>>> THERES NO HAPPY ENDING.
BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
COME CLOSE.
>> NFL STAR MIKE ADAMLE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH SIGNS OF CTE JUST
LAST YEAR, DESPITE SUFFERING
WITH SYMPTOMS FOR ALMOST 20
YEARS NOW.
BUT AGAIN, THIS IS NOT JUST
ABOUT FOOTBALL.
CTE HAS BEEN FOUND I ATHLETES
IN AN ARRAY IN SPORTS, IN
MILITARY VETERANS, EVEN IN DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIMS. IN
DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIMS.
IM BACK NOW WITH MIKE ADAMLE
AND HIS WIFE, KIM.
WHAT IS THE PROGNOSIS, MIKE? WHAT DO THEY SAY THE FUTURE?
WHAT DO THEY SAY THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU?
>> WELL, AT THE TIME THAT I WAS DISCOVERED, I WAS IN A HOSPITAL
AND GETTING A ROUTINE THING --
SOME SCANS ON MY -- FOR THE
EPILEPSY.
EPILEPSY.
THEN THE DOCTOR CAME OUT AND HE
SAID, OH, BY THE WAY, OUR SCAN, THIS NEW SCAN THAT THEY HADCAN,
THIS NEW SCAN THAT THEY HAD APPARENTLY SAID WEVE SEEN
SOMETHING ELSE IN THERE THAT YOU
HAVE ALL THE SIGNS THAT ARE
CONCURRENT WITH CTE.
I SAID -- I TOLD THE DOCTOR,
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
THEYRE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
BEFORE YOU CAN DIAGNOSE THAT.
AND THEY SAID, WELL, AT THIS
POINT IN TIME WE REALLY DONT KNOW -- I SAID, WELL, IM NOT
GOING TO BE -- ILL BE THE FIRST
PERSON WHO STAYS ALIVE, HOW
ABOUT THAT. SO THE DOCTOR BASICALLY SAID
THERES REALLY NOT MUCH YOU CAN
DO WITH IT EXCEPT YOU CAN CHANGE
YOUR DIET, YOU CAN EXERCISE.
THERES A LOT OF DIFFERENT
THINGS THAT YOULL BE ABLE TO
DO.
DO.
I SAID, WELL, I CAN DO ALL OF THOSE THINGS. I CAN DO ALL OF
THOSE THINGS. SO -- THINGS THAT HELP YOUR
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING.
COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING. I FOUND OUT -- MY EYES LIT UP
THE MORE SOMEBODY TOLD ME THIS
IS WHAT YOU CAN DO.
FOR INSTANCE, BOXING, BELIEVE IT
OR NOT.
OR NOT. ITS NOT THAT YOU GET HIT IN THE
HEAD OR ANYTHING, BUT YOU HAVE
ALL THESE PUNCH ROUTINES.
YOU KNOW, THIS IS -- THATS LIKE
ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR.
WHEN I WAS DONE WITH THAT, MY
BRAIN -- I FELT -- IT HURT
BECAUSE I WAS -- I THOUGHT I WAS
HELPING IT OUT.
>> JUST THE ROUTINE OF KEEPING
SHARP.
>> ANYTHING THAT HELPS IT A LOT.
>> SO NOW THE TWO OF YOU HAVE
JOINED TOGETHER TO FORM THIS NEW INITIATIVE.THER TO FORM THIS NEW
INITIATIVE.
ITS BEING LAUNCHED WITH A
NONPROFIT CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION, WHICH WAS CO-FOUNDED
BY DR. ROBERT CANTU WHOS WITH
US TODAY BUT THIS IS NOT JUST
ABOUT CONCUSSIONS, THIS IS ABOUT
REPEATED, MORE MILD HITS TO THE
HEAD, BLOWS TO THE HEAD OVER A
PERIOD OF TIME.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO WITH THE
INITIATIVE?
INITIATIVE?
WHATS THE GOAL? >> SHES PROBABLY BETTER AT IT
THAN I AM.
BUT IN MY CASE TO SHOW FORMER
PLAYERS THAT THERE ARE THINGS
YOU CAN DO.
YOU KNOW, AGAIN, GOING BACK TO
THE THINGS THAT HELP COGNITIVE
FUNCTIONING FROM BALLROOM
DANCING.
DANCING.
>> IS THAT RIGHT? BALLROOM DANCING?
BALLROOM DANCING? >> OH, YEAH.
>> DO YOU GUYS BALLROOM DANCE?
>> WE DO, WE DO.
>> I GOT THE RUMBA STEPS DOWN.
>> TALK ABOUT NICE SILVER
LINING.
LINING.
>> BUT AGAIN, ITS THIS, THIS, THIS, THIS AND YOURE DONE.IS,
THIS, THIS AND YOURE DONE. >> WHAT DO YOU -- I MEAN I KNOW
THAT YOU CAME UP AT A DIFFERENT
TIME, BUT THINGS ARE NOT SO
DIFFERENT NOW WHEN IT COMES TO
THE CULTURE OF THE NFL.
I KNOW YOUVE BEEN OUTSPOKEN
ABOUT, AS I REFERRED TO IT, THAT
MAN UP CULTURE.
LIKE YOUVE GOT TO TAKE IT.
SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN TO YOU
AND WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO
CHANGE ABOUT THAT?
>> ONE, YOU KNOW, THEY ALWAYS
ASK WOULD YOU DO IT ALL OVER
AGAIN?
AGAIN?
