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DeAndre Levy Talks CTE Symptoms, Says Breaking Joe Paterno's Leg Was 'Proudest Moment' In College

By: Evan Jankens
@kingofthekc

DeAndre Levy returned to the practice field for the Detroit Lions Wednesday afternoon for the first time since week one.

Thursday morning, mensjournal.com published a piece called "DeAndre Levy: The Most Interesting Man in the NFL."

The story starts out with Levy giving an interview from corridors of the Detroit Institute of Arts talking about how "peaceful" it is sitting there. Levy then goes on to talk about his traveling and doing some extreme sports, opining that it's "asinine" that most players only go to Las Vegas or South Beach since they have "endless resources."

Levy goes from his travel experiences to talking about his "proudest moment in college."

He was most famous for a 2006 play against Penn State, a sideline tackle that accidentally drove him into coach Joe Paterno, breaking JoePa's left leg. Ten years later, Levy now calls that incident "my proudest moment in college," as history has since revealed Happy Valley's sad secrets. "That dirtbag, man," says Levy of Paterno, who was recently implicated as being aware of child sexual abuse committed by his assistant Jerry Sandusky as early as 1976. "We've gotta stop prioritizing sports over humanity," says Levy. "Just because somebody can throw a football or coach football, they're excluded from their wicked acts."

Joe Paterno Gets TACKLED and BREAKS his leg! by derfermark on YouTube

What might come as the most interesting part of the piece is where Levy admits he has experienced potential CTE symptoms.

Over the last two years, Levy has experienced some potential symptoms of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), including trouble remembering things and slowing down and stuttering while reading aloud. "It's frustrating," he says, "because you put your body on the line, and the people that you're working to make money for, they prioritize profit over the health of their greatest assets, and as a player that's troubling."

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