I'm going to meet you someplace in there, and maybe one of us is going to lose a leg. You did though, that was during practices they would do that? Agony and painkiller-induced delusion followed the surgery. You're taught to lead with your head. And it was about two days after the football game in high school my senior year. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2016 WGBH Educational Foundation Jim Otto Enshrinement Speech 1980. I don't know what other players are thinking. We hear about the concussions and talk about the big plays like cornerbacks hitting wide receivers after they've caught the ball up in the air. When you looked at your wife and you didn't know who she was, like, who's this chick? Personal life In 1961 Flores married Barbara Fridell. Jim was born in St. Paul, Minnesota I don't like to think about what these guys are talking about with regards to concussions and how it could affect our lives. There's a battle, and that battle is going on. Well, I'm very fortunate that I can do that, because there are times that I can't remember people's names. But you're saying there are issues? We reserve the right to not post comments that are more than 400 words. I mean, it's affected my life; it surely has. Right. Please accept Echovita’s sincere condolences. As he awakes every morning, Jim Otto looks at his $40,000 carbon-fiber leg, decorated with the Raiders ' shield and a tiny version of his famous No. He comes in like he's going to hit the man midsection, which there's no penalty for, and just as he hits coming in on the midsection, you'll see that ballplayer, the guy with the ball, drop his head. He mentioned it to Sally when she called and went out of his way to say: "I love you with all my heart." And the helmets weren't made very good. ... Now, you were talking about Webster and how he would approach the game. Jim Plunkett got married to his girlfriend, Gerry Plunkett after having an affair in 1982. I mean, we battled in there, and this is the result of it right here, sitting here, looking at you. But I'm not out there crying about it. But no, amnesia, it's a serious thing. No. Nobody is helping me. Contact FRONTLINE There were so many times that I would walk off the field and my eyes would be crossed. In nine years, Otto had five life-threatening infections, which set up camp around his artificial right knee and then waged war on the rest of his body. And you couldn't remember. What are staph infections? And then you have a guy like Junior Seau come along this last year. He grew up in Anderson with his sister, Judy Laughlin and was a graduate of Anderson High School. His daughter, Jennifer, had died a year earlier at age 39, after a blood clot appeared during a hysterectomy, sending her into cardiac arrest. And he hung with me. Kenny George (UNC Asheville), at 7-foot-7 the tallest player in college basketball, had part of his right foot amputated a month ago as the result of a staph infection. It is, because there's some people who ... think there's a connection between all those hits that you take and suicide, like there's a physiological connection there, you know? Well, in being taught to lead with your head and shoulders to make a tackle, and basically place your head to where it's going to hit the ball, because you get some good fumbles that way when you tackle and place your head and shoulders to where you're going to hit the side where he's carrying the ball. The gladiator goes until he can't go anymore. He needed 74 surgeries for his football injuries, including the amputation of one of his legs. Does that take a certain temperament? He became homeless, those stories. ... ... Are you saying that even if you had the information you would have played? There's so many things psychologically that can affect each and every person in this world, not just football players. And I've refused at this point yet to give them that. But you're talking about a different kind, the much more common, everyday, every play? Yet he is also the quintessential cautionary tale, a reminder that every second of sports glory carries an enormous risk. And so yes, he broke my helmet; he broke my face mask in here, which broke my nose and set it over here. I know that I went to war, and I came out of the battle with what I got, and that's the way it is. I wanted to play well every week, no matter what, but in this game, we started out with Jim Carter in the middle. And it's not being selfish, not on my behalf being selfish because I can't do it, and I would want it. My son Robert is 26 and works for a health system in New York City. She left four children behind. After the third episode, the doctors recommended amputation. It's more retirement I think than anything else. Like they'd say, "Hey, Jim, what's this? Together, they have twin sons and a daughter, three grandsons, and two granddaughters. I think I'm going and continuing to do the best I can with what I had, and I'm going to do that till I can't. My nose was broken pretty, pretty good. In retrospect, the story sounds fascinating, half sweet, half-terrifying. Just by looking at him, no one could imagine the excruciating pain of the last 40 years. Maybe that’s wishful thinking. And they'll come up with some answers. In his free time, he loved to ice fish, golf, hunt and go