Knock-Knock : Who's There?

"Concussions happen all the time. You get tackled and your head hits the turf, you see flashes of light or ringing in your ears but you're able to play -- that's a concussion."

"That's what's kind of frightening about the concussion thing. It's the ones that seem minor that do the damage, because you're able to keep going, and still today, there's probably guys that have them, they're 'I'm not going out'."

"I don't remember my daughter playing soccer, playing youth soccer, one summer. I don't remember that. I got a pretty good memory and I have a tendency like we all do to say, 'Where are my glasses?' and they're on your head. This was pretty shocking to me that I couldn't remember my daughter playing youth soccer, just one summer, I think."

"I remember her playing basketball, I remember her playing volleyball, so I kind of think maybe she only played a game or two. I think she played eight. So that's a little bit scary to me."

Brett Favre, professional footballer, NFL, Hall of Famer

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Favre is on record as having stated his opinion that youth tackle football should be banned until players at least reach age 14. He has taken part in Concussion Legacy Foundation events. He hasn't encouraged his three grandsons to play football, considering it "too risky" to play the sport with no effective treatment for head trauma.

 

If anyone should know, he should. He has experienced enough of them over the years. And he is beyond fortunate that the after-effects are as relatively mild as he states them to be. For others that isn't the case.

During the years of his NFL career Brett Favre was notorious for the number of hard hits he took. He's looking back now and reconsidering his time on the field. In an interview he recalled suffering frequent head injuries; by his estimation the number of concussions he suffered would exceed 50 per season during his 20-year career. "So, based on that, thousands", he emphasized.

His career spanned 1991 to 2010, the third-most sacked player in NFL history with a total of 525 instances. Known for his ability to play through injuries, he started for a record 297 consecutive regular-season games -- or 321 counting playoff games. Following his retirement three years ago, he detailed the end effect repeated concussions have had on him.

"The thing about concussions is we still don't know a lot about them. If you had asked me this 10 years ago, how many concussions I had, I would have said three."

"The reason I would have said three [is] I thought concussions were where you get knocked out, where you black out, for a period of time you don't know where you are, memory loss, dizzy."

"A boxer gets knocked out and tries to get up, his legs are rubber. That's a concussion." 

"Having kids play before high school is just not worth the risk. CTE is a terrible disease, and we need to do everything we can to prevent it for the next generation of football players."

Brett Favre 

 

The Centers for Disease Control defines concussions as traumatic injuries caused by hits to the head or body, causing the brain to move around the skull. Like boxers, football players potentially and actually experience multiple concussion-causing blows throughout their professional careers. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) can result from repeated concussions. CTE is characterized by long-term effects like concentration difficulties, memory retention problems, and a state of depression.

 

Now 52, a bit of introspection since his retirement has led Favre to the realization that while he was actively playing football he misunderstood what the constant knocks to his skull represented. They were more than hard knocks, they were concussions. He felt confident before mulling over the situation after he found out what the symptoms of those hard skull knocks really represent that he was wrong the entire time with the realization that he was experiencing a dangerous situation, one that has left him with the impression there was a vacuum in parts of his lived memory.

Former quarterback Brett Favre. Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty