Rodney Harrison says he had '20 to 30' concussions during career
theGRIO REPORT - Rodney Harrison admits that years of hard hits are starting to take their toll on his health and likely will only get worse...
“I talked the other day about being in a game and hitting somebody and the stadium is spinning all around,” he said. “All of a sudden, I jog off to the sideline, they give me a couple of Aleves – which I know right now was a concussion – and I went back into the game.
“[Former NFL defensive back] Troy Vincent said that he had 7 or 8 concussions during his career, well, I’ve had 20 to 30 concussions and I played 15 years. I’m scared to death.”
Harrison feels that he was never “directly” lied to about concussions but he did say that more should have been done to protect players such as himself. He felt that the league did not properly educate players on head injuries, but it was not done maliciously.
“The NFL should’ve done a better job of educating us to what a concussion is,” Harrison said. “If you see me stumbling off the field and the stadium is spinning around and I can’t walk straight, why would you put me back in the game?”
When asked about players who admit to lying their ways back into games or playing through obvious injuries to avoid missing time, Harrison admitted that the culture of football leads to that. He said that if he didn’t go back into a game, their coaches and teammates would question their toughness.
“If we don’t get back in the game, our peers and our coaches looks at us like we’re not tough enough,” Harrison said. “We’re trying to get the contract; we’re trying to make a statement on our team. It’s a part of the culture.”
Dallas Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten played in Wednesday night’s season opener against the New York Giants with a lacerated spleen, an injury that he suffered three weeks ago during a preseason game in Oakland. A ruptured spleen generally takes three months to fully heal and patients are generally restricted from any high-risk activities.
Harrison said that he respected Witten’s drive but questioned the wisdom of taking such a risk with an injury such as that.
“I don’t know his pain,” Harrison said. “I just tell players like this: Don’t do anything that’s going to harm you long term. If that lacerated spleen could get to the point where he could possibly die, I wouldn’t play football. It’s not that serious. You have a wife; you’ve got kids, walk away from the game healthy.”
Harrison sees a different game than the one he left four years ago. He said that he loved playing in the NFL, but he felt he got out of the game at the right time.
“I retired when I was 36 years old and I have a whole lot of life to live,” Harrison said. “I have wife and I have kids. I like to coach (youth football), and I like to be active in the community. Football’s not worth it and I can tell you that after 15 years.”
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