Health too high a price for football glory

January 28, 2000
Web posted at: 3:54 p.m. EST (2054 GMT)

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Winning a Super Bowl takes talent, of course, but the hard knocks that come with playing professional football also make staying healthy a crucial part of the game. And, in some cases, that means knowing when to quit.

Former NFL running back Merril Hoge knows this all too well. Back in 1994, two serious concussions within five weeks of each other ended his playing career. He was 29.

"I was in intensive care for two days," said Hoge, now a football analyst for ESPN. "My wife came, my brother was there with his son. And I didn't know who they were. I couldn't recall anybody."

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young missed the last 13 games of this season after his fourth concussion in three years. "He got stunned at first, maybe like a boxer would," recalls 49ers coach Steve Mariucci.

While Young's injuries leave his playing career in question, another star quarterback has concerns about his own health after six concussions. Dallas Cowboy Troy Aikman told CNN he wants to know "what the possible long term effects can be."

Concussion can lead to brain damage

A concussion occurs when a blow to the head crashes the brain against the inside of the skull. A football helmet offers only limited protection.

Concussions can tear or twist fibers that carry messages between brain cells. The results can be recurrent headaches, dizziness, fatigue -- even problems with memory and concentration.

Studies show that a football player who has had one concussion is four times likelier to suffer a second, more dangerous one which can lead to permanent brain damage.

"They can be cumulative and also lead to severe brain injury if players return prior to complete clearing of the symptoms that caused the concussion in the first place," says Dr. Joseph Maroon, a neurosurgeon.

Successful teams have fewer injuries

Young is among several well-known NFL players -- including Terrell Davis, Michael Irvin, Jamal Anderson and Vinny Testaverde -- who had season-ending injuries in 1999. But the total number of players sidelined was fewer than in the previous year, according to a Los Angeles Times survey.

Damage to knees, ankles, hamstrings and shoulders have ranked as the four most common injuries each season since 1997, with twice as many injuries to knees as ankles.

Meantime, concussions more than doubled, from five each in 1997 and 1998 to 11 last year.

The Times survey also showed that teams playing home games on artificial turf were more likely to sustain injuries, though the NFL maintains there is no scientific evidence to back that claim.

In addition, the most successful teams tended to have fewer injuries than struggling teams, according to the Times.

For instance, the Super Bowl-bound St. Louis Rams tied for eighth place on the injury list in 1998, but had the second fewest in 1999. Three of this year's four finalists -- the Rams, Tennessee Titans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- were among the 12 least-injured teams.

The Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets and Denver Broncos -- three of the four finalists a year ago -- were among the most injured teams of 1999, according to the survey, and none made the playoffs.

'Priorities are wrong'

Despite Hoge's concussions in 1994, his drive to continue playing was strong. That is, until a force with even more power took hold.

"I remember laying on the couch, thinking how I could get back on the field," he recalls. Then Hoge's daughter, age 2 at the time, came over "and put her hand on my cheek." It was at that moment that the running back decided he should slow down.

"I was, like, priorities are wrong here," Hoge said. "Yeah, that's enough. And it actually stopped right there."