A Calgary Stampeders helmet is seen following a practice in Calgary, on June 4, 2009.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Calgary Stampeders' lineman George Hansen died Friday, but not without making one last contribution to a game he loved.
In accordance to his wishes, Hansen's family agreed to donate his brain to the Canadian Concussion Centre at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre in Toronto. The donation was made in partnership with the Canadian Football League Alumni Association, which has asked former players to donate their brain for research into repetitive head trauma and brain damage.
Carol Hansen, George's daughter, said it was former Stampeders' kicker J.T. Hay who advised the family on the brain donation program.
"J.T. is a friend of the family and he presented it to us," Ms. Hansen said. "We were behind it 100 per cent. Football was my dad's life. It was what made him the man he was."
Mr. Hansen, 83, played from 1959 to 1966 as a lineman earning himself the nickname Bulldog for his tenacious play. He was also a kicker and later served as the team's assistant general manager and scout. He was with the team in an administrative role when Calgary won the 1971 Grey Cup.
Mr. Hansen's donation came just one day after the Canadian Concussion Centre released the brain autopsy findings from Rick Klassen, a 57-year-old defensive lineman who died of cancer last December. His brain had stage II chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), brain damage that has been linked to dementia.
The CFL Players' Association issued a statement Friday citing the Klassen results as "powerful evidence for the urgent need to reduce unnecessary contact and improve player safety and rehabilitation."
CFLPA executive director Brian Ramsay said, "The evidence is increasingly overwhelming that not just concussions but repeated hard contact to the head causes brain trauma … It's time for the CFL to follow the National Football League and NCAA in eliminating unnecessary contact in practices to reduce the risk to players."
The CFLPA is looking for other initiatives to make the game safer and to allow longer rehabilitation periods for injured players. CFL teams are currently only required to give players 12 months of rehabilitation after an injury.