IF YOU ASKED ME THIS LIKE 30 YEARS AGO ID SAY YEAH,IKE 30
YEARS AGO ID SAY YEAH, ABSOLUTELY, BECAUSE THE JOBS
THAT IVE HAD, SOME OF THE
PEOPLE THAT IVE MET, GUYS LIKE,
YOU KNOW, ED MARINARA WHOS BEEN
A FRIEND, WE JUST NOT TO MEET
EACH OTHER OUTSIDE.
THOSE ARE FOREVER.
YOU LAST -- THOSE THINGS LAST
FOREVER.
FOREVER.
AND I WOULD NEVER GIVE THAT UP IN A MILLION YEARS.IVE THAT UP
IN A MILLION YEARS. THAT BEING SAID, THERES
SOMETHING INTRINSICALLY WRONG
WITH A SPORT, AT LEAST IT IS
RIGHT NOW, WHERE, YOU KNOW, YOU
LOSE YOUR MARBLES SOMEWHERE DOWN
THE LINE.
THE LINE. AND I DONT THINK -- WOULD I DO
IT AGAIN PROBABLY KNOWING WHATS
HAPPENED TO ME IN MY LIFE?
DO I WANT SOMETHING THAT
EVERYBODY CAN -- THAT THEY CAN
DO, WHETHER ITS MEDICAL THINGS
SO THAT THEY DONT HAVE TO GO
OUT LIKE THAT.
>> THIS SHOULDNT BE THE COST
YOU HAVE TO PAY.
>> ITS AMAZING.
IVE BEEN TO THESE THINGS WHERE
YOU GET THE COURAGE AWARD AND
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. I SAID I AM NOT -- EVERYBODY IS
COURAGEOUS IF THEY DIG DEEP
ENOUGH.
ENOUGH.
I SAID YOU KNOW WHAT I AM? IM A SURVIVOR, AND I THINK
WERE ALL -- BECAUSE IT HAPPENS
TO EVERYBODY, YOU HAVE TO BE
YOUR OWN SURVIVOR, SO ID RATHER
BE THAT THAN THESE OTHER THINGS.
WERE ALL SURVIVORS.
YOURE A SURVIVOR, YOURE A
SURVIVOR.
SURVIVOR.
ITS JUST HOW WE GO ABOUT DOING
IT.
SO THATS GOING TO BE MY MOTTO. ITS GOING TO PROBABLY BE THEO.
ITS GOING TO PROBABLY BE THE DEMISE OF HOW I PASS AWAY, BUT
THIS IS SORT OF -- WE LOOKED AT
IT ADDS, OKAY, THIS IS YOUR
MISSION.
MISSION.
GO OUT AND TAKE IT. >> KIM, WHAT IS THE MISSION?
I MEAN WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO?
WHAT CAN YOU CHANGE IN A CULTURE
THAT STILL IS SAYING WHEN THEY
GET KNOCKED DOWN AND THEY
STUMBLE AROUND, GET UP, GET UP,
GET BACK IN THERE?
>> WELL, LIKE MIKE SAID, WHEN HE
WAS FIRST TOLD CTE, HE SAID,
WELL, THEN IM GOING TO BE THE
ONE TO LIVE WITH IT.
AND THATS WHAT WE SET OUT TO
DO.
DO.
OUR WHOLE LIFE WAS CENTERED AROUND THAT, WHAT WE CAN DO
TO -- WE CANT STOP THE CTE,
THAT DAMAGE.
THAT DAMAGE. WE CANT STOP THAT BRAIN DAMAGE,
BUT WE CAN DO OTHER THINGS TO
PROMOTE OTHER BRAIN GROWTH,
NEUROGENESIS, AND SO JUST LIKE
MIKE SAID, THE EXERCISE, THE
DIET, ANTI-INFLAMMATORY, LOW
GLYCEMIC, SOCIALIZEINGSOCIALIZIN
GLYCEMIC, SOCIALIZEINGSOCIALIZIN EMOTIONAL PART.
EMOTIONAL PART.
ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE PART OF OUR DAILY LIFE THAT WE DO ALLOF
OUR DAILY LIFE THAT WE DO ALL THE TIME.
THE TIME.
MIKE HAD SO MANY PEOPLE REACH OUT, NOT JUST OTHER ATHLETES OR
FANS, BUT JUST EVERYDAY PEOPLE
REACHING OUT TELLING THE SAME
STORY.
STORY.
I THINK I HAVE THIS. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO.
SO OUR MISSION NOW IS TO REACH
OUT AND SHARE WHAT WE HAVE FOUND
OUT, SHARE OUR JOURNEY, TO HELP
EVERYONE OUT THERE.
>> THERE ARE NOW, RIGHT NOW IN
NEW YORK AND ILLINOIS BOTH HAVE
LAWS PROPOSED ON THE BOOKS THAT
THEYD LIKE TO GET ON THE BOOKS
BANNING TACKLE FOOTBALL FOR KIDS
UNDER THE AGE OF 12.
THATS A REAL ISSUE BECAUSE
THATS NOT BANNED IN MOST PLACES
AND ITS NOT JUST FOOTBALL.
THE NFL, HOWEVER, HAS HAD TO PAY
OUT A BILLION DOLLARS IN
SETTLEMENTS AS A RESULT OF A
LAWSUIT THAT CAME NOT LONG AGO.
UP NEXT, TWO MORE FORMER NFL
PLAYERS WILL OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR
EXPERIENCES AND JOIN FORCES TO
CHANGE THE CULTURE OF YOUTH