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Brent Boyd (bio)
NFL |
Brent Boyd is a seven-year NFL veteran, playing on the Minnesota Vikings' offensive line. After graduating with honors from UCLA in 1980, he was selected by Minnesota in the third round of the NFL draft and was able to master every position on the offensive line. He suffered multiple concussions throughout his professional career, beginning with one during his rookie season against Miami that rendered him unconscious and momentarily blind in his right eye. He since has been diagnosed as clinically depressed and endures other long-term health problems linked to these concussions. Brent now is now a staunch advocate for other former players suffering from the after-effects of concussions, having testified before Congress and the Senate in 2007, and works to educate players, coaches, and athletic directors on the concussion crisis in sports.
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Malcolm Huckaby (bio)
NBA |
A Boston College Varsity Club Athletic Hall of Fame member, Malcolm Huckaby led his BC Eagles basketball team to the NIT quarterfinals in 1993 and the NCAA Elite Eight in 1994. He scored 1,316 career points (including 199 three-point FGs), and was a three-time Defensive MVP with 198 career steals. Malcolm went on to play professional basketball with the NBA's Miami Heat, as well as in France and Italy. Currently, Malcolm is a PCA Vice President in the Boston US TRUST Bank of America Private Wealth management office. He serves on the Board of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Mass Bay and is actively involved in several organizations geared towards helping less fortunate individuals and families.
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Booker Huffman (bio)
Pro Wrestling |
Booker Huffman is better known by his wrestling persona - Booker T. He is one of the most successful wrestlers of the modern era, winning the WCW World Championship five times and the WWE World Championship once. As a tag team with brother Stevie Ray – known as Harlem Heat - he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship a record ten times. He also held the WWE Tag Team title with SLI Athlete Advisor Rob Vam Dam. Owner of the Houston based Pro Wresting Alliance and Booker T’s Pro Wrestling Academy, he is currently wrestling for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
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Ted Johnson (bio)
NFL |
A three-time Superbowl Champion, Ted Johnson played ten seasons at linebacker for the New England Patriots. He retired in 2005 due to post-concussion syndrome, most likely stemming from back-to-back concussions in just four days in 2002. He was the first athlete to go public with his ongoing struggles with PCS in February, 2007, after the Andre Waters tragedy in an attempt to raise awareness of concussion-related neurological disorders and change the culture of concussions in sports. The former University of Colorado All-American continues to support sports-related head injury awareness through advocacy and speaking to youth sports programs. Ted is a member of the board of directors for the Penikese Island School for Boys and serves on the advisory committee for the Real Institute at the Family Institute of Cambridge, MA.
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Isaiah Kacyvenski (bio)
NFL |
Isaiah Kacyvenski is a veteran of eight NFL seasons, the first seven for the Seattle Seahawks as a linebacker and special teams standout. He was the special teams captain for the Seahawks at Superbowl XL. He suffered two concussions in 2006 while playing for the St. Louis Rams. The Oakland Raiders put him on the injured reserve after a knee injury during the 2007 preseason, but he is expected to come back strong in 2008. At Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude pre-med in 2000, he was a four-year starter, becoming the first player in Harvard history to start every game of his career. Isaiah earned All-Ivy League first team honors three times, and finished his Crimson career with a school record 395 tackles, and adding 11 interceptions, 8 fumble recoveries and 4.5 sacks. Isaiah finished his sophomore season with 80 tackles and his freshman season with 72 while earning Ivy League Rookie of the year.
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Pat LaFontaine (bio)
NHL |
A 15-year veteran of the NHL, Pat LaFontaine is considered among the game's best playmakers. He was drafted third overall in 1983 by the New York Islanders after amassing a league high of 234 points at the Canadian Junior "A" level during the 1982/83 season. During his NHL career Pat had seven 40-plus goal seasons and a career-high 53 goals and 148 points as Captain of the 1992/93 Buffalo Sabres. Pat was a five-time NHL All-Star, won the Bill Masterton Trophy in 1995 for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, represented the US at the 1984 and 1998 Winter Olympics and 1996 World Cup, and received the 1997 Lester Patrick Award for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. He is founder and president of the Companions in Courage Foundation in Huntington, NY, which seeks to "give courage, friendship, and compassion to those children and families faced with overcoming illness and life-threatening obstacles" by creating interactive playrooms in North American children's hospitals. Now a member of the NHL Hall of Fame, Pat retired from hockey in 1998 due to concussions, and supports the Sports Legacy Institute in its efforts to increase the safety of sports.
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Ben Lynch (bio)
NFL |
Ben Lynch is a veteran offensive lineman of six National Football League seasons whose career was cut short due to injury. His personal experience with post-athletic career health issues has stimulated his desire to advocate for programs which benefit athletes afflicted with long-term health issues caused by injuries sustained during their playing careers. Ben, a California native, is a 1996 graduate of the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California where he received the Andrew L. Smith Scholarship Award for Academic Excellence.
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Cindy Parlow (bio)
Pro Soccer |
One of the greatest scorers in U.S. history, Cindy retired from international soccer in 2006 due to persistent effects of post-concussion syndrome, after having played 158 times for the USA while scoring 75 goals, placing her fifth all-time on the U.S. scoring list. Cindy was the youngest player ever to win both an Olympic gold medal and a Women's World Cup title. A founding player in the WUSA for the Atlanta Beat, she helped the Beat to the Founders Cup championship match with a solid 2003 season that included three goals and five assists as she started 17 of the 18 games in which she played. Cindy launched her standout soccer career at the University of North Carolina, where she majored in education.
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Rob Van Dam (bio)
Pro Wrestling |
Rob Van Dam, real name Rob Szatkowski, is one of the most popular, accomplished, and gifted professional wrestlers in the world. Known by colorful nicknames such as “Mr. Monday Night” and “Mr. Pay-per-view”, in 2006 he held the WWE Championship and the ECW Championship at the same time. His 23-month reign as ECW World Television Champion was the longest in the company’s history, and RVD won numerous other championships throughout his decorated career. He retired from WWE in July of 2007. Since finding out that Chris Benoit had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy at the time of his death, Rob has become dedicated to raising awareness about concussion-related brain damage and methods of prevention.
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