By TERRY FREI | The Denver Post

PUBLISHED: May 31, 2014 at 2:01 p.m. | UPDATED: October 2, 2016 at 4:00 p.m.

A helping hand from teammates

Deb Ploetz and Billy Dale started their journey in 2015 to tell the Longhorn story of CTE. It is time for our journey looking back to end and looking forward to begin. The Lithograph above has 250 plus signatures of DKR players. Deb Ploetz wants to auction this historical piece in the marketplace and donate the proceeds to TLSN to help former student-athletes, managers, trainers, and their immediate families who have fallen through society’s safety net.  Greg’s painting will be the only Longhorn sports artifact with this many signatures from the DKR era players who delivered 3 national championships and 11 Southwest Conference Championships to The University of Texas from 1957-to 1977.

Horns Up,

Deb Ploetz and Billy Dale

Billy,

Do you have a link to the last painting that Greg Ploetz finished? The one referenced in the story of 71 team. That hit an emotional button with me. Do you happen to know if I could buy a print?

I related to Greg and always enjoyed the few conversations we had, rarely about football. Marveled at his perspective. So unique for that group of men, united by the camaraderie of the team and transition from boy to man. He simply had a broader worldview than most.

In scrimmages against our defense, blocking Greg was similar to uprooting a 4-foot oak tree stump with a 10-year-old tap root. You weren’t going to move him. Just tie him up so one of you backs could run around him! Great guy and a determined football player.

Thanks for what you do, Billy. Merry Christmas.

Jeff Zapalac,

David Richardson (Greg’s roommate in college) wrote to his teammates the following letter after his trip to Colorado in 2014 to deliver a check for $14,000 to Greg and Deb Ploetz. Another $11,000 was raised later to defray memory care bills. 

David says:

DEAR HORNS,

MOST OF YOU KNOW I REPRESENTED LSG AND DELIVERED THE CHECK FOR $14,000 ($25,000 was the final total) TO GREG PLOETZ. BY NOW, MOST OF YOU HAVE READ THE ARTICLE WRITTEN BY TERRY FREI FOR THE DENVER POST CONCERNING GREG’S SITUATION AND THE POSITIVE AND IMPORTANT ROLE THAT MEDICINAL MARIJUANA HAS PLAYED IN GREG’S LIFE.

ALL THE TEXAS NURSING HOMES WOULD NOT TAKE CARE OF GREG UNLESS THEY COULD KEEP HIM MEDICATED AND CALM. DEB WAS AT HER WITS END UNTIL SHE FOUND THIS PLACE IN COLORADO AND HEARD ABOUT THE MARIJUANA TREATMENT. WHAT AN EYE-OPENER IT WAS FOR ME AS AN OUTREACH MINISTER FOR VICTORY BAPTIST CHURCH. NOT THAT I APPROVE OF IT IN THE RECREATIONAL SENSE, BUT IT DOES HAVE SOME VALUE MEDICALLY. AFTER ALL, WHERE DID WE FIRST GET OUR MEDICINES? FROM PLANTS. OVERALL IT WAS A VERY GOOD TRIP. GREG IS IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE, and THE MOUNTAINS ARE ONLY ABOUT 10 TO 15 MILES FROM HIM. HE CAN GO OUT IN THE BACKYARD AND ENJOY THE BEAUTY. THERE WAS STILL SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS. HIS NURSING FACILITY IS MORE LIKE A HOME THAN CARE INSTITUTION. THE WORKERS ARE NICE, AND THEY ARE GENUINELY CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR PATIENTS. WHEN GREG FIRST ARRIVED HE WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYONE AT THE NURSING FACILITY BUT NOW WITH THE HELP OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA, HE HAS CALMED DOWN, AND HIS ANGER HAS SUBSIDED.

I WAS HIS ROOMMATE, BUT GREG DOES NOT KNOW ME.  HE KNOWS DEB AND THEIR DOG BUTTER.

GREG KNOWS HE IS NOT AT HOME, BUT HE WANTS TO BE.  THIS FRUSTRATES HIM, AND HE CAN STILL GET AGITATED VERY QUICKLY.  HE GOT UPSET WITH ME WHEN I TOOK A PICTURE OFF THE WALL TO ASK HIM ABOUT IT.  HE LOVES HIS ART; I ASKED HIM ABOUT THE ARTWORK HANGING IN HIS ROOM, AND HIS EYES LIT UP, AND HE EVEN SMILED.  HE LIKES TO WALK OR PACE.  HE DOESN'T TALK MUCH, JUST MAKES SOUNDS. DEB SAID THAT SOMETIMES AFTER SHE HAS GIVEN HIM HIS DRUGS, HE CAN PUT A SENTENCE TOGETHER. IT'S VERY HARD FOR DEB TO GET HIM TO DO ANYTHING.   SHE HAS TO MANIPULATE HIM, AND THIS IS VERY HARD ON HER; SEEING HER HUSBAND IN SUCH A STATE.  HE HAS LOST A LOT OF WEIGHT AND JUST DOESN'T LOOK THE SAME.  THE DRUGS HAVE GIVEN HIM AN APPETITE AGAIN, SO MAYBE HE WILL START GAINING THE WEIGHT BACK.  

