Dale Earnhardt Jr. was perusing his Twitter feed when he noticed a story about three former Oakland Raiders players who had pledged their brains to concussion research in honor of their late teammate Ken Stabler.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. inspired by Brandi Chastain, NFL players to donate brain for concussion research
Already an advocate of concussion research, Earnhardt was recently inspired to pledge his brain to science.
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Already an organ donor and a strong proponent of concussion research, Earnhardt became “inspired” and “amazed” by the gesture of the Raiders players and Brandi Chastain, a U.S. women’s soccer player who recently made the same pledge. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Earnhardt then posted a tweet stating he would do the same and began researching the study of head injuries further, an announcement that made national news.
He reaffirmed that promise when he spoke with the media Friday at Martinsville Speedway.
“I just thought that was amazing that those guys did that in honor of their teammate -- I read where Brandi had done that maybe a month ago,” Earnhardt said. “That just was really inspiring and I saw someone mention, I don’t even know what the context of the tweet I was responding to was.
“I didn’t expect it to turn into the story it did, but by all means if it raises more awareness and inspires people to donate their brains and pledge their brains. They don’t need just athletes. They need everybody.”
Earnhardt’s brain will go to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which is partnered with Boston University’s Brain Bank. After tweeting that he wanted to donate his brain, Earnhardt contacted the Concussion Legacy Foundation to make his wish official. He said filling out the necessary paperwork was straightforward.
“Hopefully I’m going to live 40-50 more years and the science has progressed so much that they don’t need it,” Earnhardt said. “But if they do, it’s there.”
NASCAR’s most popular driver hopes to visit the campus and meet with doctors this summer when the Sprint Cup Series makes its annual July visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
“I’m really excited or passionate I guess a little bit to know more about it and understand the whole process,” Earnhardt said. “I certainly want to know everything you can do. That is a very serious and personal decision. It would be interesting to go up there and see the bank and understand more.”
Medical research has linked repeated blows to the head to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease that can lead to dementia, depression and Alzheimer’s disease.
Head injuries are something Earnhardt has dealt with throughout his career. He suffered a concussion in May 2002 that he kept secret until September and did not miss any races. In 2012, he sustained two concussions within a six-week span, the first of which he did not disclose. But feeling the effects of the second concussion, Earnhardt visited doctors and missed two races recovering.
“[Doctors] gave me the confidence going through that process that I could be successful and get through it and I have,” Earnhardt said. “I have been healthy and successful and I learned a ton. I may be even a better race car driver today.
“Having gone through that experience in 2012 I’ve been really inspired by what I’ve seen since then from other people. It was a no-brainer for me.”
And his brain isn’t the only thing Earnhardt will donate.
“I’m going to give up all the organs that are worth anything when it’s over with,” Earnhardt said. “They can have it all.”
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