AP survey: Players hide, downplay concussions

Associated Press

Washington Redskins kick returner Rock Cartwright remembers his brain “shaking like a bell” when he was walloped in a game against the New York Giants a few years ago.

“You know how a bell vibrates? That’s how my brain was going at that time,” he said. “I think five minutes later, I came back to myself. I went back out there and played football.”

What Cartwright never did when the hit happened? He never told Washington’s medical staff his head ached.

He’s not alone. Thirty of 160 NFL players surveyed by The Associated Press from Nov. 2-15 replied that they have hidden or played down the effects of a concussion.

The AP embarked on the most extensive series of interviews about concussions since the subject became a major issue this season, talking to five players on each of the 32 teams — nearly 10 percent of the league — seeking out a mix of positions and NFL experience to get a cross-section of players. While not a scientific sampling, many of the players answered with startling candor.

“You get back up, and things are spinning,” Giants backup quarterback David Carr said, “but you don’t tell anyone.”

Now the NFL wants players to keep tabs on each other and tell their teams if they believe someone else has a head injury.

Told of the AP’s findings, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail that commissioner Roger Goodell spoke to NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith last week about “the importance of players reporting head injuries, no matter how minor they believe they might be. The commissioner said that process needs to include players observing and reporting to the team medical staff when a teammate shows symptoms of a concussion.”

What emerged from the AP’s interviews was a wide-ranging, unprecedented look at the way active players think about head injuries in a world where “getting dinged” and “seeing stars” — and the potential long-term effects of concussions — are deemed a frightening but perhaps inevitable consequence of their job.

“Part of the game,” Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend said.

Indeed it is. In recent weeks, high-profile players Brian Westbrook of the Philadelphia Eagles and Clinton Portis of the Redskins — neither of whom was surveyed by the AP — have been sidelined by concussions. Westbrook missed two games, then returned Sunday, only to leave in the second half with another concussion.

The NFL says its data shows an average of one reported concussion every other game — about 120 to 130 concussions per regular season.

Of the 160 players interviewed by the AP, half said they’ve had at least one concussion playing football; 61 said they missed playing time because of the injury.