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Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon is featured on the cover of the Sept. 10 issue of Sports Illustrated. He has been there before. Not like this, however. This time he is featured with girlfriend Laurie Navon for an article “The Women Behind The Retired NFL Men Who Suffer From Brain Trauma.”
Jim McMahon, who quarterbacked the 1985 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl title, is back on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
McMahon has been known for his unconventional behavior from his days with the Bears, but that eccentricity apparently has become something more serious: brain damage.
Also featured are Mary Lee Kocourek (wife of former tight end Dave Kocourek) and Mary Ann Easterling (widow of former safety Ray Easterling).
McMahon told the Chicago Tribune two years ago he had short-term memory loss. Navon told the magazine she noticed behavioral changes in him in 2007 with subsequent tests showing early onset dementia.
Because of McMahon’s memory, Navon said she has to remind the onetime “Punky QB” constantly they are a couple.
Your humble correspondent can remember seeing them at a golf outing in conjunction with Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 in Miami at which McMahon seemed fairly chatty and Laurie seemed like a strong personality who could cope with him.
The story figures to be another headache for the NFL, as it tries to deal with safety issues and lawsuits involving concussions. The NFL did announce Wednesday (Sept. 5) it was donating $30 million to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health for medical research.
Maybe at some point, the league will be willing to give some funds like that to the players who have suffered head injuries and the like.
Speaking of dangers to athletes’ heads, Oakland Athletics pitcher Brandon McCarthy took a line drive off his cranium against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday on a ball hit by Erick Aybar.
The former White Sox right-hander was held overnight in a hospital for observation.
“You try not to let it linger, but it’s human nature for it to,” A’s catcher Derek Norris said. “Your heart goes out to your teammate. You battle with them throughout the course of the season, but we try our best to motivate us to win it for Mac.”
At some point, you would like to think the geniuses who run Major League Baseball can come up with a liner to place inside a pitcher’s cap to protect him. Once upon a time, liners were used before the advent of batting helmets. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take a tragedy to have baseball look out for player safety.
Jaime Edmondson has the NFL covered with her football forecast -- even if she was wrong about who would win the NFL's season opener.
Wednesday marked the start of the NFL’s regular season. Which no doubt thrilled millions. Better news: Playboy Playmate Jaime Edmondson is back for another season of fearless football forecasts. For starters, Jaime picked the New York Giants to defeat the Dallas Cowboys. Which explains the photo of Jaime in Giants-themed attire (OK, what little there is of it — and the guess here is that few folks, if any, will complain about the pictures content).
Judging by the photo, you could say it doesn’t look like the Giants would cover. As it turns out, the Giants wouldn’t win. Dallas did 24-17. On the bright side, there will be more predictions by Jaime coming Sunday. The challenge then is to compile them and run them on this site.
Or you can follow her on Twitter where she posts her picks and pics: @jaimeedmondson. For those skeptical about Jaime’s qualifications, she once was a Miami Dolphins cheerleader. Sounds qualified to me. And certainly looks it, too.
Truth be told, your humble correspondent did not view the Giants-Cowboys game. The Democratic National Convention brought out a lineup of speakers that was the political equivalent of the 1927 New York Yankees — with former President Bill Clinton more than filling the role of Babe Ruth. Not being particularly politcally savvy, yours truly thinks maybe Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren was the Lou Gehrig on the Democrats roster.
Anyway, here is some video of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders from an exhibition game:
Alana Campos, Playboy Playmate for September, is to be on the Sept. 6 "Sports & Torts" program.
It’s Thursday (a conclusion that the logic department for this site reached because yesterday was Wednesday and tomorrow is Friday — and presuming you are reading this on Thursday). And that means it’s time once again for “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris at noon Chicago time on talkzone.com. The guests for the Sept. 6 show are September Playboy Playmate Alana Campos and pro football hall of famers Randy White and Dwight Stephenson.
The highly acclaimed program (well, it is in the Spada and Harris households and even reportedly elsewhere) also will be available later on podcast at talkzone.com.
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