camping. Jim Otto : biography January 5, 1938 – James Edwin Otto (born January 5, 1938) is a former Professional Football center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League. I would say that suicide has been in the past one of the least spoken about things among players, among owners, among the NFL of anything. Right. She’s a proud graduate of Butler University and went to Northwestern for her master’s degree. She was preceded in death by her parents. After the war, Otto and his wife, Vera, lived in Kearney, Neb., where Otto earned a bachelor's degree from Kearney State Teachers College. And that's why Sally and I came to the forefront ... Did anybody do anything for Mike Webster with Pittsburgh? It isn't long [before] there won't be a kickoff because oh, my goodness, that guy gets the ball in the end zone and he comes running out of there so fast, he could hurt somebody, you know? It hasn't been easy, though, not even for a man who had endured 15 years of pounding in the NFL and close to 70 surgeries on his knees, shoulders, back, nose, you name it. Jim could barely hear the phone, and the only thing he could sense vividly was the feeling of his dog Suzy, one of their three bichons frises, gently licking his eyelids, presumably trying to wake him. As a player and as a businessman after football, Otto could have been a role model for any of them. Discussing certain elements of his health problems made Otto very somber: the fear Sally has had to cope with, the gloomy emotions that came with losing his leg and a deep concern for younger people going through various stages of what he has already endured. Otto went home to bed after practices and his wife iced his legs. Nobody is giving me any special help. But has it always been one of those things that's been in there that players have known about other players? Enumerate the results. Well, during my career, I had a lot of hits to the head. He tries to make sure that someone is with him at all times, in case he falls. Now, Allison and her mother direct the Miss Tennessee Volunteer pageant, which is the subject of the season one finale of DeMarcus Family Rules . That's the way Mike Webster would say it, too. It has to really be studied. His wife assured him that that hadn't happened. After his amputation, he inquired about the treatment of soldiers who lost limbs and was relieved to learn that they receive extraordinarily heavy medication. He considered them angels and didn't want to abuse them. Former Oakland Raiders legend Jim Otto with his wife, Sally, at their Auburn home Monday, November 19, 2007 in Auburn Calif. Otto, a medical marvel … Here's the last question. Jim didn't answer. Maybe part of it was Wisconsin and kids from a small town: Mike Webster from Rhinelander [High School], Wis., wanting to prove that he was a great, Jim Otto from Wausau who wanted to prove that he was the greatest. The first time in high school, I can't really remember anything other than coming out of amnesia and thinking, where have I been? ... And with your head traumas, with the head injuries, tell me about one in particular. And I'm sure there's a lot of studies going on with regard to what was going on with him prior to this. We will take steps to block users who repeatedly violate our commenting rules, terms of use, or privacy policies. And it bothers me. He remembered his vow to Sally, and he told his physical therapist about the Christmas goal. Yeah, but you didn't know about -- I mean, the concussions. It sits near the bed, detached from its owner, waiting for him to have breakfast with his wife, Sally, and do all the little things that help him prepare for the day. You seem completely with it and pulling up words and memories and having no problems at all. But I don't think you can blame it -- I don't know. Broke my cheekbone, and my zygomatic arch bone here, and detached the retina in my left eye, which I was blind for six months in my left eye. Jim Otto (1960-74) “I don’t think anything is done until it’s done. Well, when that tackler -- in so many cases, if you watch the television, you watch the film, you see that tackler coming in with his head and his shoulders, which he's been taught to use to tackle his whole life. And then being in that position to hit the ball, the runner drops his head, the quarterback drops his head or whatever it might be, and you have head-to-head contact. I have issues, yes, I have issues. has been a licensed and practicing attorney at law since 1989. And he told me that so many times: "Pops, I'm going to be just like you. He walks stiffly because of the artificial leg, but he remains a strapping man with a booming voice and posture that should be the envy of other 70-year-olds. I was at a gathering in August, I guess it was, and Jim Brown was there, and he was saying the same thing, that it was different back then. The doctors have led me to believe that yes indeed, due to using my head and the number of concussions I have had, taken me down this road to where I do have some problems with memory [and] that I will have more, but I'm not worried about it. In order to foster a civil and literate discussion that respects all participants, FRONTLINE has the following guidelines for commentary. I think if you were to look at me and evaluate me, it was a matter