has reinserted him into the debate over the long-term effects of multiple concussions, and how leagues and teams are managing those injuries.
"I get emotionally conflicted with what I read," he was saying. "I get disappointed. Disappointed with ignorance and naivete and angry with a lack of understanding. And compassion."
He was talking about how the Eagles handled Brian Westbrook's first concussion, and the quickness by which he returned to play and was reinjured. It's deja vu for a guy like Primeau, not just because of his own case, but several others that have come before or since. Simon Gagne returned too soon two winters ago, got banged again and was pretty much done for the year. Eric Lindros. 'Nuff said.
And then there are the NFL guys he has gotten to know through the Sports Legacy Institute, the research center he donated his brain to. Founded by a concussion-plagued wrestler, Chris Nowinski, SLI's neurologists and neuropathologists have begun a long process of examining tissue from deceased ex-athletes, including NFL players like former Eagle Andre Waters, for evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
Normally found in brains twice their age, evidence of CTE has been discovered in six of the seven brain tissues examined. Many of the deceased, such as Waters, exhibited troubling cognitive and personality changes, some that led directly to their deaths.
Waters was 44 and had been struggling with depression when he killed himself 3 years ago.
