Author: by Adam Clements WKRC
Now, he’s focusing on creating a safe space and raising awareness about brain trauma and mental health at his new downtown Cincinnati venue, Memories Lounge.
“Southern — I’m from the south. Cool vibes, laid-back vibes,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re not looking for the major crowds. We’re just looking for great, quality people.”
Memories Lounge, located on East 7th Street, is more than a nightlife spot, Kirkpatrick said. The inspiration came from the death of his close friend, former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who died after complications from a seizure and was later diagnosed with Stage 2 CTE, a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head trauma.
“This is my first time actually talking about it,” Kirkpatrick said. “Nobody knows why a Denver Broncos jersey is in here, but he’s the reason I named this place Memories Lounge, because I wanted to do something that represents my friend. Because a lot of us athletes, we suffer, we go through this, we don’t talk about it. It’s something that’s not fun to bring up, but I’m pretty sure that 80-to-90 percent of us suffer from some kind of mental illness.”
Around every corner of Memories is a reminder of the devastating disease, which, for now, can only be diagnosed posthumously. Kirkpatrick believes CTE and head trauma affect a far wider group than just football players, pointing to domestic violence survivors and others who experience repeated blows to the head.
“How many women do we know (that) have domestic violence issues?” wonders Kirkpatrick. “I think there’s more women who go to the hospital for domestic violence than NFL players go for concussion protocols. So, at the end of the day, I’m just trying to bring that awareness that it’s not just football players and athletes that go through head trauma and memory loss that’s found in common people.”
“(I’ve had) a lot of conversations. Just a lot of conversations. Like I said, this isn’t something that’s just thrown around. This is very important and very serious to me. And I have to go out and do my due diligence and do the research to really know what I’m talking about.”
Memories Lounge features craft cocktails and Southern-inspired food, but Kirkpatrick said its larger mission is to spark conversations and push for more support from the NFL for former players.
“At the end of the day, I just want to bring the awareness to where the NFL can step in and help us and check on us a little bit more than just a pat on the back as we’re packing up our bags to leave the locker room for the last time,” he said.