of pride. I think, why am I thinking this? A phone call one night 13 years ago brought Sharon Hawkins to the stark realization that her husband was mentally ill. “I’m lost,” Wayne said plaintively to his wife. I'm hurting like a son of a gun. League of Denial: The NFL's Concussion Crisis, New: 87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease, Study of Former NFL Players Shows Risks for Brain from Youth Football, NFL Concussion Settlement Wins Final Approval from Judge, In Fight Against ISIS, a Lose-Lose Scenario Poses Challenge for West. What is the result exactly? Get hit in the head so hard your eyes were crossed? "Some of them have mental problems, and I can see how that can happen," Otto said. 00 jersey. ... ... What is it about the idea for you -- I mean, do you feel like this stuff about brain research and NFL players is kind of hogwash, or do you think there's something to it? My wife is starting to try to convince me to do it. He vowed that by Christmas he would walk to her and give her a hug. A native of Cincinnati, Otte began his career at radio stations in Oxford, Hamilton and Columbus. James Otto titled his new album Sunset Man , but he could have just as aptly dubbed it Persistent Man . And I think if you were to evaluate Mike Webster, it was a matter of pride. JAMES A. OTTO, ESQ. James Allen Otto (born July 29, 1973) is an American country music artist who is a member of the MuzikMafia, a group of country musicians known for their "country music without prejudice".Otto began his career on Mercury Nashville Records in 2002, charting three minor singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts and recording his debut album Days of Our Lives for the … He had left their home in … Well, I'm trying in my mind not to relate that to my situation, you know. So you were saying it was war out there. There were two times. Do you feel like there's an increased notoriety of players when something very bad happens like a suicide? We had the same thing, similar, happen to a center who took my place after I retired, Dave Dalby. And she says, "I didn't marry you for that leg anyway." The grief seemed to shut down his immune system. ... And so these thoughts that have come through your head are fairly recent then? But he has a pretty good idea why his body couldn't fight off the bacteria. Associated With. They do it now, which is good. It's strange; it's really strange. Yeah, just on the line, hitting each other. They beat it by a long shot. It's the way we were taught to hit. I can't really explain it to you here. I mean, they used to tease me that instead of having the quarterback go "Hut one, hut two," they'd have a little bell, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, you know, and Otto, you go on the third ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, like a punch-drunk fighter or something --. Now, he was being treated by a younger physician, and when he learned that there would have to be a follow-up amputation, to take the stump down a little and relieve some of the pain, Otto let the staff know, in un-sanitized terms, that they had better get it right this time. "He was very motivated," said Julie Gross, a physical therapist at UC Davis's medical center. They want my brain at I think it's Michigan or --. And even in soccer, you have problems with your head hitting the ball, two heads coming together or whatever. In real time, though, it was terrifying, and Sally had to tend to a sickly husband yet again. Jim Otto's life began on Sept. 11, 1941, at St. John's Hospital in Anderson. When he finally started feeling like himself, he asked Sally: "Did I ever curse at the nurses?" Former Oakland Raiders legend Jim Otto with his wife, Sally, at their Auburn home Monday, November 19, 2007 in Auburn Calif. Otto, a medical marvel … There is a new level of information, and they've done some good studies on it, which are very important. What's going on? Early years Otto played high school football at Wisconsin’s Wausau High School, under coach Win Brockmeyer. Wearing the prosthesis can be exhausting and extremely uncomfortable, as the connecting points grind into his pelvic area, but he made a commitment when the insurance company agreed to pay for this high-tech leg with its microprocessor knee. I'm not complaining about it. “The Most Risky … Job Ever.” Reporting on “ISIS in Afghanistan”. Oakland Raider great Jim Otto poses for a portrait at his home in Auburn, Calif., on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008. And that is something that I'm dealing with. My wife, Kristen, has worked in communications and public policy in health care. It's like the way that you used to do it. I've had amnesia like that. Is that what you're saying? Last year, when the amputation became inevitable, he had a new concern. But a lot of guys no longer get the "Hey, Joe, how you doing. " Let's play football. Yeah. The humor appears to be part of his survival instinct. Here is James Bernard Otto’s obituary. Otto learned later that when friends would call the hospital, he'd unwittingly bestow some of his most prized possessions on them. Because I don't want to believe that that's what's happened. Alone in the house, Otto could feel a fever coming on one night.

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