This edition of Networthy ND features several items related to the tragic suicide death February 17 of Notre Dame football great Dave Duerson ’83. Also featured are links to two noteworthy videos produced by Notre Dame alums.
Duerson tragedy
In her blog on sports and spirituality, Anne Stricherz ‘96 writes movingly about tragedy, the Notre Dame family, Duerson and Declan Sulllvan, the student videographer who died last fall when the scissor lift from which he was filming football practice toppled during a wind storm.
A story in The Week magazine examines Dave Duerson’s death and the possible connection to chronic brain injury due to multiple concussions.
Bill Dwyre ‘66 also reflects on chronic brain injury and the implications of Dave Duerson’s death for the NFL and the sport of football in his Los Angeles Times sports column.
Last December , NFL Charities awarded Notre Dame biochemistry researcher Mayland Chang a grant to design and develop therapeutics for the treatment of traumatic brain injury.
New videos
Trunk, a short documentary film by Mark Lyons ’10 and Alex Wheeler ’10, recently won a student award at the 2010 U.S. International Film and Video Festival. The film, produced for a ND course taught by Associate Professional Specialist Ted Mandell ‘86, chronicles the relationship between a Portland, Oregon, zookeeper and the Asian elephant he cares for.
A new video series, featuring Hollywood stars Kiefer Sutherland and John Hurt, will begin airing exclusively on the video website Hulu in March. The Confessor, produced by David Chamberlin ’00, is billed as “a story of unique redemption and an exploration of good and evil featuring a hitman and a priest.” Told through a series of flashbacks, the tale begins on Christmas eve when the hitman confesses his sins to the priest. As the series progresses, both main characters are revealed to be more complicated than they initially appear. “As far as I know, a web series hasn’t been done with this level of talent and production value,” Chamberlin says. The series whose executive producer is Sutherland, already has its own Facebook page.