Lou Gehrig – Athlete | Mini Bio | BIO
Lou Gehrig born June 19, 1903, at 1994 Second Avenue in East Harlem neighborhood of New York City;[8] he weighed almost 14 pounds (6.4 kg) at birth. Gehrig rose from poverty to become the greatest first baseman in baseball history, only to have his legacy forever intertwined with the cruel disease that bears his name.
He was the second of four children of German immigrants Anna Christina Foch (1881–1954) and Heinrich Wilhelm Gehrig (1867–1946).[9][10] Gehrig’s father was a sheet-metal worker by trade who was frequently unemployed due to alcoholism and epilepsy, and his mother, a maid, was the main breadwinner and disciplinarian in their family.[11]
Gehrig’s mother Christina was born in 1881 in Wilster, Schleswig-Holstein, a province of pre-World War I Germany near the Danish border. She emigrated to the United States in 1899. His father Heinrich was born in 1867 in Adelsheim, Baden (now part of Baden-Württemberg), and came to the U.S. in October 1888. Heinrich originally spent some time in Chicago, but later settled in New York, where he met Christina, who was 14 years his junior. Both parents were Lutheran. They married in 1900.
Gehrig was the only one of the four siblings to live past childhood. His two sisters died at early ages from whooping cough and measles; a brother also died in infancy.[12] From a young age, Gehrig helped his mother with work, doing tasks such as folding laundry and picking up supplies from local stores.[13] Gehrig spoke German during his childhood,[14] not learning English until the age of five.[15]
In 1910, he lived with his parents at 2266 Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights.[16] Ten years later, the family resided at 2079 8th Avenue in Manhattan.[17] He was known as “Lou” so he would not be confused with his namesake father, who was known as Henry.[18]
How many times was Gehrig hit in the head with a baseball – Search
This documentary (BOTTOM 0f Entire Post) honors the extraordinary life of Henry Louis Gehrig, the Iron Horse whose unbreakable durability, devastating power, and quiet dignity made him the most beloved figure of baseball’s golden age.
Follow Gehrig from the streets of New York to Columbia University, where he starred in both football and baseball before the New York Yankees signed him in 1923. The documentary examines his early years as a backup to Wally Pipp, waiting patiently until June 2, 1925, when a headache sent Pipp to the bench and began a consecutive games streak that would stand as baseball’s most unbreakable record for fifty-six years.
Discover how Gehrig emerged from the shadow of Babe Ruth to form the most devastating one-two punch in baseball history. The film explores their complicated relationship, as the quiet, dutiful Gehrig endured Ruth’s dominance of the spotlight while consistently outproducing his legendary teammate in runs batted in.
This comprehensive biography examines Gehrig’s remarkable consistency, as he drove in over 100 runs for thirteen consecutive seasons while earning two Most Valuable Player awards and anchoring Yankees lineups that captured six World Series championships. Learn how he terrorized pitchers like Lefty Grove, Red Ruffing, and Wes Ferrell alongside teammates including Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, and Joe DiMaggio.
The documentary explores the 2,130 consecutive games that defined Gehrig’s career, a record requiring him to play through broken fingers, back spasms, and countless ailments that would have sidelined lesser men. Discover how this durability became both his greatest pride and perhaps his downfall, as the relentless accumulation may have masked early symptoms of the disease silently destroying his nervous system.
This film chronicles the devastating 1939 season, when Gehrig’s mysterious decline became impossible to ignore. Learn how teammates like DiMaggio, Dickey, and Lefty Gomez watched helplessly as the once-powerful slugger stumbled on the field, leading to his heartbreaking decision to remove himself from the lineup on May 2, 1939.
Relive Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, when 61,808 fans gathered to honor their fallen hero. The film explores Gehrig’s final months, as he served briefly as a New York City parole commissioner while the disease progressively robbed him of his ability to walk, speak, and ultimately breathe.
Learn how his wife Eleanor devoted herself to his care while teammates and opponents alike struggled to comprehend the cruelty of a fate that struck down the strongest man they had ever known. Discover how Gehrig’s legacy transcended baseball following his death on June 2, 1941, exactly sixteen years after the consecutive games streak began.
The documentary examines how the disease that killed him became known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ensuring that his name would forever be associated with the fight against ALS and inspiring generations of researchers, patients, and advocates. The documentary examines his immortal speech, delivered without notes as he stood surrounded by teammates past and present including Ruth, with whom he embraced after years of feuding.
