As this disease takes more and more control of my brain and all I can do is live with whatever the effects are that I am left with I am on a mission to use every last bit of my remaining good brain to save the healthy brains of our youths. It is for nothing other than a lack of education and understanding that their young brains are suffering unnecessary, repeated, sub-concussive hits without the proper rest and time to heal. You see when I was growing up we had an excuse, we didn’t have the knowledge. Today there is NO excuse! We have the knowledge. We have ME. I am living proof that this is real. This is not an NFL, NHL, NCAA, or any other professional sport problem. This is the direct result of being an athlete that ignored the signs to no fault of anyone at the time. We all “shook it off” and got back in there and played. It was the thing to do. Unfortunately, that mentality still exist today and I will do all I can until my brain tells me I can’t anymore to teach not only parents to watch out for their children but to teach kids to really listen to their bodies. They need to be better teammates. A great teammate and brother is not the one that grabs the best player that is unstable on his feet and wobbly and brings him back to the huddle so we can win the game. A great teammate and brother is the one that accepts the fact that we might not win the game without this injured player but his brain and his long term health and life mean a lot more than this one game and play so he stops the game to get that player help. That is my wish. That we get a culture of players in all sports that will give the brain as much importance as an ACL and an MCL, a Hamstring, or a Rotator. When we can get an entire generation to forego a high five and a celebration to take a knee so an injured player can get tended to before the next play. That is when my wish will have been granted. This isn’t about me. This is about our future. Kids are getting too big, too fast, and too strong. If we don’t change their thinking it doesn’t matter what we do with the equipment, the brain and skull aren’t equipped for high speed impacts.
I am sick and tired of seeing my brothers and sisters in blue taking their lives. PTSD is something that we need to start recognizing, treating, and maintaining the mental health of all first responders in this country. The stresses and traumas seen on a daily basis are real and often taken home with the first responder. I want to give them all a resource to turn to when they feel like there is no hope. The correlation between CTE & PTSD are so similar that I couldn't want to help one and not the other.
