Halfway up the Pyle family's Christmas tree hangs a hand-stitched football player, no bigger than a fist. Former Bear Mike Pyle's No. 50 is sewn in the center of the ornament, made by a teammate's wife to commemorate the 1963 NFL title.
Each year, the keepsake serves as a reminder of Pyle's years toiling as the Bears' center. Yet it's that part of his life — and the battering his head endured — that also might have cut it short.
Pyle, who died at 76 in July, was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in dozens of retired NFL players after they died, doctors said Monday. The illness is believed to be caused by repetitive brain trauma.
"Everything I learned about CTE pointed to the fact that he absolutely had it," said his widow, Candy. "But until you finally hear it, you always think that it's possible that it isn't."
Pyle's family said this week they hope his test results will increase awareness about brain trauma and concussions. They said Pyle — who was named president of the NFL Players Association in 1967 — would have hoped it will help players with their medical needs.
"My dad wanted to help others. It was such a passion for him to fight, to take care of other players and their issues," said his daughter, Samantha Pyle Buono. "He would have wanted to donate his brain, to use his story to get the word out, to share his suffering — even though it's private and personal — if it could help even one other player and their family."
Mike Pyle, captain of 1963 Bears, dies at 76
The diagnosis comes as the NFL faces increased scrutiny for its approach toward player safety. The number of dead former players whose brains have showed CTE symptoms continues to rise. And this week marks the release of the movie "Concussion" that chronicles the NFL's resistance to findings of CTE by pathologist Bennett Omalu.
As more attention is focused on the topic, more players are pledging to donate their brains for study after they die. Retired safety Gary Fencik — who spent 12 seasons with the Bears — told the Tribune this week he will donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation in Boston.
The league is fending off an appeal of the $1 billion settlement between the NFL and more than 4,400 retired NFL players who alleged the league ignored players' cognitive problems resulting from playing football. The agreement stands to cover more than 20,000 NFL retirees for the next 65 years, but critics such as Pyle's daughter take issue with how payments related to CTE diagnoses after April 2015 are excluded.
That was when the judge overseeing the case signed off on the settlement. It was done partly to discourage suicides because several former NFL players, including former Bears safety Dave Duerson, had taken their own lives and were later diagnosed with CTE.
Pyle Buono called the exclusion a "glaring defect" and smart legal strategy by the NFL. The family will receive other funds from the settlement because Pyle suffered from dementia the last decade of his life. The family is not appealing, saying it would be too costly and time-consuming.
"If you're so unlucky to have died after that date (April 2015), then you're treated differently," she said. "These poor wives and children are so overwhelmed with the day to day of just getting their loved ones taken care of or fighting to have a bill paid. ... They couldn't in a million years have any more time or resources put into appealing a case. The NFL absolutely counted on that."
An NFL spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Pyle's brain displayed the most severe form of CTE, known as Stage IV, with the disease widespread and major atrophy shrinkage of the brain, said Ann McKee, a doctor at the Boston University CTE Center who helped perform the test on Pyle's brain.
Pyle's family long suspected CTE as the culprit because of his dementia. But it's unclear when he contracted the disease, McKee said, because it takes decades to develop. He also suffered from Alzheimer's and multiple strokes.
The CTE Center has discovered symptoms of CTE in 88 of 92 former professional football players' brains it has tested and 144 of 179 football players at all levels.
Players whose brains show signs of CTE — diagnosis is only postmortem — often exhibited memory loss as well as aggression, depression and dementia.
"We're getting used to seeing it in individuals who (played) professional football," McKee said.
Pyle had said he knew of at least three concussions during his career, but his family suspects there were others, perhaps during practice or after shrugging off a hit.
"That was back in the day when (players were asked), 'How many fingers am I holding up?' " Candy Pyle said. "If you could say — or even if you couldn't — you went back in unless you were knocked out. So there were probably countless others."
The Bears selected Pyle in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL draft after he was captain of Yale's last unbeaten and untied team and earned All-Ivy League honors. He grew up in Winnetka and was a star athlete in three sports at New Trier High School.
He retired after nine seasons and embarked on a broadcasting career, hosting pregame and postgame shows for Bears games on WGN-AM 720 and co-hosting Mike Ditka's radio show.
Ditka, Pyle's roommate on the Bears, said he was not surprised by the CTE diagnosis.
"The centers took a pretty big beating in those days, and I don't think anybody thought a whole lot about it," Ditka said. "It took its toll."
A few years before Pyle died, Ditka visited him at a nursing home and saw what had happened to his friend.
"The light never really went on," Ditka said. "So, you talk for a few minutes. It was like talking to a child, you know? And that was what the disease did."
Fencik, whom Pyle recruited to play at Yale, is the latest player to announce plans to donate his brain for medical research. Former Bears Hunter Hillenmeyer and Thomas Jones previously pledged to do so.
