Sports Advisory Board
Abby Wambach
Abby Wambach was born in Rochester, NY and is a decorated American association football (soccer) player who was one of the sport’s leading forwards. She helped the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) win two Olympic gold medals (2004 and 2012) and a World Cup (2015). In 2012 she was named Women’s Player of the Year by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Wambach made her first appearance for the USWNT in 2001. Wambach started nine times for the USWNT in 2003, including all five U.S. matches in the FIFA Women’s World Cup, where the United States finished third. She was named U.S. Soccer’s Female Athlete of the Year, a feat she achieved again in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2013. Abby is aware of the higher risk for female athletes to sustain a concussion. The consequences of repetitive concussion in this population concerns her deeply. As the leading international player in header goals in the history of the sport, she worries about her own future brain health. She was a vocal leader in developing U.S. Soccer rules that ban youth athletes 10 years old and under from heading the ball in games and practice.
Brett Favre
NFL legend Brett Favre attended the University of Southern Mississippi, and after a stellar college career, Favre was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1991 NFL draft. Following his trade to the Green Bay Packers the next year, Favre began his legendary NFL career and led the franchise to victory in Super Bowl XXXI. Favre, an NFL ironman, started 299 consecutive games, a record that still stands today. Among his achievements, he recorded six 4,000 passing yard seasons, was named all NFC six times, and elected to eleven Pro Bowl teams. When Favre retired from football after the 2010 season, he held the NFL record for passing attempts, completions, passing yards, and touchdown passes. Favre was enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2016. Brett’s last play and the end of his iron-man streak was a concussion. He has many retired friends from the league who are struggling with mental health. Brett is an advocate for not playing tackle football until the age of 14 and is a big supporter of finding a treatment for concussion that can prevent our youth from being the next generation of players who may have to deal with conditions such as Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.
Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner's football career has proven to be of the more improbable rags-to-riches stories ever to come out of the sports world. Bypassed by the big Division I colleges, and at one point working the night shift stocking shelves at a supermarket so he could stay in football shape during the day, Warner, a 28-year-old back-up quarterback, catapulted to stardom in 1999. During his second full year in the NFL, he drove a high-powered St. Louis Rams offense to a Super Bowl victory and collected MVP honors along the way. Over the ensuing decade, Warner captained two other teams to the Super Bowl, registered another MVP season and threw for more than 200 career touchdowns. In 12 NFL seasons, Warner was selected to 4 Pro Bowl teams among his numerous accolades. He was enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame in 2017. The challenges of traumatic brain injury hit very close to home for Kurt who has an adult son living with the aftermath. Kurt and his wife Brenda created the Treasure House in Scottsdale, AZ, a state-of-the-art facility for treating and caring for adult brain-injured patients.
Mark Rypien
Mark Rypien is a former professional football quarterback who has played for some of the best NFL teams as a Washington Redskin. Born in Alberta, Canada, Mark moved to the United States at the age of 3 and was an athletic kid. He was a star athlete in school, playing basketball, baseball, and football. Following his high school graduation, he chose football and enrolled into the Washington State University on a football scholarship. He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the 1986 NFL Draft. In his stellar NFL career, he appeared in 104 games and had 115 touchdowns with 88 interceptions and 18,473 passing yards. Mark Rypien has a multitude of achievements throughout his NFL career. He is a two time Super Bowl champion (XXII and XXVI), a Super Bowl MVP (XXVI), and was elected to the Pro Bowl two times. Mark has struggled with mental health issues following the many concussions he experienced in his career. He is a strong advocate for finding a treatment for concussion to protect the brains’ of our youth.
David Ross
David Ross is an American professional baseball manager for the Chicago Cubs and former catcher for numerous teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for 15 years in MLB. Ross played college baseball for Auburn University and the University of Florida and participated in two College World Series. He started his major league career playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002 and also played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs. Ross had two World Series wins with the Boston Red Sox in 2013 and the Chicago Cubs in 2016. The Cubs named him their manager prior to the 2020 season. David experienced many concussions as a catcher and missed many games due to Post-Concussion Syndrome in his career.
Steve “Mooch” Mariucci
Mariucci is a former National Football League head coach. He coached for the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions. Mariucci was born and raised in Iron Mountain, Michigan, and was a three-time All-America (Division II) quarterback at Northern Michigan University (NMU) in Marquette. On NFL Sundays, Steve Mariucci appears on NFL Network's Emmy-nominated NFL GameDay Morning, joining fellow analysts to discuss the upcoming games. Additionally, Mariucci provides on-location analysis for NFL Network's coverage of the Super Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine, and NFL Draft. He is a member of the NFL Player Safety Advisory Panel that has concussion prevention fist and foremost on their minds.