I agree. That's quite a few in a short span of time. What's crazy, and you could probably attest to it, but this was probably common place in what we call the old days.
Yes. It was way too common in the old days. Getting your "bell rung" was considered just part of the game. That's the reason so many older players have died from brain related problems associated with concussion.
The thing is, we used to joke about it because we didn't really know there was any lasting effects. When I was young, they taught us to stick your helmet into the ball to lodge it free. We were taught so many things that were all wrong, and never should have been taught. We should have been taught the opposite. I don't honestly know how many concussions I actually had, but I do know that two guys that I played high school football with, and also played college football, died from forms of dementia, so that does concern me.
It also concerns me that when I started coaching, although I taught kids to stick their helmet "past a player," and not hit with it, we didn't think about concussions. I wonder how many times I missed the symptoms, and put someone in danger because of the ignorance we all had about the problem. I wonder how many of my coaching friends did the same thing, and I wonder how many young me we failed to protect because of it, and are now reaching an age where they're in danger. Knowing what I do now, I probably wouldn't coach. I probably wouldn't play, and above all, I would have never allowed my second oldest son to play, and carry a football 35 to 40 times a game, week after week in HS, and 20-25 times a week in college. He would have done something else as an athlete. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your view, he blew out a knee his sophomore year in college, and it all ended. Maybe.... just maybe..... that knee injury saved him from a tormenting end of life from a brain trauma disorder.
That's one of the reasons I am so critical of guys playing who are injured. It's too easy, as coaches, to say; "It's part of the game." It is, but at the same time, we all have to hope the Doctors associated with teams will always err on the side of player safety. I just don't want to see players, or coaches ending up on a guilt trip like so many of us who come from my era. We wonder every day if we did the wrong things in coaching, simply because it's what the game demanded.