"I know how valuable this research is going to be," said Fencik, head of business development at Adams Street Partners in Chicago. "This isn't something that's going to end."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ars-brain-trauma-spt-1222-20151221-story.html
Each year, the keepsake serves as a reminder of Pyle's years toiling as the Bears' center. Yet it's that part of his life — and the battering his head endured — that also might have cut it short.
Pyle, who died at 76 in July, was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease found in dozens of retired NFL players after they died, doctors said Monday. The illness is believed to be caused by repetitive brain trauma.
"Everything I learned about CTE pointed to the fact that he absolutely had it," said his widow, Candy. "But until you finally hear it, you always think that it's possible that it isn't."
Pyle's family said this week they hope his test results will increase awareness about brain trauma and concussions. They said Pyle — who was named president of the NFL Players Association in 1967 — would have hoped it will help players with their medical needs.
"My dad wanted to help others. It was such a passion for him to fight, to take care of other players and their issues," said his daughter, Samantha Pyle Buono. "He would have wanted to donate his brain, to use his story to get the word out, to share his suffering — even though it's private and personal — if it could help even one other player and their family."
Mike Pyle, captain of 1963 Bears, dies at 76
The diagnosis comes as the NFL faces increased scrutiny for its approach toward player safety. The number of dead former players whose brains have showed CTE symptoms continues to rise. And this week marks the release of the movie "Concussion" that chronicles the NFL's resistance to findings of CTE by pathologist Bennett Omalu.
As more attention is focused on the topic, more players are pledging to donate their brains for study after they die. Retired safety Gary Fencik — who spent 12 seasons with the Bears — told the Tribune this week he will donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation in Boston.
The league is fending off an appeal of the $1 billion settlement between the NFL and more than 4,400 retired NFL players who alleged the league ignored players' cognitive problems resulting from playing football. The agreement stands to cover more than 20,000 NFL retirees for the next 65 years, but critics such as Pyle's daughter take issue with how payments related to CTE diagnoses after April 2015 are excluded.
That was when the judge overseeing the case signed off on the settlement. It was done partly to discourage suicides because several former NFL players, including former Bears safety Dave Duerson, had taken their own lives and were later diagnosed with CTE.
Pyle Buono called the exclusion a "glaring defect" and smart legal strategy by the NFL. The family will receive other funds from the settlement because Pyle suffered from dementia the last decade of his life. The family is not appealing, saying it would be too costly and time-consuming.
"If you're so unlucky to have died after that date (April 2015), then you're treated differently," she said. "These poor wives and children are so overwhelmed with the day to day of just getting their loved ones taken care of or fighting to have a bill paid. ... They couldn't in a million years have any more time or resources put into appealing a case. The NFL absolutely counted on that."
An NFL spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Pyle's brain displayed the most severe form of CTE, known as Stage IV, with the disease widespread and major atrophy shrinkage of the brain, said Ann McKee, a doctor at the Boston University CTE Center who helped perform the test on Pyle's brain.
Pyle's family long suspected CTE as the culprit because of his dementia. But it's unclear when he contracted the disease, McKee said, because it takes decades to develop. He also suffered from Alzheimer's and multiple strokes.
The CTE Center has discovered symptoms of CTE in 88 of 92 former professional football players' brains it has tested and 144 of 179 football players at all levels.
Players whose brains show signs of CTE — diagnosis is only postmortem — often exhibited memory loss as well as aggression, depression and dementia.
"We're getting used to seeing it in individuals who (played) professional football," McKee said.
Pyle had said he knew of at least three concussions during his career, but his family suspects there were others, perhaps during practice or after shrugging off a hit.
"That was back in the day when (players were asked), 'How many fingers am I holding up?' " Candy Pyle said. "If you could say — or even if you couldn't — you went back in unless you were knocked out. So there were probably countless others."
The Bears selected Pyle in the seventh round of the 1961 NFL draft after he was captain of Yale's last unbeaten and untied team and earned All-Ivy League honors. He grew up in Winnetka and was a star athlete in three sports at New Trier High School.
He retired after nine seasons and embarked on a broadcasting career, hosting pregame and postgame shows for Bears games on WGN-AM 720 and co-hosting Mike Ditka's radio show.
Ditka, Pyle's roommate on the Bears, said he was not surprised by the CTE diagnosis.
"The centers took a pretty big beating in those days, and I don't think anybody thought a whole lot about it," Ditka said. "It took its toll."
A few years before Pyle died, Ditka visited him at a nursing home and saw what had happened to his friend.
"The light never really went on," Ditka said. "So, you talk for a few minutes. It was like talking to a child, you know? And that was what the disease did."
Fencik, whom Pyle recruited to play at Yale, is the latest player to announce plans to donate his brain for medical research. Former Bears Hunter Hillenmeyer and Thomas Jones previously pledged to do so.
"I know how valuable this research is going to be," said Fencik, head of business development at Adams Street Partners in Chicago. "This isn't something that's going to end."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...ars-brain-trauma-spt-1222-20151221-story.html