Experience the words that echoed into history, as the dying man proclaimed himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. From the tenements of Yorkville to the monuments of Yankee Stadium, where his number four was the first ever retired in baseball history, discover why Lou Gehrig remains the embodiment of grace under impossible circumstances.
This is the story of a man who played through pain that would have defeated anyone else, who stood in the shadow of the game’s greatest showman and proved himself the better player, and who faced death with the same quiet courage that defined his life.
On July 13, 1934, Lou Gehrig was hit in the head with a pitch by Earl Whitehill, during an exhibition game. but remained in the lineup despite the injury, which was later described as a “lumbago attack”.
The Baseball Guru – Lou Gehrig’s Streak by Harvey Frommer
Did Lou Gehrig Actually Die From A Baseball
Did Lou Gehrig Actually Have Lou Gehrig’s Disease?
Brain Trauma, ALS, and CTE with Motor Neuron Disease
On June 3, 1941, Lou Gehrig died at age 36 of what was thought to be amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The famous New York Yankee was forced to retire from baseball as a result of the disease two years earlier. His battle with ALS brought attention to this rare and poorly-understood disease, and since his death ALS has come to be known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” But some experts now question whether or not Lou Gehrig actually had the disease that was named after him.
There is now evidence of an ALS-like disease associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the neurodegenerative disease thought to be caused by repetitive brain trauma. Gehrig played fullback on the football team at Columbia University, and he had a long history of concussions, including several incidents in which he lost consciousness. Yet, he played through these injuries, setting a record for playing in 2,130 consecutive baseball games.
ALS and Brain Trauma
ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that affects both the neurons, or nerve cells, traveling from the motor parts of the brain to the spinal cord and those traveling from the spinal cord to innervate our muscles for voluntary movements. Both of these neurons in the motor pathway, or motor neurons, are necessary for our muscles to contract and allow us to move. When these neurons are affected in ALS, it causes muscle weakness and eventually paralysis because signals cannot get from the brain to the muscle to initiate movement.
Eventually the muscles involved in critical functions such as swallowing and breathing become affected, eventually leading to death. The average survival time after diagnosis is around three years, though a small percentage of patients will live for decades with the disease. ALS is a rare disease. Globally the prevalence is around 4.4 individuals per 100,000 people in the general population. There are several risk factors for ALS, including older age, male sex, and having a family history of the disease.
However, around 90% of cases are sporadic in nature and not linked to a family history. Another risk factor is a history of brain trauma. The odds of being diagnosed with ALS are around 38% higher in those who have a history of head injury compared to the general population. Those who have sustained multiple head injuries are at a slightly higher odds of developing ALS than those who experienced just one head injury. Several studies show that the prevalence of ALS is higher in athletes who are exposed to repetitive brain trauma in their sport.
Compared to the general population in the United States, mortality from ALS is more than four times higher in NFL football players. Several studies have shown that the odds of dying from ALS are two to ten times higher in professional soccer players in Europe. One study found that the longer a soccer player played professionally, the greater their risk of dying of ALS. The increased risk of ALS in contact-sport athletes is striking, but also concerning is the age that the disease is diagnosed.
In Europe the average age of diagnosis of ALS in the general population is around 65 years old. In one study of European professional soccer players, the average age of ALS patients’ diagnosis was 45 years old. Another study found that the diagnosis of ALS before age 49 was substantially higher in professional soccer players.
Given the short life expectancy after diagnosis with ALS, having an average onset 20 years earlier than the general population means most of these athletes died years or even decades before the average age most people are diagnosed with the disease. This diagnosis is devastating at any age, but a diagnosis in a person’s 30s or 40s exceptionally tragic. It’s not known exactly how brain trauma leads to an increased risk of ALS, but there is some evidence that blood-brain barrier disruption might play a role.
The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective membrane that regulates the passage of molecules between the blood and the environment around the neurons in order to protect the neurons from potentially harmful substances. Disruption of this barrier that can occur with brain trauma leading to alterations in the environment around neurons could play a role in the development of ALS. Mouse models have also shown that brain trauma can trigger pathology involving a protein called TDP-43, which is found in ALS as well as many cases of CTE.
