Mark Fainaru-Wada Quotes
Finally, the Steelers were backed up near their own goal line when Brister called for a draw play. He handed off to Hoge, who found himself staring into a human wall. It consisted not only of Seth Joyner but also of Jerome Brown, a defensive tackle, and Reggie White, one of the most f . . . Read more

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
Joe Gordon, the team’s longtime public relations director, said he would be right over. The Rooneys had hired Gordon in 1969, the same year they had hired Chuck Noll, in an effort to upgrade the previously dismal franchise. Gordon was a Pittsburgh native who had played varsity baseb . . . Read more

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
officials would acknowledge that only 317 out of more than 10,000 eligible players were receiving benefits. Brain injuries were viewed as the hardest sell.

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
Download
In some major cities today, having a pro football team is a higher priority than providing basic services. The city of Oakland and Alameda County, for example, shell out over $30 million each year to support the Raiders; by 2012, Oakland, with one of the worst crime rates in the natio . . . Read more

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
what the researchers were saying was that the essence of football—the unavoidable head banging that occurs on every play, like a woodpecker jackhammering at a tree—can unleash a cascading series of neurological events that in the end strangles your brain, leaving you unrecognizable. The

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
Download
The brain is essentially an oddly shaped sphere of Jell-O, crammed inside a box, covered in a shallow layer of cerebrospinal fluid. This gelatinous material contains a kind of electrical grid—hooked up to an EEG, the brain can power a toy train—that transmits information through t . . . Read more

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
Barth’s major discovery was that concussions might be regarded as “minor” injuries by coaches, trainers, and even doctors, but they weren’t minor to the people who incurred them.

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
Download
A man will not believe something that his livelihood depends on his not believing.

-Mark Fainaru-Wada
Download