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Ailing ex-Lion Scroggins: I should have stopped playing sooner

Insomnia keeps Tracy Scroggins up at night, unless he has a sleeping aid.

He can’t run without back and knee pain, but he has to work out to keep his weight down to avoid worse discomfort in his back.

“My social life is next to non-existent,” he said in a phone interview Thursday morning.

For the former Lions defensive end and linebacker, life after football has been painful both physically and emotionally. He hasn’t held a job since his career ended in 2001.

And with all the recent studies linking football concussions to degenerative brain diseases, Scroggins is worried things will continue to get worse.