Caution: Danger zone with concussions

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Joe Goddard

Updated: February 20, 2012 8:39AM

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn got dinged big time playing quarterback for Hinsdale’s St. Isaac Jogues five decades ago. He wasn’t sure what to do until he heard a referee say, “Get up! Get up! Get up!”

He got up, but it wasn’t easy.

“I never saw the guy who hit me,” Quinn told the Chicago Tribune. “I was flat on my back. I don’t know if I got a concussion, but I really got leveled.”

Quinn was in position to do something about recognition and treatment of concussions in July when he signed a law requiring Illinois student-athletes showing concussion symptoms to get medical approval before resuming play.

“It’s very important that we understand that concussions aren’t just treated by spitting a little tobacco juice on it and going on,” Quinn said at the press conference. “For a long time we did not have a requirement you wear a seat belt in your car. Then we passed a law making it mandatory. The law changed the culture.”

A few weeks ago, Sports Illustrated surveyed the 1986 NFL Cincinnati Bengals to see if any of those veterans had long-term problems from football. Sure enough, postconcussion symptoms like dizziness and memory lapses led the list ahead of knee and shoulder surgeries.

Testimonies:

Wide receiver Eddie Brown: “If my barber asks me to turn my head I have to move my entire body.”

Safety David Fulcher: “When I sneeze I have floaters in front of my eyes. I can’t nod my head to music.”

Linebacker Kiki DeAyala: “Every practice felt like you had a concussion. We didn’t know.”

Cornerback Barney Bussey: “Back then you’d play a whole game with stars in your eyes.”

Linebacker Emmanuel King: “I’m positive I suffered numerous concussions, but I never had one diagnosed.”

Quarterback Boomer Esiason had three diagnosed concussions in 187 games: “I sometimes forget if I’d had pizza or turkey burger the night before, but otherwise I’ve been fine.”

Kicker Jim Beech: “We knew guys were not right when they were sent back into a game from someone saying, ‘You got three fingers up? You can play. You’re fine.’ ”

Linebacker Reggie Williams: “A doctor once told me I was OK even though I’d suffered a broken face in the first half. I blew my nose to start the second half and my eye blew up like a balloon.”

Receiver Rick Martin said memory lapses still get in his way as a high-school coach. “I was reciting the Lord’s Prayer before a game two years ago,” he said. “Twice I spoke gibberish when I got to the sentence ‘forgive us our trespasses.’ I told the players, ‘Hey, pick me up here.’ ‘’

Rick Telander of the Sun-Times concluded from lengthy studies that helmets are not designed to prevent concussions, but to stop skull fractures.

“The brain is jelly that slams against the side of the skull,” he wrote. “We’re talking about an amazing and complex organ that is not well-designed for blitzes and blindside hits. Danger is danger. Risk is risk.”

Time Magazine reported a neurologist as saying, “The immature brain is still developing. A child’s brain is like a ship en route to somewhere. A concussion can blow it off course.”

Experts say it’s up to neurologists, trainers and coaches to recognize concussion symptoms.

Moms and dads, too. If your kid is acting goofier than usual, have him recite the Lord’s Prayer. He’s all right if he gets through “forgive us our trespasses,” but if he can’t count how many fingers you’re holding up, sit him down.