Word is out that the football teams from two high schools near Peoria, Illinois—Washington Community and Morton—will hold a competition of a different sort this weekend: the student-athletes will wash cars to raise money for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, District 308 announced on its Facebook page.
(school via Facebook)
The Washington Panthers will wash cars for donations Saturday, July 29, at Big R in Washington from 10 AM to 2 PM. And then on Sunday, July 30, at the Backyard Talent Show for St Jude in Morton starting at 5 PM, the teams will compete for the most donations. There’s more:
Join us at the show on Sunday for a fun face-off like no other—all to help raise money for the kids of St Jude! We’re getting in a little preseason action between the Morton Hogs and Washington Panthers football teams! The boys will be competing for your donations: Whoever raises the most money by the end of the show gets the pleasure of putting pies in their rivals’ faces! So come out and support your team while also supporting St Jude Children’s Research Hospital!
St Jude Children’s Research Hospital is based in Memphis, Tennessee, and you can donate to its nonprofit foundation through its website if you can’t make it to a car wash or talent show this weekend.
The hospital treats children regardless of their ability to pay. It leads the world in better understanding, treating, and defeating childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. They put their money where their mouth is, too: Families never get a bill for treatment, travel, housing, or food, as staff members truly believe all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
Brains of NFL players have CTE
In other football-related news, it was reported that of 111 NFL players whose brains were studied by a neuropathologist after they had died, 110 of them had chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
Dr Ann McKee, who examined the brains of 202 deceased football players, 111 of whom played in the NFL at various positions, published a broad survey of her findings on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The NFL players included:
- 44 linemen
- 20 running backs
- 17 defensive backs
- 13 linebackers
- 7 quarterbacks
- 5 wide receivers
- 2 tight ends
- 1 place kicker, and 1 punter
Dr McKee also examined the brains of 53 college football players; 48 showed CTE. And three of 14 brains from people who played football only in high school showed the degenerative disease.
These were not randomized studies, of course, since Dr McKee only had access to the brains of people who had willingly donated them. More research is needed to confirm the findings with larger or more randomized samples, but evidence continues to mount as to the strong link between tackle football, concussions, and degenerative brain disease.
