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Editor’s Note: Anthony Wilkerson has completed his college football career at Stanford and hopes to play in the NFL.
Concussions have been a dark cloud hovering over all levels of football for the past few years. They have come to the forefront of football and other sports thanks to media awareness. What was first thought to be minor headaches has emerged into a serious problem for athletes who play contact sports. Players have committed suicide as a result of concussions, since they have led to early-onset dementia, symptoms of Alzheimer’s and chronic traumatic encephalopathy caused by repeated hits to the head.
A lot of research is being done in this field to expand our knowledge of concussions and their effects. Many players are alarmed by the data but are not really sure what can be done, since head trauma is such a major part of football and other contact sports.
The first video above is a look into why football players still play football despite knowing the damage concussions can potentially cause. (Voiced by Anthony Wilkerson, who played football and studied traumatic brain injuries at Stanford University from 2010 to 2014.)
The second video below is focused more on one player: Chris Owusu, who played football at Stanford, as well, struggled with a few concussions during his collegiate career. Now a current NFL player, he looks back on his college football days and shares his story as to why he still plays football.
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