To be clear, a history of brain injury doesn’t make the risk of getting ALS high. It is still a rare disease even in those with a history of either repetitive or a single brain trauma. The studies of athletes have only been conducted in professional athletes, and the vast majority of athletes never reach that level. At this time it isn’t known whether or not the risk of developing ALS is higher in those who play sports that expose athletes to repetitive brain trauma only through the youth, high school, or even college level.
CTE-Motor Neuron Disease
While the risk of ALS appears to be higher in former professional football and soccer players, there is some question as to whether these athletes actually have ALS or another disease. In 2010 Dr. Ann McKee and her colleagues at the Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center published the first study showing a variant of CTE in former athletes that was similar to ALS.
In these cases, pathology seen in the brain in CTE also affected the neurons in the spinal cord, leading to symptoms during life that appeared to be caused by ALS. The connection to CTE could only be seen with postmortem examination of the brain and spinal cord tissue. The prevalence of both CTE and CTE with motor neuron disease is currently unknown.
Without the ability to diagnose the disease during life, it isn’t possible to know how many people have the disease. In postmortem studies of former football players, the motor neuron disease variant of CTE was present in around 6% to 12% of CTE cases. However, individuals or their families are more likely to donate their or their loved one’s brain and spinal cord to research if they think they may have a disease, making this a biased sample.
Far more research is needed to determine how common CTE with motor neuron disease is. Still, CTE with the motor neuron variant raises questions about the ALS diagnosis in former professional athletes. It is possible that at least some of those athletes may have had CTE motor neuron disease and not ALS. Without examination of their brain and spinal cord after death, there is no way for us to know. And that brings us back to Lou Gehrig.
It is clear that a disease with ALS symptoms took his life, but the underlying pathology that caused his symptoms has been questioned by experts in recent years. Given his long history of brain trauma, it is possible that he may not have had ALS, the disease that is named after him, he may have had CTE with the motor neuron disease. But without the ability to examine his brain and spinal cord, we will never know.
How common is CTE? What we can learn from research on former NFL players
Boston University has found Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to repetitive brain injuries, in the brains of 345 out of 376, or 92%, of former NFL players studied. While this is a striking and concerning number, it does not mean that 92% of all former NFL players have this disease. Let’s put this finding in context and discuss what it means for all contact sport athletes today.
What is CTE?
CTE is a degenerative brain disease that has been linked to exposure to repetitive brain trauma. That brain trauma can include both concussions and repetitive “subconcussive” impacts. The disease has been diagnosed in some individuals with no documented concussions but a history of repetitive head impacts that do not result in symptoms. Those repetitive impacts can occur on every play in many sports, including every tackle or collision between linemen in football, every check in hockey, and every header in soccer.
CTE has been diagnosed in individuals with a variety of exposure to repetitive brain trauma, including football, soccer, hockey, and rugby athletes, as well as military veterans and victims of domestic violence. CTE symptoms often begin in middle-age, sometimes years after the last exposure to brain trauma, and can include cognitive difficulties, memory loss, behavioral difficulties, impulsivity, and depression, among other symptoms.
At this time CTE cannot be diagnosed during life. It can only be diagnosed by postmortem examination of the brain. Generous donors and their families have donated their brain to brain banks studying the disease, such as the Boston University/Concussion Legacy Foundation Brain Bank, after they pass away. This incredible gift from donors has led to breakthroughs in research about the long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma in sports, the military, and beyond.
Do 92% of NFL players have CTE?
The answer is almost certainly “no.” Brain banks have a selection bias. The sample they study is not random. Most players or their families don’t think to donate their or their loved one’s brain unless they think they have the disease. As a result, it is not surprising that many of the donors had CTE.
It is highly unlikely that every other former NFL player that passed away during the same time period as those studied at Boston University had CTE. Thus, it is unlikely that 92% of all NFL players have the disease.
Despite the bias, the prevalence of CTE in NFL players is still likely high. After previous research showed 110 of 111 former NFLers examined had CTE, a study found that, if it is assumed that all other players who passed away in the same time period did NOT have CTE, the minimum prevalence rate would be 9.6%. That is about one in ten players, or about 5 players on every active NFL roster.
It is highly likely that some of the former players who passed away but were not studied did have CTE but were not diagnosed, making that prevalence even higher.
What does this mean for most current or former contact sport athletes?
We don’t know the true prevalence of CTE in the NFL population or in any contact sport athletes at any level. There is evidence that the risk for developing CTE increases with a greater number of repetitive head impacts over a lifetime. In one study, those who played tackle football for 14 years or more were ten times more likely to develop CTE, while those who played tackle football for 4 years or less were ten times less likely to develop the disease.
