MONTREAL -
Tony Proudfoot patrolled Canadian Football League backfields with a penchant for inflicting pain. For 12 seasons as a defensive back with the Montreal Alouettes and B.C. Lions, he delivered crushing blows to opponents who scampered onto his turf.
Nine months ago, Proudfoot, 57, was diagnosed with a rare, incurable disorder called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.
He believes his hard-hitting playing style, among other factors, contributed to what has become the fight of his life.
Proudfoot also learned he's not alone.
He said an usually high number of ex-CFL players have developed the disease, which strikes muscles and nerves, eventually leading to paralysis and death.
"I figure I got about a year of healthy living before I start losing my ability to swallow and breathe on my own,'' he said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
When Proudfoot learned of his condition, he immediately thought of Larry Uteck, his former Alouettes roommate.
Uteck, also a defensive back, died from the disease five years ago.
"I thought it was a coincidence that the two of us were friends and teammates,'' said Proudfoot, a longtime Alouettes sportscaster and college professor.
Through the CFL Players' Association, Proudfoot discovered that at least eight out of about 15,000 all-time players have been diagnosed with ALS.
In the general population, it affects two in 100,000 people at any given time. Most die from ALS two to five years after diagnosis and its causes are unknown.
When Proudfoot told his doctor about his discovery, she decided to take a closer look at the link between the disease and elite athletes.
Dr. Angela Genge, director of the ALS Clinic at the Montreal Neurological Institute, is preparing a survey of professional athletes from the CFL, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association.
"The research to date has given us very few clues as to what triggers this disease, what the risk factors are,'' said Genge, who expects the privately funded study to last two to five years.
"This is simply a strategy to try to address one of the things we've been seeing in-clinic, which is that active people, in particular serious athletes, are overrepresented in ALS clinics.''
Environmental exposure, genetics, dietary supplements and head trauma are thought to be root causes of the disease, but the relationship has yet to be proven, Genge said.
The survey, to be distributed to current and former players, family members and doctors, will focus on injury history, diet and where they played.
Genge will compare the results with those of other studies that have shown high incidences of the disease among various groups, including professional soccer players in Italy and American soldiers who served in the first Gulf War.
She also said athletes who compete outdoors are believed to be at higher risk, which could mean pesticides have an influence.
But Genge maintains the research is not a witch hunt against certain physical activities.
"There's no way that we would even suggest that it's so sports-specific that you would stop a kid from playing one sport or another,'' she said.
"It's just a question of trying to figure out what was common amongst the people who developed the disease that was not common in those that did not.''
Looking back, Proudfoot recalls how he and Uteck terrorized rivals by delivering heavy, helmet-to-helmet licks.
Proudfoot, who won a pair of Grey Cups with Montreal in the 1970s, said he suffered "lots of concussions.''
"We would use our heads for sure, but I don't want to make it like head trauma is the only thing,'' said Proudfoot, who agrees a combination of factors sparks the disease.
"If that was the case, boxers would have ALS. You don't want to sensationalize it and say it's dangerous to play in the CFL because you're likely to get ALS. That's not in fact the reality.''
Uteck, who also played for Toronto, Ottawa and B.C., died on Christmas Day in 2002, six years after diagnosis, his wife, Sue, said. Proudfoot told her of Genge's study during the Grey Cup in November.
"I find it kind of strange because both Tony and Larry were roommates,'' said Uteck, a Halifax city councillor. She believes contact with sports surfaces built over previously contaminated industrial land may also contribute to ALS, but she highlights head injuries as a key factor.
"(Larry) had multiple concussions,'' she said, noting her husband's playing career ended from crushed vertebrae, a consequence of his bone-jarring wallops.
"I remember he broke his nose twice in one game.''
Meanwhile, Proudfoot, who helped the Alouettes navigate an icy field -- and win the 1977 Grey Cup -- by famously conceiving the idea to drive staples into his teammates' shoes, said his game plan is to stay positive.
"I've pretty well accepted the fact and, by doing that, I'm looking on this as an opportunity,'' said Proudfoot, who has been travelling, spending time with family and reconnecting with old friends.
"Over the next year or so, I'm anticipating a pretty exciting life.''
