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November 20, 2009

Don't mess around with head injuries

I was a pretty competitive guy when I was younger, and I pretty much would say I still am. So I get it. You want to win. I like winning at everything, from John Madden football to pickup basketball to Scrabble.

But I also know there's a time when some more important things come into play.

Like the rest of your life.

And with the amount of football being played this fall, the word "concussion" gets brought up a lot on injury reports. It seems in too many cases to be viewed like a sprained ankle or a bruised knee. "Shake it off and go on."

Here are a few statements made this week to The Associated Press by professional football players about concussions.

· "You get a concussion, they've got to take you out of the game. So if you can hide it and conceal it as much as possible, you pay for it the next day, but you'll be able to ... stay in the game."

-- Washington Redskins fullback Mike Sellers.

· "I want every person who leaves this to be as healthy as possible when they leave. We all give up stiffness in knees, backs, joint pain stuff. You don't want to give you your brain."

-- Indianapolis Colts center Jeff Saturday.

· "I've been fuzzy-headed a lot. You use your head a lot, and at the end of my career, I'll probably be talking like Muhammad Ali."

-- St. Louis Rams offensive lineman Jason Smith.

I've been fortunate enough to only have one concussion. And few people have gotten one more impressively.

I was riding my roommate's bicycle back to the dorms after taking in part of an Oklahoma State baseball game during college. There was a chance of rain that afternoon so I had smartly brought along an umbrella, one of those long, golf umbrellas.

I had not so smartly decided to hold it in my right hand as I rode, instead of putting it in the perfectly good backpack I was wearing. You can see where this is going.

Umbrella hooks into spokes of front wheel.

Front wheel stops.

Rider goes flying over handle bars.

I landed on the left side of my face, and for a few days that side of my face looked a little like Worf the Klingon from Star Trek. Some people said that was an improvement.

I to this day only remember bits and flashes of the next few hours. I remember being in a bathroom in a nearby building. I remember waking up to Doc Cooper, the longtime OSU athletic team physician, who happened to be on duty at the campus hospital that night. He asked me who I was, what day it was and where I was. I remembered my name, got the date wrong and wasn't sure where I was. I did remember the score of the game I'd left though.

I didn't at all remember anything about the young lady who found me and called campus police to help me, nor that I chained the bike to a nearby rack before going to the hospital in a police car, a ride and conversation I also don't remember.

I was in a fog for about two or three days and was miserable that first night as friends called to keep me awake during the first few hours after the injury.

It's not an injury to mess with. Especially not when you're dealing with young people possibly going back into a sports game, or people who already have had more than one. It's written that once you have one concussion, you're more likely to have more.

We're mostly past football season now, but basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts and almost any other physical activity you can think of bring the risk of a concussion.

So can riding a bike. I know.

Parents, coaches, be careful with this injury if you see it. And if you're the athlete and you've been hurt, be honest with your coach and parents. Today's game isn't worth the rest of your season, and certainly not the rest of your life.

Christian Potts 366-3544 cpotts@normantranscript.com

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