Still, there are cases of athletes who played contact sports only through the high school level that developed CTE. The youngest documented case I am aware of was in a 17-year-old. While the prevalence at this level is likely low, there is still risk.
For those who are concerned that they may have CTE based on their athletic history and current symptoms, CTE symptoms are not unique to CTE. Depression, certain cognitive difficulties, and anxiety, for example, can have many causes, and these symptoms can be treated.
As Dr. Ann McKee said in a Boston.com article:
“While the most tragic outcomes in individuals with CTE grab headlines, we want to remind people at risk for CTE that those experiences are in the minority,” Ann McKee, director of the BU CTE Center and chief of neuropathology at VA Boston Healthcare System, said in a statement. “Your symptoms, whether or not they are related to CTE, likely can be treated, and you should seek medical care. Our clinical team has had success treating former football players with mid-life mental health and other symptoms.”
If you are concerned that you or a loved one may have symptoms that may be related to CTE or previous concussions, you can contact the Concussion Legacy Foundation HelpLine. The Concussion Legacy Foundation has many resources available about CTE, Concussions, and Post-concussion syndrome. The HelpLine can provide referrals, online support groups, one-on-one peer support, and other resources.
Junior Seau dead at 43; medical examiner rules suicide
On May 2, 2012, Junior Seau was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest at his home in Oceanside.[53] Authorities ruled his death a suicide.[54] He left no suicide note, but did leave a piece of paper in the kitchen of his home with lyrics he scribbled from his favorite country song, “Who I Ain’t.” The song, co-written by his friend Jamie Paulin, describes a man who regrets the person he has become.[42][55]
Seau’s death recalled the 2011 suicide of former NFL player Dave Duerson, who shot himself in the chest and left a suicide note requesting that his brain be studied for brain trauma.[56][57][58] Seau had no prior reported history of concussions,[53][59] but his ex-wife said he did sustain concussions during his career.[60] “He always bounced back and kept on playing,” Gina Seau said. “He’s a warrior. That didn’t stop him.”[61] Seau had insomnia for at least the last seven years of his life, and he was taking zolpidem (Ambien), a prescription drug commonly prescribed for sleep disorders.[62][63]
Seau’s autopsy report released later in August 2012 by the San Diego County medical examiner indicated that his body contained no illegal drugs or alcohol, but did show traces of zolpidem. No apparent signs of brain damage were found, nor was he determined to have exhibited mood changes and irritability often apparent with concussions and brain damage.[54][63][64][65]
There was speculation that Seau suffered brain damage due to CTE, a condition traced to concussion-related brain damage with depression as a symptom,[56][66][67][68][69] as dozens of deceased former NFL players were found to have CTE.[70] Seau’s family donated his brain tissue to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the NIH;[71] other candidates included the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy and the Brain Injury Research Institute.[68][72] Citing the Seau family’s right to privacy, NIH did not intend to release the findings.[71][73]
On January 10, 2013, Seau’s family released the NIH’s findings that his brain showed definitive signs of CTE. Russell Lonser of the NIH coordinated with three independent neuropathologists, giving them unidentified tissue from three brains, including Seau’s. The three experts – along with two government researchers – arrived at the same conclusion. The NIH said the findings on Seau were similar to autopsies of people “with exposure to repetitive head injuries.”[70][74]
On January 23, 2013, Seau’s family sued the NFL over the brain injuries he had over his career.[75] In 2014, his family continued to pursue the lawsuit while opting out of the NFL concussion lawsuit‘s proposed settlement, which was initially funded with $765 million.[76] The family reached a confidential settlement with the league in 2018. The Seaus’ attorney said that they were “pleased” with the resolution.[77]
Seau is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[78][79]
Chargers President Dean Spanos honored Seau after his death as “…An icon in our community. He transcended the game. He wasn’t just a football player, he was so much more.”[38] The Chargers retired his No. 55 during his public memorial.[82] The Junior Seau Pier Amphitheatre and Junior Seau Beach Community Center were renamed posthumously in his honor by the city of Oceanside in July 2012.[83][84]
On September 1, 2012, during the University of Southern California’s home opener, Seau was honored by the team. On September 16, 2012, the Chargers retired Seau’s number 55 during a ceremony at the 2012 regular season home opener against the Tennessee Titans. The San Diego Hall of Champions inducted Seau into the Breitbard Hall of Fame on February 25, 2013, forgoing their normal two-year waiting period after an athlete’s retirement or death.[85]
