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Bailes, MD, the Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery and Co-Director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute (April 2013) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590105071401-MKNCZRWYS7HRBG3BO0DQ/4-girls-1.jpg PHOTOS The Carpenter Sisters https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590105107205-ML02AQ60QCKV6JIGUVMV/Screen-Shot-2013-09-27-at-12.08.jpg PHOTOS Earle, Arkansas - Hometown of Ann Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590105025504-QB5X0QMZDI2Z0NV4SAVE/Screen-Shot-2013-10-11-at-5.11.jpg PHOTOS Rebecca Carpenter, Director, and Eric Wycoff, Cinematographer, behind the camera https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167762819-F8X7R9TL42TUNG4IMS2Y/Screen-Shot-2013-10-11-at-12.54.jpg PHOTOS Green Bay Packers and Pro Football Hall of Famer, James Lofton (October 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590105151390-FCR1FNRY7OZBVAMV8XG6/Screen-Shot-2013-10-14-at-9.25.jpg PHOTOS Rebecca Carpenter, daughter of Lewis Carpenter and Director of "Requiem for a Running Back" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590105205237-XNBOC45UG9TRPDQ4ZB6T/1967-family-in-georgia.jpg PHOTOS The Carpenter Family, 1967 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167764644-6BGMBY5GQ08EB46GUAYA/dad-girls-packer-1-1.jpg PHOTOS After learning that her father suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), filmmaker Rebecca Carpenter goes on a journey of interviews and investigation to try and understand the impact of this disease on football players and their families. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167766828-W8UUQ0SW0RSJ4TR6V0TP/dad-lions-1.jpg PHOTOS Lewis Carpenter - Detroit Lions https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167766849-ZXRXWZMPFKABRWSWZL6A/Easterling1.jpg PHOTOS Mary Ann Easterling, the widow of former NFL player, Ray Easterling (December 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167768170-A11BPF86IS1OLHRV8U8W/Falcons1.jpg PHOTOS Southern California Falcons Youth Football Program - Mobile Homework Trailer - "Athletics after academics" https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167768452-38ALTQGFE48T0P8HSBLE/Kramer-2.jpg PHOTOS Jerry Kramer, former NFL player in Boise, Idaho (November 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167769173-AK0VVZOB85M5QBVGHEU7/McKee2.jpg PHOTOS Rebecca with Dr. Ann Mckee, Professor of Neurology and Pathology at the Boston University School of Medicine and Chief of Neuropathology at the VA Boston Healthcare System (May 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167770195-TKUW9Q39OXRI31386G0N/Packers4.jpg PHOTOS Packers Training Camp (July 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167770350-J6F6880UEYQZJUZJ9TT6/Pyle1.jpg PHOTOS Mike Pyle, who played nine seasons between 1961 and 1969 as Center for the Chicago Bears, and his daughter, Samantha Pyle-Buono (March 2013) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167773252-QKWQFYI0PQSY206W81VN/Razorbacks1.jpg PHOTOS Razorbacks Camp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167773256-LRB3IKPBU6LMXBTR4IBT/West-Memphis6.jpg PHOTOS Rebecca visiting the childhood home of her father, Lewis Carpenter, in West Memphis, Arkansas (June 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167774800-NS3VQ5IQ4MTZTXWGXQP3/West-Memphis7.jpg PHOTOS West Memphis, Arkansas - hometown of Lewis Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167774827-EHADNWT1DB6QRMF9B8YR/Ann+Carpenter3.jpg PHOTOS Ann Carpenter, the wife of Lewis Carpenter, New Braunfels, Texas (June 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167776252-MBC9VSB176OAZV0FFKRD/Kramer+1.jpg PHOTOS Jerry Kramer, former NFL player, author and sports commentator, best remembered for his 11-year career with the Green Bay Packers (November 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167777684-KCX21EIPC94C8T8FYUEF/Puget+Sound1.jpg PHOTOS Puget Sound - heading to interview former NFL player, author and activist Dave Meggyesy (January 2013) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167777641-IZ7I7ANN0PGFATVX86K0/AR0323_packers+on+field.JPG PHOTOS Lewis Carpenter - 1959 Green Bay Packers https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167778635-X38Z2XWBTKRLTRYYLPSP/Ditka1.jpg PHOTOS Mike Ditka, former NFL player, coach, and television commentator (November 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167778997-QUW2HWEQW3PXBPNL1C1C/Earle4.jpg PHOTOS Earle, Arkansas - Hometown of Ann Carpenter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167779804-JJ2XKMXL1AI5BPHDHINF/Falcons15.jpg PHOTOS Keith Johnson, Executive Director of the Southern California Falcons Youth and Family Service Organization (July 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167779908-RY4E0N5JTML0QD9RGOGC/Kansas+City1.jpg PHOTOS Fans heading in for game time at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri (November 