27 Jan 2001: Former Miami Dolphins linebacker and 2001 inductee Nick Buoniconti speaks during a press conference announcing the inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: Elsa/ALLSPORT

It’s possible you’re tired of reading stories like Nick Buoniconti’s. There have been plenty of them. I’ve written about some of them.

But they’re only going to keep coming out. Probably more and more often.

Buoniconti played from 1962 through 1976, perhaps most memorably as a Pro Bowler on the ’72 Dolphins. He also led a bit of a larger-than-life, well, life; he graduated law school while playing in the NFL, became an agent after retirement (including for baseball stars like Andre Dawson and Bucky Dent), and even served as a top executive for US Tobacco, along with a long stint as a co-host of Inside the NFL.

On MMQB, S.L. Price has a very detailed longform piece on Buoniconti’s current battle with the effects of CTE. It’s wrenching at times, as many of these pieces are:

But few saw Buoniconti teeter as he walked off the stage, perhaps because of the atrophy to his right frontal cortex seen in 2015. Fewer noticed Nick motioning for Lynn as he bolted from the ballroom, perhaps because of the neurodegenerative dementia diagnosis just a month ago—or the yet-unspoken opinion that his condition could actually be corticobasal syndrome, complicated by an atypical Parkinsonian Syndrome or CTE or Alzheimer’s.

He had to pee. And Lynn had to stand by to unbutton and unzip him and ensure that he’d emerge from the men’s room dry and unexposed.

And no one here saw him before all that, when Buoniconti stood up in the hotel lobby and headed toward the ballroom. “I feel lost,” he said. “I feel like a child.”

There are many more details in the story, and the entire thing is obviously worth reading. Buoniconti’s story also includes that of his son Marc, who was rendered a quadriplegic after dislocating his neck while playing college football.

NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 27: Marc Buoniconti and founder of The Miami Project and The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis Nick Buoniconti speak during the 25th Great Sports Legends Dinner to benefit The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis at The Waldorf=Astoria on September 27, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis)

In one family, we see football’s ability to injure its participants both in one instant and through many smaller ones over time.

Something has to change at some point, but it’s too late for entire generations of players whose stories we’ve heard and will continue to hear.

[MMQB]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.