Former Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman and Fox TV announcer Bill Maas gave two lengthy interviews to the Kansas City Star in which he discussed the drug and legal problems that ended his broadcasting career, and the most interesting revelation is that concussions suffered playing football have left him permanently brain damaged:Maas doesn't come across like a guy who wants to blame the NFL for his personal problems, but he does sound like a guy who wants to get back into the game he loves.The frontal lobe of his brain is damaged. Doctors say it's a direct result of his NFL career and has caused him depression, minor speech problems and extreme loss of short-term memory.
It's one of the conditions that drove him online, buying hydrocodone and other painkillers from pharmacies he knew probably weren't legitimate. He says his drug use began when his broadcasting career went downhill; a source says it was the other way around.
And he says he can't figure out why the Chiefs' front office isn't asking his opinion about players at his old position:
"With all due respect to the Chiefs," he says, "they've wasted eight top draft choices on defensive tackles and still haven't filled the position. You know? Eight. I'm a block away. You want to throw me a film?"Unfortunately for Maas, the Chiefs likely think they don't need to hear the opinions of a guy who has been arrested multiple times, who has been addicted to drugs, and who has permanent brain damage from his playing days. He's most likely never going to have an NFL job again.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-06-2008 @ 3:35PM
Steviecool said...
I really don't have a whole lot of sympathy for these ex atheletes. They chose to play a violent, physical game for a living, and knew the risks. And these guys make a lot of money for playing the game and taking those risks. I really don't want to hear their whining.
Reply
7-06-2008 @ 8:37PM
gary said...
BILL MAAS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CRY BABY TO GET HIS WAY.MY FRIEND,KEN KREMER WHO WAS THE BACKUP TACKLE FOR THE CHIEFS BEHIND MAAS OWNED FUZZYS BAR IN WESTPORT,KCMO.MAAS AND DAN MARINO CAME IN ONE DAY.THERE WAS A TABLE OF 8 WOMEN SITTING IN THE BAR.MAAS STARTED LICKING HIS CHOPS.HE AND MARINO APPROACHED THE WOMEN.TO THE WELL KNOWN ATHELETES AMAZEMENT NOT ONE OF THESE LADIES KNEW OR CARED WHO THEY WERE.MAAS AND MARINO CAME BACK TO WHERE KENNY AND I WERE AT THE BAR LIKE TWO WOUNDED PUPPIES.IMAGINE THAT.A VERY TRUE STORY.
Reply
7-07-2008 @ 3:50PM
JJ Morley said...
Billy Maas was a wanna be jerk when he was a player marginal at best but his big mouth got him noticed. His broadcasts were brutal to watch or listen to as he was sadly misinformed and way too opinionated to be a legitimate broadcaster. He must have wrote down the same 5 comments before a game and then read them over and over again with different voice inflections when he was on the air. He always had an over inflated opinion of himself. He was fat dumb and happy long before any supposed brain damage. If he has brain damage then it is from birth. I had the opportunity to be around this jerk when he would come to Minnesota for games. He hated the Vikings so he would spend the whole game belittling former and current players. A real class act...(NOT !!!)
Reply