TSC Interviews: Sports Legacy Institute Founder Chris Nowinski
TSC's Fred Richani and Christian Albury interview former WWE superstar, Harvard football standout, and Sports Legacy Institute founder Chris Nowinski on his athletic career and bringing awareness to brain injuries.
Chris Nowinski was once a superstar for Vince McMahon's World wrestling Entertainment in the early-2000s. Prior to that, he was a the true definition of a student athlete at Harvard, having superb grades and enough athletic ability to have potentially gone pro in football.
Unfortunately for Chris, that bright WWE future was cut short due to a string of concussions and the after effects known as Post-Concussion Syndrome in 2003, which infamously ended Bret "Hitman" Hart's career back in 2000.
Nowinski could have been like other wrestlers that fell out of the limelight. He could have gone on to a path of self destruction after going from fame and glory to an early retired, but he didn't. Nowinski is a Harvard graduated for a reason. He's on HBO, ESPN, and just about every major sports related program you've ever seen through the years for a good reason.
Nowinski founded The Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) a few years later to raise awareness on concussions and head injuries. First, he studied the NFL and football's physicality, in conjunction with the effects it has on the brain. Nowinski even wrote a book titled Head Games: Football’s Concussion Crisis about the growing epidemic that the NFL seemingly turned a blind eye on for so long.
Let's not forget Nowinski's past profession—pro wrestling.
Between the chair shots, suplexes, and high-risk maneuvers, it's no wonder some wrestlers suffered from depression, stress, and in Chris Benoit's case, random acts of violence that ultimately took his life and his family's.
While “experts” were claiming Benoit suffered from “roid rage” due to steroid use, Nowinski made them look like fools with his revolutionary research with SLI. It turns out the closest thing that could have caused Benoit to snap and go insane wasn't his steroid use, but rather years of trauma to the brain he suffered over the course of his wrestling career between the chair shots, high-risk matches, neck injuries, and his signature diving headbutt.
The fact that Benoit's father was willing to allow SLI to study his son's brain shows you the kind of credibility Nowinski has. Just because you're not aware of concussions and the after effects, doesn't mean it's not bad. Nowinski's job is to inform all athletes, sports leagues, and anyone who listens that the brain is a sensitive part of the body and needs to be taken care of. Whether Vince McMahon agrees with Nowinski's research or not is irrelevant.
Nowinski is a hero to many for making the most out of his own situation, in order to assist others and bring awareness to a problem that plagues more people than you think.
Christian Albury and I had the pleasure of speaking to Nowinski on his athletic career in Harvard, WWE stint, and SLI's ultimate goal.
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For more information on Chris Nowinski and Sports Legacy:
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