Chatting to a buddy in the States and he reckons its worse to have a helmet as people use that as a 'weapon'. Certainly concussion issues in the NFL.
Yeah, I know that NFL players get concussed and, as stated below, the worry is that there is little knowledge about concussion.
Also interesting in this article is that, the minor concussions are a problem too and they are not picked up during a game.
NFL Legend Brett Favre Says He Likely Experienced 'Thousands' of Concussions Over His Career
Jason Duaine Hahn - 8h ago
Brett Favre, the former Green Bay Packers quarterback.........was asked how many head injuries he sustained over the course of his career. The 52-year-old NFL Hall of Famer said he initially believed the number was low, but now thinks the estimate is much higher now that he knows more about concussions, which can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
"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," he explained, "[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 and tries to get up, his legs are rubber. That's a concussion."
Favre said he now understands that a concussion can happen without someone becoming unconscious.
"What we now know is concussions happen all the time," he said. "You get tackled and your head hits the turf, you see the flashes of light or ringing in your ears, but you're able to play."
"So, based on that, thousands," Favre continued. "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......... "
As defined by the Centers for Disease Control, concussions are traumatic injuries generated by hits to the head or body that cause the brain to bounce around the skull. Football players may experience many concussion-causing blows throughout their careers. Repeated concussions can lead to CTE, which is characterized by long-term effects such as trouble concentrating, memory problems and depression........