Former Oakland Raider George Atkinson to donate brain to CTE research

[@johnculpepper5336]

Hang in there George Atkinson, you have our love and support................Raider Nation.

[@tomfrankiewicz7951]

It's disheartening to see these football players that I admired as a kid and teenager going through this now.

[@kgthoughts]

he just lost both his twin sons within a year period...god bless him i could imagine what that man is going through

[@dallaswebb978]

George Atkinson was one of the sweetest men I knew, it breaks my heart to know that his health is failing him. I hope he can remember the young woman who drove the blue Mustang from Castro Valley.

[@muffs55mercury61]

In the days he played, the Raiders were an all out war machine with some of the most massive hits in football.

[@eclectica1]

I love it when he goes on the NFL Network Top 10 shows and gives his opinions.

[@user-vy4co1fi9r]

Rip George Atkinson III

[@ericwyatt3646]

He is still alive.

[@frankabler]

@@ericwyatt3646 George Henry Atkinson III (November 29, 1992 - December 2, 2019)

[@ericwyatt3646]

@@frankabler That was one of his two sons. They both died.

[@sagedavis3770]

Thank you for sharing your story and bringing to light the disease, CTE, which is caused by repetitive purposeful hits to the head, as enacted in football. Your open discussion about your struggle living with this disease will hopefully prove beneficial in changing the safety standards for brain trauma actions in playing sports. God Bless You - George and Family and Teammates for stepping up and doing the right thing. Peace be with you.

[@prowellerable]

I really hate to hear this news. Love or hate him, he's still a human being. He was my all time favorite growing up. I wanted to be just like him every time I stepped onto a field. I loved to watch him play.

[@kgraham03]

George Atkinson & Jack Tatum were too of my favorite players...I patterned the way I played after them... Football is a violent sport & that is what I miss the most about it!!!!

[@jonnybgood1105]

@Dwight Cook ^^^ This dude! 😐

[@nathansarfo1768]

Did you just ignore the whole video of how those guys paid greatly for that glory? I’ll play football but I won’t play stupid

[@thegoat164]

@@nathansarfo1768 Football was for men, not little girls like you!

[@nathansarfo1768]

@@thegoat164 I already play too so stfu

[@Annastasiaworldoffun]

Sleep in peace Josh and George Atkins III 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 Peace that surpasses all understanding towards the father George AtkinsII Stay strong 💪🏽 Dec 2019

[@paulgrimm7842]

Hell. I’m 66 and suffer from loss of memory ! The lights are on and nobody’s home!

[@user-FBA-1]

Paul Grimm 🤣🤣😂😂

[@user-FBA-1]

Paul Grimm Any age can have memory loss.

[@hassanabdur-rahman1559]

@Mark Rodriguez HBOT, can definitely help. The enriched oxygen environment of HBOT can provide oxygen to dormant brain cells. This can cause blood vessel growth, which can cause the once dormant brain cells to make synapse connections. Once the synapse connections have been made, the dormant brain cells will function in the same manner as those damaged brain cells.

[@shortstack7381]

Bruh 😂🥺😂

[@Neljr702]

😢 he will always be a Legend !!

[@robertbishop5357]

I just pray he doesn't take his own life as so many other players have. He was a great player. God bless him and his family.

[@carlhenderson555]

Hold on & hang in there Atkinson everything will be ok praying for you and all football players from Pop Warner , High School, College, NFL. I remember playing Pop Warner, High School we had those headache helmets, I had my bell rung plenty of times.

[@brandonjones8223]

my brain is hurting watching this may god be with these warriors...

[@muffs55mercury61]

One of the hardest hitting teams in the history of football.

[@darylcopeland5244]

I'm a steeler fan and I loved it in the 70's with that rivalry I get chills just think n bout those games between them and my raiders it's the most physical game in the physical era.I tell everyone 2day the rivalry games 2day couldn't match the raiders and steelers and no other game in that era couldn't either. Those 2 safeties the raiders had 32 43 are definitely the most intimidating safeties to ever live hands down not even close but 2me my Steelers had the best defense to ever live. Tatum and Atkinson could really take receivers out of their game with their antics and Tatum once said I will hit my grandmother if she came across me on a field his nickname was the ASSASSIN. To of the 2 Atkinson did all of the dirty hits and I do mean dirty and down right criminal even 4 back in 70's he hit my receiver a couple of times one in Oakland and the other in the steel city. The one in oakland Swaan was running a dummy route the play had nun n 2do with him and Atkinson hit him behind his head with a hook forearm if I can paint the picture for yall and knocking out cold and in Pittsburgh in a playoff game cold as hell about 15 degrees hit him similar with a blow 2 back of the head and Swaan head hit the concrete frozen field and he was knocked out again I was young back then but 32 and 43 was the reason I didnt wanna b a receiver I wanted to intimidate just like Tatum and Atkinson with all that said we had the edge over them in playoff games head 2 head I think we were 3-1 but they had the edge in regular season games against us. For all the fans 2day if u all love that intimidating style of football u had no better example than my beloved steelers and john madden raiders like I said I'm getting goose bumps just think n bout it and hearing NBC broadcaster the late late great Curt Gowdy do n the game

[@LeeBrasher]

Loved the 70s RaIders and I have to love George and Jack cause those were my guys however -- and it pains me to say this -- George truly was a dirty player and yes he had his reasons and he was far from alone but, alone among the Raiders, even i will admit that George took it a little bit too far at times.

