Big hits are one of the reasons we watch football, but they can also be dangerous.
According to the watchdog website TheConcussionBlog.com, the NFL had 159 concussions last season. Several five-figure fines were also given to players for their helmet-to-helmet hits.
But the issue is not isolated to professional athletes.
Rutgers defensive tackle Eric Legrand was paralyzed from the neck down last season after a hard hit on a kickoff return.
At the high school level, Greenbrier Christian Academy in Chesapeake, Va., had several players suffer concussions last year, including senior quarterback Nicholas Jesse.
“He came off the end and hit me hard,” Jesse recalled.
“Next series, when the center snapped the ball it just went passed me and I was blanking out,” he continued. “[I] went to go get the ball … and it felt like it was moving around, but it was just sitting there.”
“He just didn’t get back in his back pedal like he should. We pulled him out and he was not responding to me,” added coach Donnie Simpson.
Senior linebacker Austin Pyeatt wasn’t aware he had a concussion until an official told him to leave the game.
“I’m running to the other side of the field and I grabbed the guy, and when I spun around our safety came through and hit me on the chin,” he told CBN News.
“I remember blacking out. My first thought was, ‘That’s not good,’ and then I didn’t want to come out [the game],” Pyeatt recalled. “But I guess it is safety because it was my brain.”
Source: CBN News | Lorie Johnson
http://downloads.cbn.com/cbnnewsplayer/cbnplayer.swf?aid=25671
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