Seau became eligible for election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. His eligibility was not accelerated due to his death from the standard five-year waiting period after a player’s retirement.[86] On January 31, 2015, Seau was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[87] He wanted his daughter, Sydney, to introduce him if he were ever to be inducted. However, the Hall of Fame cited a five-year policy of not allowing speeches for deceased inductees, denying Sydney the opportunity to introduce her father.[88][89][90]
Instead, she was allowed to speak onstage for three minutes uninterrupted on the NFL Network, and delivered a pared down version of her full speech, which The New York Times published.[89][90] Seau is the first player of Polynesian and Samoan descent to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.[90]
‘Seau’ on ESPN: Documentary About Junior Seau is Complex Football Tale
Seau is really a three part documentary, with a little under half of the film chronicling Seau’s rise as an athlete, coupled with his success off the field in terms of his personal life as well as business and charitable ventures. Seau’s tragic decline and ultimate demise take up about a third of the film, although it feels longer, given the difficult to watch subject matter. The closing component of the film focuses on how Seau’s death was a critical factor in how the public, media, and eventually, the NFL changed how they viewed player safety, in particular head injuries.
The more somber 30 for 30s (and documentaries as a whole) typically hold viewers’ interest a bit better because they’ve tended to be more of an obscure story that is new to a viewer, and/or there is some type of redemption at the end of a bumpy journey. Seau doesn’t deliver on either front, as most sports fans more or less know his story. While his death did trigger a change in public opinion about CTE, for he and his family, it was a very difficult final decade of his live to endure.
Despite knowing a good deal about Seau’s career and death, I did feel like the film brought a lot of new perspective and info to the table. While the glut of new insight into Seau’s personal life was informative, the final years of Seau’s life were such an unfortunate mess that it’s hard to definitively rewind the clock and retrace just when, where, and why things unraveled the way they did, although the overarching message was CTE played a prominent role.
Seau’s spiral into adultery, depression, alcoholism, physical abuse, gambling and solitude is a dark path to take an audience down, but Bradley does a thorough job facing these difficult years of Seau’s life. Ultimately though, while Seau doesn’t have any significant flaws, I think most viewers will find the subject matter too depressing and too familiar to enjoy.
ESPN’s Tedy Bruschi Provides Unique Perspective On Junior Seau – ESPN Front Row
Seau was a legend long before he retired from the NFL — surrounded by a passionate fan base, deep respect from his peers and a loving family, he experienced a unique sense of purpose that extended beyond the playing field. Despite appearing to have everything, his decision to end his own life at 43 remains both deeply disturbing and largely unexplained.
This revealing account of the Hall of Famer’s life and death seeks answers, exploring the remarkable path from an immigrant Samoan family to NFL stardom, and the many obstacles faced throughout two decades spent as an American football icon at the heart of a brutal and unforgiving game.
On September 21, 2018, ESPN released Seau, a 30 for 30 documentary that highlighted Seau’s career, as well as the effects of his injuries on his life, his family, and his post-football endeavors.[91][92]
On August 5, 2023, Junior Seau’s linebacker teammate in Miami for three years, Zach Thomas, paid tribute to him at the end of his Pro Football Hall of Fame speech: “However there’s one person whose name I’ve yet to mention. His poster hung on my wall in college, and he was everything I wanted to be as a football player. He was my inspiration, and he became my teammate and friend. Though he’s not here physically, he’s here in spirit and in a bust in that building behind me. I’m truly honored to join him. Junior Seau, love ya buddy.”
Has Anyone Ever Survived Lou Gehrig’s Disease – Search Videos
It’s exceedingly rare, but some patients with the deadly neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) eventually recover — and now, scientists know why.
Some people recover from ALS — now, we might know why.
4/01/2026
There is no specific timeline linked to “asking for their mom”
End‑of‑life signs in dementia (general, not predictive)
If you’re caring for someone
If you’re caring for someone right now
Common Symptoms of Late‑Stage Dementia
Cognitive and Communication Changes
Physical Decline
Eating and Swallowing Problems
Changes in Sleep and Alertness
Breathing and Body Changes
Infections and Medical Complications
Emotional and Behavioral Changes
Summary Table
