Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Ed Meadows is probably best known for his controversial hit that knocked Bobby Layne out of the 1956 Western Conference playoff game, but I recently found out he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but there's not much else I can find out about what led up to it. I'd be interested to hear if the group has any insight. Maybe an early undiagnosed case of CTE?

I looked for you ... could find nothing...one detail
is that he was alive when they found him.

This is Oct 24. The next day's paper said it had been officially
ruled a suicide.

in the ten years prior, nothing in newspapers other than
football article mentioning the hit on Layne...so not mention
of anything, financial, just nothing.

I searched for CTE in later years, again nothing...

I did see where his son declined an interview recently
when Meadows got some award from Duke..

good questions...

It's always possible CTE played a role in Meadows's suicide. From what I could dig up on the guy, he was under some emotional stress when he killed himself---at the time his tire store business was in trouble and he was estranged from his wife.

Funny thing about the hit on Layne in the '56 game---it was almost an exact replay of what had happened the previous season. Meadows--then playing for Pittsburgh--administered a late hit on Layne during a Lions-Steelers game as Bobby just stood there watching the play after handing the ball off to Doak Walker. "What's the matter with that guy?" Layne asked one of the Steelers. "Damned if I know," the Steeler replied. "We don't like him either."

Seems like Meadows was just an all-around miserable guy.

RichardBak wrote:It's always possible CTE played a role in Meadows's suicide. From what I could dig up on the guy, he was under some emotional stress when he killed himself---at the time his tire store business was in trouble and he was estranged from his wife.

Funny thing about the hit on Layne in the '56 game---it was almost an exact replay of what had happened the previous season. Meadows--then playing for Pittsburgh--administered a late hit on Layne during a Lions-Steelers game as Bobby just stood there watching the play after handing the ball off to Doak Walker. "What's the matter with that guy?" Layne asked one of the Steelers. "Damned if I know," the Steeler replied. "We don't like him either."

Seems like Meadows was just an all-around miserable guy.

thanks for the information on the store business...I looked for things like that but could find nothing in the papers. That makes sense.

Maybe it was CTE ... but maybe he was bipolar or dysthymic or something like that. Business and relationship problems on top of some chemical/mental thing can contribute to suicide as well.

appreciate the info.

Thanks for the follow-up. I recently found out he had made a brief comeback attempt with the Montreal Alouettes in 1961 that only lasted three games, which is what prompted my question. The suicide and estrangement from his family show all the signs of CTE and/or other mental health issues that are all too frequent among former players.