[@larrysmith1568]

Football helmets back in those days was nothing more than a plastic shell. I played football in high school. I padded my helmet with foam packing material. It helped.

[@leroystover1062]

Get well George my favorite one of my favorite Hitman Raider Nation

[@kevinvaughan7134]

One of the hardest hitters ! Good luck George

[@ericrobinson1789]

As much as you realize the dangers and risk of football this is still pretty sad to see these guys in this condition. George was a really good football player in his hey day. Praying things get better for you bro along with the other guys battling this tough demon.

[@davidmckenzie1570]

Iam a Ninner fan much love 2 old school Raiders players.

[@ericwyatt3646]

Respect his decision in the end, and I expect Jim will do the same in the future.

[@mattosullivan9687]

George I love you man

[@onesmoothstone5680]

Peace George, peace!

[@tomfrankiewicz7951]

I hate it when people call him a dirty player. A lot of players were very aggressive and physical back in the day

[@georgeelmerdenbrough6906]

2 years Pop Warner , 2 years middle school , 4 years high school , and 4 years college ...12 years of collisions before ever earning a dime .

[@Braniff440]

Those tweety birds and stars you see in cartoons is real when you have that type of collision in a football game. For the life of me why would a father let his daughter play football is beyond me.

[@TheBigdogrod]

My hero

[@DWilliam1]

Sad. Loved watching him play. With all this science coming out happy I never played football past HS.

[@yourroyalhighness7662]

George, perhaps Jack Tatum will be the first to greet you in the next life. Raider fans will never forget you.

[@LeeBrasher]

It's amazing the things women will stick around for -- as long as you have money. If George were to go broke Denise would be out of there in five minutes......

[@marcvslicinivscrassvs7536]

She might be entitled to his pension after he dies.

[@damuphillips9188]

Do you know this man's fa.ily background sounds like you got perked around so you can't say all women are there for the money. There are still some real queens around besides he should be getting his pension noe

[@cicprods]

You guys gave us fans a lot of joy. As Dick Gregory says not the best use of a human body. Pretty dumb game though I love it. Atkinson always downed Lynn Swann for being soft. Maybe he was saving his brain. Best of luck.

[@Braniff440]

He was not as tough as Stallworth. In fact John was the better receiver. Loved it when Oakland terrorized the Steelers.

[@anthonygomez2267]

If Snake had CTE then for sure others who made their living knocking heads got to have it,sad to see our hero's and great men suffering like this!!!

[@paulgrimm7842]

Why are they all Raiders ?

[@liljeeper99]

Hmmm.. 99% of all the brains donated by nfl players to this research proved to be devastated by CTE. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck!!

[@jameshansen8220]

Football, boxing both ignorantly allowed is a violent society of lost fools.

[@thegoat164]

What a Puss King you are.

[@xxxxbigrich5752]

Too have a woman love you that deeply is incredibly moving! He was definitely one of my favorite football players. I just hope he gets better. 🙏

[@krusty6246]

How about that cheap shot on Swan?

[@bananaman432]

Yo that's my name. My full name

[@neolee3477]

RIP. #RN4L

[@DonDayJR]

Neo Lee he not dead his sons dead

[@MDJ-wb1pn]

So at this point knowing what we know why not just ban all football across the nation. Pop warner to professional? I know the fans love to see the violence but is it worth it at this point.

[@veronicacooper4397]

mike de julia They will never do that. Money is everything to the NFL

[@nathansarfo1768]

NFL tried to suppress this. Too much money is at stake for the game to due

[@michaelgomez8058]

Shouldn't done so many cheap shots

[@Biggdoom344]

Atkinson to me was one of the dirtiest players I ever saw in an era full of them. However, I used to travel to the Bay Area a lot at one time and never heard anything but good about him off the field. Truly a jeckyl Hyde type

[@24quorthonschuldiner62]

LOSER!!!

[@kenlucas5474]

@@24quorthonschuldiner62 Atkinson WAS a dirty player!

[@lwmson]

Can't say I wish him the best. He was a dirty ball player.

[@805livin4]

joe jones it wasn’t considered dirty back then

[@lwmson]

@@805livin4 The hell it wasn't. That time when he hit Lynn Swann from behind was as cheap as it gets.

[@805livin4]

joe jones like I said it wasn’t considered dirty it was considered playing aggressive until Lynn swan filed the law suit against them

[@lwmson]

@@805livin4 Yeah, right.

[@805livin4]

joe jones you weren’t around in those times to understand what football once was but it’s not your fault

[@trenorman832]

I heard science is a lot closer than many ppl realize to solving a lot of these problems

[@binzsta86]

The solution to this problem is not playing football completely. I'm not even a scientist but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out.

