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Posted: January 5, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n I was never an advocate of football and didn\u2019t realize while growing up that he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest offensive tackles in Michigan State University football history. He was always big and as a 6-foot-4, 265-pound tackle he dominated opponents with his strength and quickness. MSU Head Coach, Duffy Daugherty, said that \u201cIf there is a college lineman anywhere with his speed, power, quickness, and intelligence, he has been well hidden.\u201d Dave was an All-American pick in 1961 and 1962 and became part of the 1963 College All-Stars team that upset the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers, 20-17, on August 2, 1963 at Soldier Field in Chicago. After being distinguished as a first round draft pick in both the AFL and NFL, Dave\u2019s AFL All-Star career with the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos ended in 1967 with back injuries. It was after that time period that he became a full time dad.<\/p>\n After football, he finished his business degree at Michigan State University and spent his career in the manufacturing and production environments in business and with the State of Michigan prison system tool and die shop. He loved tools and could make anything. He was a very intelligent man. At one point in my childhood my sister, Kellie, and I were wondering if he may have been one of those people who actually had a photographic memory, because he appeared to be able to retain everything he had ever read, learned or experienced.\u00a0 He also loved science and the value of scientific research, and I did too.\u00a0 He taught me that anything I ever needed to know could be found by researching it. At the same time, he taught me to pay attention to that pit in my gut, that feeling\u00a0 that you get when something isn\u2019t quite right, and that the first thing that pops up might not be right, but it is the direction you go in seeking the answer.<\/p>\n Maybe that\u2019s what caused him to be so good with \u201cfixing\u201d me. He worked with me before my ADHD diagnosis was available, without an owner\u2019s manual, so to speak, by taking an interest in me, helping in what I was trying to do, helping to develop skills that I was good at. Since I learned by doing and not through lecture he would say, \u2018don\u2019t worry about mistakes, just make sure you learn something from them when you make them and try again.\u2019 This is part of what motivates me today. His interest was always in what I was trying to accomplish. With my homework he simply read the chapter, looked at my assignment, and basically retaught me the lesson, one-on-one at the dining room table.\u00a0 Who knew just how effective that would actually be? This one-on-one fatherly touch continued when I was being punished for some teenage transgression. He would reconnect with me, alone, to discuss at length what happened, without judgement or anger, listening to me and even sharing his own personal experiences.\u00a0 All of those moments usually ended in some sort of agreement, often including a handshake, which I recognized as a contract that was in my best interest. And I honored every one.<\/p>\n Even as an adult today, one of my favorite early memories was a trip to grandma\u2019s house and I realized that I had forgotten my baby blanket. We couldn\u2019t go back because we had gone too far and I was not happy. My dad stopped at three stores along the way to grandma\u2019s until we found a baby blue blanket with satin trim that made me happy. He was someone I knew I could count on.<\/p>\n All of this changed when the onset of his\u00a0Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)<\/a>\u00a0began.<\/p>\n As he got older, his interest in his workshop at home helped him focus by being alone, just like the boating and fishing activities where he could retreat from the confusion of his mental decline and the conflict of a struggling marriage. As a natural introvert, with a talent in fixing and building things, he liked model boats and collected Karmann Ghias that he could repair and restore in his workshop. It was odd that he liked these tiny cars because he was so big and they were so small. Maybe the size of the cars represented the contradiction in his power and skill in football vs. his quiet, peaceful, and thoughtful demeanor as my dad.<\/p>\n Sadly, the depression, confusion, memory loss, lack of motivation, secretive behavior and balance issues, attributed to CTE, began to take over as he became more and more isolated. He lost the ability to maintain interest in friendships as well as being a devoted grandparent. We didn\u2019t understand who he was becoming or what was happening. At times he was clear thinking in making a point and just as quickly he would lose all sense of logic and understanding of the truth. We reacted with anger, hurt and resentment and his behavior was hard on family relationships\u2014because we didn\u2019t know. As a result, we started professional medical support for him far too late. It wasn\u2019t until we saw the Frontline Special,\u00a0League of Denial: The NFL\u2019s Concussion Crisis<\/a>\u00a0in October, 2013, that we began to understand what was happening to him, but the damage was done. When he died on December 9, 2014, he was diagnosed at the\u00a0Boston University Medical Center for CTE<\/a>\u00a0with Stage III\/IV CTE dementia.<\/p>\n My dad never wanted my son, David, to play in the youth football programs in grade school. When he called me about the possibility of his playing, his advice was for David to pursue dog training or work related to animals. My dad didn\u2019t eat, drink and sleep football like some athletes do\u2014it wasn\u2019t his passion. For me he was quiet, principled, shy and liked being by himself. It was sad to lose him to this disease (CTE). Knowing what I know now about my dad, I\u2019m not so much in favor of football. I\u2019ll admit that I don\u2019t really understand the sport all that well and appreciate the fact that some people may disagree with my thinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Kim Clark remembers her loving father Dave Behrman and how his CTE impacted their family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"inspiring-stories":[13],"legacy-stories":[],"class_list":["post-24975","stories","type-stories","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","inspiring-stories-my-legacy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDave Behrman and football\u2026how good was he?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
How do you remember your dad?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nWhen did you notice that changes in him were taking place?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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<\/p>\nHow do you think about football as a result of your dad\u2019s condition?<\/strong><\/h4>\n