RIP Bob Perryman
Sad news about Bob Perryman, a solid player who played when I was a student, and played six years in the NFL.
https://www.mlive.com/wolverines/2023/03/ex-michigan-football-player-robert-perryman-jr-dies-at-58.html
Incredibly sad and gone way, way too young. Cant help but think we're looking at yet another victim of CTE.
"Former Michigan football player Robert (Bob) Perryman Jr. died last month at the age 58 “after a rapid decline with dementia,” according to his obituary."
My thought exactly. We will probably be seeing more athletes from his era go the same way in the next few years, as their dedication to the game they played at such an intense level catches up to them. Although I have often wished I had played football in high school, now I think I may have been lucky to be too small at too big of a school to have done so. Running track I got blisters, not concussions.
Too many people seems to think CTE is an NFL issue.
Average NFL career length is about 3 years, but that same player played football for 8-9 years between HS and college prior to that taking similar hits. And with less medical staff to pull players from a game when they do get concussions...
Kids that are good enough to get to the NFL also played Pop Warner before they were in high school. There is no shortage of hits these guys have taken.
If I've said it once, I've said it one thousand times - the NFL can put a stop to this today by funding state of the art concussion gear for all youth and high school football across the country. Colleges can sort it out themselves, but some funding mechanism to help smaller schools would be nice. It would cost a $$Billion$$, or two, but the NFL has it right now.
And think of the good PR that would follow such an announcement! It would be good will for generations of kids around the country! It would kickstart football participation all over again.
Alas, NFL owners are too steeped in greed to spend collected money on someone else. They can't see the forest of participation and good will from the $green$ tree right in front of them.
Yikes. I'm no doctor but that sounds really young for severe dementia.
Hard to argue with this.
A lot of players of that era are suffering similarly.
One of the challenges we have right now is that it takes decades for the full effects of head injuries like this to show. By the time the players that play now under stricter controls for concussions and head hits hit that age, we'll have a better idea of whether or not the current protections are effective... but by then another generation of players will have played. And if the protections were insufficient, it won't be enough.
I'm hopeful. The game is just as hard-hitting as ever and the emphasis on reducing head hits hasn't been *that* significant, but I think there is a big improvement in one area: detecting concussions and treating them as non-playing injuries. Everyone was horrified at Tua's situation this year. 20 years ago he'd have played every game. Michigan has lost guys for multiple weeks for stuff like this.
I am hopeful, though obviously not at all certain, that the aggressive identification and treatment of concussions will have enormous benefits with regard to CTE in the the later years of these players. Unfortunately, we won't know until it's too late.
I think serious money should be spent to develop a sensor system to install in helmets to get a better read on what forces are affecting these guys, and pair those readings with medical evaluations. Get a ton of data. And then start using it.
Remove all the metal facemasks that protect a player's nose, mouth, and eyes and the eagerness to lead with the head will plummet quickly, even when still wearing a hard helmet.
A contemporary of mine too. RIP. Too damn young.
One of the best fullbacks to don the Maize and Blue uniform.
Dying at just 58 is bad enough, but to have spent any of his final months with dementia is much worse.
I’m guessing it was years with dementia, a slow burn.
RIP, Bob.
That backfield with Jaime Morris, Gerald White and Bob Perryman was dynamite. May his memory be a blessing for all who knew and loved him
The 1985 team was one of the best in the last 50+ years of M football. Their Fiesta Bowl victory over Nebraska was a thing of beauty after a halftime deficit. Bob Perryman wasn't a starter (behind Morris and White; comparable carries to Wilcher) on that team but an able contributor. Finishing Ranked #2 was certainly a highlight of Bo's era. He is certainly way too young to be gone from us. May the Lord bless his soul. My sympathies to his family and friends.
A member of the Unofficial Michigan Fullback HOF, along with Phil Webb, Jarrod Bunch, Bernie Legette, Chris Floyd, BJ Askew, Kevin Dudley, Brian Thompson, Sione Houma, Khalid Hill, and Ben Mason.
Doesn't Leroy Hoard deserve at least half-credit as a fullback? He spent a fair amount of time there.
Perryman, Floyd, and Hoard are my all-time Michigan fullback HOF. All of them had some speed and break-away-ability beyond their ability to power for 2 yards when necessary.
Great list. But gotta add Russel Davis' name too.
Yes, Russell Davis and Jarrod Bunch were exceptional fullbacks along with Bob Perryman.
RIP Bob 🙏
What terrible news. Thoughts and prayers for the entire Perryman family.
I have been a passionate football fan for well over 40 years, but it gets a little harder to watch each year. Seeing someone just a few years older than me afflicted with something that you normally don't equate with someone of that age...and then remembering how he played and his role as a lead blocking fullback...the toll that it appears to have taken on him.
RIP Bob
Sad to hear. RIP.
RIP Bob Perryman; prayers for him and his family (married with 3 children)
He scored 3 TDs in this great win over Miami (YTTM) in 1984 (my first game as a student)
I was at that game also. Put a whooping on Bernie Kosar. Jimmy Harbaugh was the QB.
a few games before MSU broke his arm - ended up being a not fun season.
Sad news. He is a few years older than me. I remember listening to Bob Ufer call his name when i was about 10 years old. If IIRC, he was from Buzzard's Bay, MA. I didn't know UM enrolled out-of-state students before Big Bob!
I was in Buzzard’s Bay several years ago and wondered how the hell Bo found him. #RIPBuzzardsBayBob
I remember getting the free program (the one that published Punt and Counter-Punt) before Bob Perryman's first game. I scanned through the roster to see if there were any interesting new players. A typo had Bob listed at 275 pounds. A 275 pound fullback in the early '80s? I became a fan of his instantly. I was only mildly upset to find out later he was only 225. He's on my Michigan fullback Mount Rushmore with Jarrod Bunch. Determining who the other 2 guys are is an argument that could go all day. RIP, Bob.
The whole CTE thing freaks me out with the number of concussions I have had due to football, hockey, car accidents, being a stupid teenager, etc.
gotta be over 20 … hoping the fact that they all happened before the age of 21 will help somehow, or I’m just one of the lucky ones.
it’s like smoking for 20 years then stopping. You still have a massively increased risk of cancer even if you quit for good.
Starting with Rob Lytle. Great Michigan guys who paid the ultimate price while we (me included) wildly cheered them on as they battered through imposing defensive lines. There will be more as guys continue to get bigger, faster, stronger.
He played at Michigan while I was a student there. RIP.