[@dumisatonyjohnson8145]

Flash I’m glad I didn’t play the game

[@dumisatonyjohnson8145]

Flash It was too violent for me! I was too small to play!!

[@josephtoombs7438]

Science tells us what it is but it will never cure a degenerative disease.

[@thegoat164]

@@dumisatonyjohnson8145 Football was a game meant for men not girls. Yeah that's right I said was because for the last 20 years it's been nothing but a game for girls. So damn cry babyish today.

[@Colt-ii4qn]

Dirty 👎

[@MichaelMurphy61-cc5gs]

he was a dirty player ...still hope he does well

[@jeffflinn2053]

You mean George had a brain???

[@chethanslthippeswamy]

They should try yoga and eating good vegetarian food

[@2enchant]

The game is safer today. There are better helmets and stricter rules.

[@panowa8319]

The helmet only protects the skull, not the brain.

[@thegoat164]

The game is also cry babyish today. If I want to watch girls in skirts I'll watch a chick flick.

[@topangachronic9463]

You shouldn't have done that to Swann. Karma is a b****

[@smoothoperator7023]

Jeff Dickensian i was thinking same thing....🧠

[@thelegendkillersshittyduff1335]

Topanga chronic and ur a piece of fucking dog shit

[@805livin4]

Topanga chronic sorry ass steeler fan

[@televisionman3093]

Mamiya Phan The Rams did not "cheap shot" Swann. They knocked him out of the game on a legal hard hit. Atkinson's club to the "back" of Swann's head was the lowest, dirtiest hit I've ever seen in football, by far. He couldn't cover Swann, so he clubbed him in the back of the head. Now, as an old man, he's still on tv criticizing Swann, periodically. I understand fully some of the posts here expressing negative sentiments toward him, even though he's down now.

[@televisionman3093]

dog person Why the truculence?

[@momichaux5054]

So glad to see that the 2nd dirtiest player in the NFL (Phil Vilipiano being the first) has now humbled himself, remember all those cheap and vile shots that you handed out after the play was over by 3 seconds have come back to you now 20 fold.... Atkins loved to call everybody SOFT, now he is the one who is soft...Now it's time to get right with God George, I pray that you do...

[@chunguszaza]

Go fuck yourself, these are gladiators, legends of the game, Raiders. You sound like he personally hit you from behind back in the day

[@24quorthonschuldiner62]

You're a lousy bum you know that? how low do you have to be to enjoy what a former player is going through? I hope karma pays you a little visit someday

[@momichaux5054]

@@24quorthonschuldiner62 I never said I enjoyed his suffering, I said that I was glad to see him humble himself... you need to learn how to read

[@24quorthonschuldiner62]

@@momichaux5054 and you need to learn how to shut up moron

[@momichaux5054]

@@24quorthonschuldiner62 Butt hurt cause you can't read???? or butt hurt cause you are the true moron who refuses to admit that you misunderstood what I wrote..

[@chriskroell6956]

He was a dirty player along with Tatum

[@Braniff440]

That was how the game was played. Guess you never saw Glenn Edwards and Mel Blount play. Pittsburgh Steelers

[@GARRY3754]

@@Braniff440 yes but Tatums hit on Singletary in a exhibition game was sorry as hell, leaving him paralyzed. He should of been banned.

[@Braniff440]

@@GARRY3754 Darryl Stingley was a very good and promising receiver along with Stanley Morgan for the Patriots. However, the object in that more aggressive NFL was pain and intimidation. No one wants to permenantly maim or end a career of another player just ring his bell. Butkus, Lambert and countless other defensive players and a few offensive players pride themselves with that type of play in those days. Now the rules favor offense and teams now are scoring 40-50 pts. a game.

[@thegoat164]

@@Braniff440 The game today is an absolute embarrassment, so damn cry babyish.

[@thegoat164]

Go watch HITMAN George Atkinson and you will see where John Madden says "The Raiders are dirty, yeah yeah the Raiders are dirty, yep, so what are you going to do about it?"

No Sympathy for him. He and Jack Tatum and others relished giving defenseless receivers such as Lynn Swann cheap shot concussions. Jack Tatum (who Permamently paralyzed Patriots receiver Darrly Stingly with a single vicious hit) and Skip Thomas (Mr illegal clothesline tackle). These dirty raiders players have CTE due to getting thumped staight on legally with running backs or crossfire from their own teammates. Fuck 'em.

[@wwalt7229]

Cheap shot artist.

[@thelegendkillersshittyduff1335]

Joey COCO ur a piece of shit. Fuck the NFL and fuck football.

[@cjtaylor2359]

@@golf_clap_ that is what you have to say after watching this ? You sad sack of shit. Fucking savages.

[@dumisatonyjohnson8145]

e walt That’s the way he played the game and I’m not a Raiders fan!! It doesn’t change that he’s still human!! He’s not Robocop!! They’re suffering!! Why don’t you show some sympathy for once

[@Braniff440]

Nope hitters and intimidators in the secondary.

[@geminiman7791]

Blame the NFL for allowing his style of play. Not the man himself.

[@Chad-bx5ukTherearenocountries]

Don't worry bout it. I'll keep my fucking organs.