Suicide is an Ugly Thing

            Suicide is an ugly thing. 

            When a man points a gun at his chest, thinks his final thoughts, and pulls the trigger, some unlucky soul is the first person on the scene.  This is quite often a spouse or a family member—someone who knew and loved the victim, someone with a lifetime of memories of the human being whose guts are now smeared all over the upholstery. 

            This might seem an overly grisly description, but to make a choice wisely you must understand the consequences clearly.  One ordinary Thursday, February 17^th, former National Football League (NFL) player Dave Duerson took a shotgun, pointed it at his chest, and pulled the trigger.  According to autopsy reports, he suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma—the type of trauma incurred during a game of football.  Because of his CTE, he had trouble thinking clearly and suffered from depression.

            Dave Duerson was a real man, a human being with friends and family.  While there are certainly complex causes to any suicide, it’s virtually certain that football caused Duerson’s CTE, and that CTE contributed monstrously to his suicide. 

In 1979, Duerson was given the chance to play professional baseball.  Had he chosen that path, it’s likely that the man would be alive today.  He’d wake up every morning, relishing the chance to watch his three sons and his daughter grow into young adults.  He’d spend quiet hours enjoying good books and good music, and playing with his grandchildren.

I cheered for Duerson when I was a five-year-old fan of the Chicago Bears.  Was the vicarious thrill I got from watching him chase an oddly-shaped bladder worth the pain his loved ones felt on February 17—and every day after?

We might argue that Duerson chose his own path, that he could have opted to steer clear of what he should have known was a dangerous profession.  Aside from being callous, this line of reasoning is specious; Duerson was shielded from knowing the full risks of his chosen profession by NFL suits interested capitalizing on his life and youth.  He, and many millions of young men, were sold a dream based on a lie.  Even if he had made a choice fully-informed, could you justify building your own frivolous enjoyment on the back of his suffering—and the suffering of his children?