In the coming weeks the football world will hopefully learn more as to exactly how damaged former NFL linebacker Junior Seau’s brain was due to his 20 years in the league.
Gary Plummer, another former Chargers linebacker in the early 90’s was a friend and former teammate of Seau’s who recently spoke with the San Jose Mercury News about concussions and football:
“In the 1990s, I did a concussion seminar. They said a Grade 3 concussion meant you were knocked out, and a Grade 1 meant you were seeing stars after a hit, which made me burst out in laughter. As a middle linebacker in the NFL, if you don’t have five of these (Grade 1 effects) each game, you were inactive the next game.
“Junior played for 20 years. That’s five concussions a game, easily. How many in his career then? That’s over 1,500 concussions. I know that’s startling, but I know it’s true. I had over 1,000 in my 15 years. I felt the effects of it. I felt depression going on throughout my divorce. Junior went through it with his divorce.”
Initially Seau’s family seemed to be on board with donating his brain for examination however it looks as though they’re reconsidering.
Ref: San Jose Mercury News, The Big Lead