2026 Detroit Lions Offseason Thread

[Motor City Sonics]

[Motown Bombers]

 

[Hongbit]

Way too young.   Tracy was a quality player on a bunch of pretty good Lions teams.

[lordstanley]

Strong words from the family about CTE and how in their view “the NFL was ultimately the cause of his untimely demise”. Yes, I’m not a fan of sourcing TMZ but it posted the statement unlike some other outlets  

 

[RedRamage]

14 hours ago, lordstanley said:

Strong words from the family about CTE and how in their view “the NFL was ultimately the cause of his untimely demise”. Yes, I’m not a fan of sourcing TMZ but it posted the statement unlike some other outlets  

I think CTE/Brain dAmage is kinda like Climate Change these days... Most people acknowledge that it exists, but there's big questions with many different views about how big of a deal it is, how much the NFL is responsible, and what we should do about it.

I don't think there's any question that the NFL knew about the brain damage dangers earlier and covered it up. I don't know how much they are or aren't trying to cover up information these days, but at the very least I think more people, including players, are aware of it.

I also don't know how much what the NFL (and NCAA) are doing to try to minimize or prevent damage actually does prevent damage, or if it's just window dressing. At least they're trying I guess?

At the very least I think players are going in more aware of the dangers here, which is a positive step.

[gehringer_2]

53 minutes ago, RedRamage said:

I think CTE/Brain dAmage is kinda like Climate Change these days... Most people acknowledge that it exists, but there's big questions with many different views about how big of a deal it is, how much the NFL is responsible, and what we should do about it.

I don't think there's any question that the NFL knew about the brain damage dangers earlier and covered it up. I don't know how much they are or aren't trying to cover up information these days, but at the very least I think more people, including players, are aware of it.

I also don't know how much what the NFL (and NCAA) are doing to try to minimize or prevent damage actually does prevent damage, or if it's just window dressing. At least they're trying I guess?

At the very least I think players are going in more aware of the dangers here, which is a positive step.

The big change is that higher awareness has led to getting guys off the field when they are concussed and keeping them off till they are symptom free.  The clinical question is how much difference does that actually make to whether continued high impact activity still causes long term damage. Maybe a lot, maybe not much. The assumption is that it does,  I don't think the epidemiology exists to adequately resolve that question yet.

[RedRamage]

2 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

The big change is that higher awareness has led to getting guys off the field when they are concussed and keeping them off till they are symptom free.  The clinical question is how much difference does that actually make to whether continued high impact activity still causes long term damage. Maybe a lot, maybe not much. The assumption is that it does,  I don't think the epidemiology exists to adequately resolve that question yet.

Yeah, that's of course the big question... I mean good on the NFL for having new procedures/policies to try to address this. I've heard at least some talk that this doesn't do squat to help, usually without any real evidence. But that makes me wonder/panic a bit whether the NFL knows that this doesn't really do anything and they're just doing it more for show than to really help the players.

Just to be abundantly clear: I have ZERO evidence of this being the case... just idle thoughts and random speculation. The NFL certainly seems to be caring much more about concussions and potential brain injuries and seems to be taking steps to try to improve player safety (concussion protocol, tackling changes, helmet options), so that's a good thing. 

[Shinzaki]

could this benefit Joseph?

 

[Mr.TaterSalad]

24 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

could this benefit Joseph?

 

I'd be worried about Joseph's future with the team were he to have a procedure like this. Guys that play full seasons aren't Brad's type of players. LOL, I kid. I kid.

[MichiganCardinal]

May the QuickLane Motor City Pizza Bowl presented by GameAbove Sports rest in peace.

Edited Tuesday at 09:51 PM by MichiganCardinal

[MichiganCardinal]

Since they aren’t allowing 6-6 Northwestern to play 7-5 Central Michigan at Ford Field, maybe now they can stop allowing 3-6 Michigan State and 3-6 Penn State to interrupt the MHSAA championships.

[gehringer_2]

7 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

could this benefit Joseph?

 

here's a link to a more complete story

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/11/joint-cartilage-aging.html

 I would guess the trick here is getting it to grow where you want but not where you don't want.

Edited yesterday at 03:29 AM by gehringer_2

[Motown Bombers]

 

[RedRamage]

19 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

could this benefit Joseph?

 

No particular special knowledge here, but I seriously doubt it. Generally stuff like this is experimental and needs more testing and refinement before it'll reach the masses. My guess is that it'll still be a few years at least before it's available to the public.

[Shinzaki]

In the United states..sure...elsewhere?  All you need is one country with the right rules...:)

[RedRamage]

6 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

In the United states..sure...elsewhere?  All you need is one country with the right rules...:)

Yes but... at what potential risk? Obviously it's gonna REALLY depend on the situation. Like let's pretend that Joseph's condition is so bad he can't play anymore... he's 25 right now and potentially could make many millions more if he got back to even 90% of what he was. We'll, then it's probably worth the risk of trying something not fully tested because it's not like he's got any NFL career left in our senario.

But what he can still play, just may not quite as well as he was? Maybe he's down to 80% of his peak. He's still gonna make a LOT of money... not as much as 90 or 100% Joseph, but still a LOT. If he risks an untested procedure he might get back to 90 or 100% and make even more... or it might fail he goes down to 40 or 50% Joseph and ends up not being good enough to stay in the NFL.

So yeah, it'll massively depend on the individual and their current condition.

Now, having said that I read through the article that @gehringer_2 linked above and there's mention of some early phase clinical trials already underway with, I'm assuming, humans given that it references volunteers and lab animals don't generally volunteer. So I might be way off on how close this is to the market.

Completely outside of the world of sports... I'm SUPER excited about this news as someone who already has some joint pain issues and some arthritis problems.