DEB ADMINISTERS HIS MEDICINE TO HIM IN THE MORNING AND AGAIN IN THE EVENING.  SHE HAS A LICENSE TO BUY AND TO ADMINISTER THE “DRUG”  THE NURSING HOME EMPLOYEES ARE EXCITED ABOUT HOW THE “DRUGS” HAVE HELPED GREG, AND THEY HOPE TO BE ABLE TO ADMINISTER THE DRUG TO THEIR PATIENTS IN THE FUTURE.  THERE IS A TOTAL OF 10 MEN WHO RESIDE IN THE HOME.   HER LIFE IS BETTER BUT NEEDLESS TO SAY HER SITUATION IS STILL VERY DIFFICULT.  FROM MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH MY DAD WHO HAD ALZHEIMER’S, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS IS HARDER ON THE CAREGIVER THAN THE PATIENT. Still, THE LONGHORN FAMILY HAS COME THROUGH AND MITIGATED A VERY DIFFICULT SITUATION.   PLEASE KEEP GREG AND DEBRA IN YOUR PRAYERS. I WAS HONORED TO DELIVER OUR HEARTFELT DONATION TO DEB.   DEBRA AND TERRY FREI WERE OVERWHELMED WITH OUR OUTREACH. 

GREG PLOETZ’S STORY

Athletes who play football use their heads as a battering ram. The result- football players are prone to dementia, misdiagnosed CTE as Alzeheimer’s, depression/suicide, Parkinson’s, and CTE.

In December of 2021, Professor Larry Carlson wrote an article about the 1971 Longhorn football team. I was shocked at the number of players on this team who at the ages between 50 and 60 who passed away from brain-related issues. The link to Larry’s article is https://www.texaslsn.org/1971-a-team-thathas-paid-the-ultimate-pricefor-victory

Greg Ploetz was on the 1971 team. The road that Greg and Deb Ploetz traveled from 2009 until his death from CTE reflects the struggles many Longhorns and their families have experienced with loved ones inflicted with brain-related diseases. Greg’s cause of death was CTE.

A painting that reflects what CTE looks like from Greg’s state of mind.

After being diagnosed with dementia, Greg painted a tribute to his teammates. The completion of this painting in 2010 is a story of his heart holding on while mental capabilities and hand-eye coordination declined. He was struggling with details.

The painting is historically incorrect, but this painting offers a glimpse into Greg’s state of mind. Norman Rockwall’s decades ago rendered a piece of art titled “Self-portrait” Greg Ploetz has rendered a self-portrait of CTE. Even though Greg was a defensive player as a Longhorn, in his painting, Greg ( #31) believes he is the offensive player who delivers the key block that results in James Street’s” (#16) ) winning touchdown run in the national championship game against Notre Dame in 1970.

In fact, James Street does not make this touchdown, Greg is not an offensive player, the Notre Dame jerseys are not blue, #22 Billy Dale is not a blocker, and the stadium architecture is not the Cotton Bowl.

However, for all of us who love him, we understand that this painting is not about art. Paintings deliver messages that words can never yield (a picture is worth a 1000 words), and Greg’s message is delivered. The painting champions the heart and the human spirit’s victory over an aggressive opponent. It is a battle won in a war he will lose.

GREG’S STRUGGLE WAS THE INSPIRATION TO TACKLE A PROJECT THAT A DECADE LATER IS STILL NOT COMPLETE. THE GOAL IS PERSONAL AUTOGRAPHS FROM 500 DKR PLAYERS AND SUPPORT STAFF PERSONNEL ON GREG’S SELF-PORTRAIT. IF THE GOAL IS ACCOMPLISHED, IT WILL BE THE ONLY AUTOGRAPH-RELATED ITEM WITH THIS MANY SIGNATURES OF DKR PLAYERS IN EXISTENCE.

THE LITHOGRAPH IS NOW ON DISPLAY AT THE STARK CENTER ON THE 5TH FLOOR NORTH END ZONE OF DKR MEMORIAL STADIUM. IF THE PAINTING IS SOLD AT AN AUCTION, ALL THE PROCEEDS WILL BE USED TO HELP QUALIFYING LONGHORNS IN NEED OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

MAY GOD BLESS GREG’S FAMILY, AND ALL OTHERS WHO HAVE SUFFERED TO THE END WITH THIS HORRENDOUS DISEASE.

Greg’s story is now part of the Concussion Legacy Foundation. The link to the site is listed below.

http://concussionfoundation.org/story/greg-ploetz

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