Not even close to the same thing. There was another article a couple of weeks back about this that went into far more detail about the damage. This isn't caused by one or two or even a few dozen big hits. This is cumulative damage being caused by repetitive hits over and over again, and an alarming number of ex-NFLers are having serious brain function issues as a result. The NFL is stonewalling over this issue because they're terrified of being found liable for these peoples' deterioration. The pathologist who first stumbled onto this, Bennet Omalu, wanted to work with the NFL to find a way to protect players and figured they'd be thankful he found out about it. Instead they insinuated that he was incompetent and was seeing things that weren't really there.Can't find the original (very long) article, but here's a shorter one that goes into more detail:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic ..."The proteins appear when the brain is hit, Omalu said, but disappear as the healthy brain cells devour them, leading to recovery. Yet when the brain suffers too many blows, the brain cells can't keep up with the protein and eventually give up and die, leaving just the red flecks."No brain of a 40- or 50-year-old should look like this," Omalu said. The only people who would have such markings, he added, were boxers, very old people with Alzheimer's disease or someone who had suffered a severe head wound. Webster was only 50. "This appears to be something that players are prone to, and to not even warn them, let alone try to look for ways to prevent it is criminal. Sure you can't let the fear of death ruin your life, but that doesn't mean you go and cover the interior of your house in asbestos, does it?