Two years ago, Hamilton Spectator and a team of McMaster University researchers began a unique collaboration. Dr. John Connolly (the director of ARiEAL) and Dr. Mike Noseworthy (ARiEAL member) together with Dr. Luciano Minuzzi, all play a leading role in this ground-breaking research project, along with their graduate students, Rober Boshra, Kyle Ruiter and Mitch Doughty. The team conducted a series of sophisticated brain scanning experiments and electroencephalogram (EEG) testing on nearly two dozen retired CFL football players to investigate the long-term impacts of concussion. The results are shocking as in some cases what the researchers found from some former players were no different than those that would be seen in coma patients. Brain images from some of the retired players in their 50s looked like the images of men in their 80s. For the complete report by Steve Buist, Spectator Reporter, please visit Hamilton Spectator:

Part 1: Hard science of hard knocks
Part 2: “One every game”