HBO Real Sports Part 1: Steve Smith, former Penn State and Raider Football Player, has ALS

Please go to www.stevesmithfund.org to donate to Steve Smith as he courageously battles ALS. This is Part 1 of 3 Clips: On August 17, 2010, HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel featured Steve Smith, former team captain on Penn State's 1986 National Championship team and former running back for the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. The Real Sports' investigative team reports for the first time on the discovery of a link between sports concussions and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig's Disease. The episode discusses new research that shows a connection between ALS and brain damage caused by repeated concussions, just the sort of injury which football players like Steve, endure during their careers. Steve has been battling ALS since 2002. He cannot speak because of a ventilator and receives his food through a feeding tube. He communicates via a state of the art computer system. Steve was a third-round draft choice of the Raiders in the 1987 NFL draft. Converted to fullback, he blocked for Raiders running backs Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen. He then spent 2 seasons with Seattle. Although primarily a blocker, Steve finished his career with 1627 rushing yards and 13 receiving touchdowns.

The feature total running time is 24 minutes, consisting of 3 total parts.

This clip is produced by HBO Real Sports. We received permission to use for viewing purposes only on this YouTube channel.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Steve Smith
• Penn State Football
• Joe Paterno
• 1986 national championship
• Raiders
• Oakland Raiders
• Penn State
• Chie Smith
• Lou Gehrig
• Lou Gehrig's disease
• ALS
• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Bryant Gumbel
• Real Sports
• HBO
• head injuries
• head traumas
• sports injuries
• football head injuries

[TXL0ngh0rn]

Proudfoot is gone now. Victim of ALS. My prayer is more people become aware of this illness and solutions are made to cure it.