For 71 years, Lou Gehrig has been the face of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, now most commonly known as "Lou Gehrig’s disease."
After getting the diagnosis of a disease that would quickly rob him of his muscle strength and control, Gehrig retired from baseball. At a ceremony honoring him at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, his voice full of emotion, he said, "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. That I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you." He died just two years later of the disease that now bears his name.
Now new research suggests that there is a possibility Lou Gehrig may not have had "Lou Gehrig’s disease," but perhaps something closely related.
The House Judiciary Committee is holding hearings about the long-term cognitive damage suffered by NFL players as a result of concussions they suffered on the football field. We speak to New York Times reporter Alan Schwarz, along with Dr. Ann McKee, professor of neurology at Boston University, who has studied the brains of several former NFL players.