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167781010-K6WO7L5UFQ38ST0PPSNI/Madison+WI+2.jpg PHOTOS Madison, WI - for an interview with Ed Garvey (July 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167781784-LE481FO1NVVQ5C2IZNGC/614589_10151282548210238_1697339806_o.jpg PHOTOS Southern California Falcons Youth Cheer Program - Southern California Falcons Homecoming (September 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167782169-MWKX5GQDYWCHISJNLEPP/Cathy1.jpg PHOTOS Cathy Carpenter, one of Lewis Carpenter's four daughters (June 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167782872-WUJONCWXYTIZ3YL6DIPA/Falcons5.jpg PHOTOS Southern California Falcons Youth Football Program practice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167783639-JN2EECVPX99WRNOXJSRW/Hilton1.jpg PHOTOS Penny Hilton and her husband John Hilton, a former tight end who played nine seasons in the NFL (December 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167785047-W4FPZU83OFJXJ7HYVYXS/Beier1.jpg PHOTOS Rebecca visiting West Memphis, Arkansas - hometown of Lewis Carpenter (June 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167786049-GJRJ5SM1U34U1EUEFE7F/Falcons4.jpg PHOTOS Southern California Falcons Youth Football Program practice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167786511-JJ693V6MMPGUDZ5MDE10/Omalu1.jpg PHOTOS Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist who examined the brains of several deceased NFL players and was the first to publish findings of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in American football players (May 2013) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167786875-YKVDVP13EII8UWU7FP3O/Parker2.jpg PHOTOS Rebecca's Nephew, Parker, during high school football practice (June 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167826468-THOQETN2YN9DZJVDHE9F/JlSAZ5ZeeLuptNRklIWu8qd0x03h9UmKl1_73oP1Jpo.jpeg PHOTOS On the road to interview Paul Coffman and Lynn Dickey, outside Kansas City, Missouri (November 2012) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1479167844681-99OFT4SQS4ROCCSW6HXN/Packers2.jpg PHOTOS Packers fan at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin (July 2012) https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/new-page-1 daily 0.75 2016-11-11 https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/press-kit daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/bring-requiem-to-my-home-town daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/contact-1 daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/filmmakers daily 0.75 2020-06-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1591901957565-XY85KROPR7JQ873OEKDR/Cody%2Bat%2BMacArthur.jpg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1478726045628-46S0KOY8B2PKLS43UVQ6/image-asset.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590537680892-PMVZCYCFDOY7B2KNUZM8/IMG_0292.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1478730443404-QXQ52FY7LLEACMS95NC1/image-asset.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1478730600626-1B6H6NNZGPOKGINUXVL7/image-asset.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1478725963428-CBUOHHIRCHAILWQ1ADP1/image-asset.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1478725805718-UONK3U4WELBUULRK6VWF/image-asset.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1590600548140-XTJT52KB9514M5OJ17G1/csd-borland-for-web.jpg FILMMAKERS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1478730766219-Q7R9PUXY2FVXT5LFP9O0/image-asset.jpeg FILMMAKERS https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/mailing-list daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/contact daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://www.requiemforarunningback.com/press daily 0.75 2020-05-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510636334601-9UMCU71SWA5POSYJUGC9/1ST.PNG PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510634886898-VNLAZVT6R96YGUBC7JMQ/image-asset.png PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510698078437-ZYO8L2O2V9EVYUJJAV0I/cropped-18579165_10154441921071957_102198925_n-2.jpg PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510701031667-06NOE419KEN0SOLYLGCQ/cst-white-logo.png PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510636549776-5SKNI9FPWUYWJZ8V59N0/1.PNG PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510634400060-XD7DSBF7YG79DNPW3APF/Village_Voice.jpg PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510634339457-2QF5ZD9KYYHT2F2LJMIH/cst-white-logo.png PRESS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58220ab7414fb56d6fe68ee5/1510634695041-220YNMAU3JKCJXW31P99/image-asset.png PRESS What it’s like when your football star dad suffers from CTE By Kirsten Fleming November 6, 2017 | 8:30pm After he died in 2010, former pro footballer Lew Carpenter (shown with daughters Cathy, Lisa and Cheryl in 1962) was posthumously diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy.Courtesy Rebecca Carpenter After Rebecca