Former Packers UDFA gets no help from NFL after concussion problem lingers

[JBlood]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...areer-ending-concussion-lack-of-help-from-nfl

Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Adrian Coxson, whose career was ended by a devastating concussion at the age of 23, claimed that he wasn't receiving any assistance from the NFL on Wednesday:

Coxson was an undrafted free agent out of Stony Brook and suffered the concussion just three days into training camp in August 2015. He suffered a Grade 3 concussion and didn't feel the effects until two days later, per a November 2015 report in The Players' Tribune.

He was told another hit could potentially kill him, and he decided to retire from the NFL.
Coxson's claim certainly reflects poorly on the NFL, if it is true, especially after commissioner Roger Goodell said in early February the culture surrounding head trauma in the NFL was changing on Good Morning America (via Seth Walder of the New York Daily News):

The number of concussions went up this year. And they’re going to go up, and they’re going to go down in any given season. But screenings went up by 108 percent. And also, we saw more self-reporting from the players and teammates. That’s what I call the culture change. It used to be, as you know, well, it’s just a ding. Those days are long gone. And that’s a positive thing for our game.

The NFL and thousands of former players agreed to a settlement in April 2015 that would provide up to $5 million per player who retired before before July 7, 2014, and who suffered head trauma during their NFL careers and the lingering effects of those injuries.

It's less clear what support systems are in place for current players forced to retire from head injuries or what type of assistance Coxson is seeking.

Got Curious what the Packers gave him, turns out he got $5K signing bonus and an injury settlement of $32+k.

Damn That's peanuts. Hope he also has some kind of insurance that kicked in.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/341729721.html

Green Bay - In a video on The Players' Tribune, former Packers WR Adrian Coxson said that it was a minor collision in a non-contact drill that led to him being diagnosed with a career-ending Grade 3 concussion.

Coxson retired shortly after reaching an injury settlement with the Packers.

In the video, Coxson said he collided with another player during a drill conducted in shorts and helmets on the first day of training camp. It wasn't until two days later, just before the start of the first full-padded practice on Aug. 1 that he started experiencing concussion symptoms.

"When I actually got hit, it was in a no-contact drill, it was just helmets," he said. "Me and the guy kind of just hit heads and I didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t feel any of the effects at the time. Then on Friday, we had a day off, we had meetings.

"Then we went out to practice on Saturday, which was a full-padded practice. So we go out, we go through like a light little walk-through. At that time when I was in the walk-through I started feeling a little light-headed. I just didn’t feel like myself. And I walked away from the practice to the trainer and I told him that I just wasn’t feeling right.

"So I passed out on the field. All I remember is waking up in the hospital."

Coxson said it took three days before he was able to leave his darkened hospital room. When he met with his doctor, he was given the bad news.

"I could tell when I saw his face that something wasn’t right," Coxson said. "He kind of looked me in the eye and asked me if I was all right and then he explained to me that the next hit could possibly kill me.

"Those were his exact words. I instantly said to myself, like, ‘I’m done.’”

Coxson received a $32,571 injury settlement and has moved on from football. He said two months ago he was still experiencing the effects of the concussion.

Coxson said more awareness of football-related concussions needs to be spread, especially in youth leagues. He said it was difficult not to know whether his concussion would affect his cognitive ability later in life.

 

[Ron Swanson]

Pathetic. So much for Goodell's "football is a fraternity" BS. 1 year of living expenses for an entire career wasted by concussions.

It's amazing how the NFL can make record profits each and every year and still manage to completely **** on the lesser known guys simply because not enough people will read his story or care enough to be outraged by it.

 

[Mark87]

Not surprised, The NFL is a cruel hard business and most people never see it. The bigger point is everyone thinks GB is different but they are not. It's still about $ and winning.

 

[Nerd]

I really liked him as a prospect, however I suspect he already had something going on before this injury. It just seems way too severe for a first time occurrance.