Carpenter’s father passed away in 2010 at the age of 78, her family received a call from Boston University asking to examine his brain and spine. “They said they were doing a study to examine the impact of concussions on former football players,” recalls Carpenter, whose father, Lew Carpenter, was a running back for the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers in the ’50s and ’60s. He played for legendary coach Vince Lombardi and later coached in the league for another three decades. Though he never had a concussion, researchers found that the father of four still had advanced chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease caused by head trauma. Carpenter’s family — whose entire world revolved around pigskin — was devastated by the news. “This was going to possibly affect every man who had been significant to me in my life. My father was the 17th case at BU. I thought, ‘What is the agenda here?’” Carpenter, a filmmaker, tells The Post. “I was angry that BU was trying to ruin football for my family and ruin my dad’s legacy. I set out hoping the study was being exaggerated.” Armed with the new information from Boston University, Carpenter set out to make a film, looking at her dear father with more sympathetic eyes. The result is “Requiem for a Running Back,” a powerful documentary that explores the science behind CTE and tells the history of professional football through Lew’s career and personal life. (Carpenter and Dr. Ann McKee will host an evening screening at Cinema Village on Nov. 15.) ‘I realized how much of my adult life had been spent trying to fill in the gaps to make [my father] whole.’ The diagnosis also shed light on his changing personality. Though he was known for his humor and great storytelling, his post-playing years had been marked by periods of depression and wild mood swings. “The last five years [of his life] were difficult,” she says. “He became very withdrawn and he had been a really social person. And you start thinking, ‘Gosh, maybe he doesn’t like me.’ But that didn’t make any sense because I know he loved me.” In interviews with players he coached, football greats and families of other players dealing with the debilitating disease, Carpenter is able to reconstruct her complicated relationship with her father. In one particularly uncomfortable scene, she interviews former Pittsburgh Steeler John Hilton, now deceased, who could barely string together a coherent sentence because he suffered from CTE. Carpenter and Hilton’s wife attempt to help him organize his thoughts. “That’s when I realized how much of my adult life had been spent trying to fill in the gaps to make [my father] whole,” she says. Filmmaker Rebecca Carpenter with her dad, Lew, at his induction into the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor in 2000 Courtesy of Rebecca Carpenter At its heart, the film is an homage to her loving father and the sport that lifted him out of poverty, but ultimately cost him his quality of life. “I think of it as a love story and a film as opposed to an investigative documentary,” says Carpenter. After her father died, one of the players he coached for Green Bay in the ’70s and ’80s, James Lofton, now a CBS sportscaster, sent her an email revealing a side of the stoic gridiron warrior she didn’t know. “James said that he can still hear [my dad’s] voice in his ears saying, ‘You gotta love it,’” referring to the game, says Carpenter. “I thought, ‘For real? My dad and the word “love” in the same sentence?’ I don’t know the guy that James just described. In a way, I went on the road to find the Lew who said, ‘You gotta love it.’” So Carpenter dug into his poor childhood in West Memphis, Ark., where he grew up the son of a truck driver and a waitress. She dissected her parents’ relationship, which began in high school and later dissolved. Carpenter’s mother recalls a vacant Lew leaving without so much as a discussion. But she also highlights the devoted father who coached not only NFL teams, but also her youth softball team, where he showed her tough love. Cross-sections of Lew Carpenter’s brain (injected with dye) show high levels of tau protein at the edges, which is a marker of CTE.Courtesy of Rebecca Carpenter “The way Lombardi would make his favorite players the example, we were his favorite players,” she says. “He thought we could handle anything. There was a real soulfulness about him. He was fun, but he was also the most competitive person you would ever meet.” After making the film, Carpenter still finds her father’s postmortem diagnosis painful to accept. But she could feel her dad guiding her throughout the process. “I wish every daughter had the opportunity to look at her aging parents and go back to the beginning,” she says. “Our story just happens to take place in the world of football. There are a lot of us who had a parent who was a mystery, and we can’t move on until we solve it.” She also sees the game in a different light. 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