Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 SEPT. 18, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED J oe Schmidt was fully aware that the scary pros- pect of concussions and their potential long-term ef- fects were a real part of foot- ball during his playing days a few years ago at Notre Dame. But like so many current Irish players and former teammates, Schmidt wasn't always comfortable speaking of — or even thinking about — the subject. "We joke about it because it's all you can do," Schmidt said. A senior captain, reign- ing team MVP and starting middle linebacker in 2015, Schmidt was there when multiple concussions drove former Notre Dame standout wide receiver Corey Robinson into early football retirement. Schmidt was also a former team- mate of another wide receiver, Torii Hunter Jr., who missed some playing time in 2016 while undergoing con- cussion protocol. Hunter has since ditched a promising football career in favor of professional baseball, and is working his way through the Los An- geles Angels' minor league system. Even Schmidt, who enjoys a suc- cessful finance career with a venture capital firm near San Francisco, ad- mitted that his long-term health was an overriding concern into not chas- ing his lifelong NFL dream. "That was a huge part of it," Schmidt explained. The rash of early retirements from football at all levels represents a per- vasive change in player attitude from the NFL and college right down to high school and youth leagues, with the ongoing studies of Chronic Trau- matic Encephalopathy (CTE) bring- ing light to the seriousness of concus- sions in sports. CTE is a degenerative brain disease found in people who have suffered repeated blows to the head. Its symp- toms can evolve from confusion and dizziness to depression and dementia. "There is so much we don't know, and it makes this a really hard sub- ject," Schmidt said. "It's why more research has to be done. It's hard for people to talk about because it's such a real thing." Schmidt admitted to having his "bell rung" a couple of times during college ball, and he praised the Notre Dame trainers and doctors for taking no shortcuts to assessing their players, no matter how all the guys insisted to feeling fine and wanting to play. "There's an old saying," Schmidt joked, "you can't make the club in the tub." With the increased national focus on concussions and the dangers of CTE, more and more NFL and college players are taking no chances and calling it quits, if only temporarily. Irish senior lineman Daniel Cage is sitting out this season in part because of concussions suffered last season. His return to the team in 2018 re- mains uncertain. And after suffering six concussions during an eight-year NFL career, for- mer Notre Dame safety David Bru- ton, 30, decided in July his playing career was over. "I'm a guy that likes to use his brain," Bruton said. "I've definitely had my time in the league, and I'm ready to move on." Former Irish All-American Dave Du- erson tragically suffered through some mental problems and committed sui- cide in 2011 at age 50. Brain tests later showed he suffered from CTE at the time of his death. Another former Irish defen- sive back, Gary Gray, filed a lawsuit last year against Notre Dame and the NCAA that is still pending. Gray claims neither institution did enough to prop- erly warn or protect him against the dangers of concussions. Senior Greer Martini holds down a linebacker spot for the Irish this season, arguably the fiercest hitting position on the field. And like Schmidt and so many others, Martini said that worry- ing about injury makes you only more prone to it happening. "It's hard to have that in the back of your mind if you want to go out and play a physical game, but obviously concus- sion is a concern," he explained. "We're smart enough as a team that no one ever judges anyone for sitting out for concussion because it's a seri- ous thing." As more attention is given to concus- sions and CTE, the medical and tech- nological advancements are moving just as quickly as the study findings. At Virginia Tech, each time a foot- ball player suffers a "high-level hit" to the head of at least 98 Gs, a censor in the helmet notifies the team physi- cian through beeper and the player is flagged for evaluation. At the University of Washington, technology is being developed that will use a smartphone's video camera, flash and an app to check and measure a flagged player's eyes for pupillary light reflex, an important vision metric when assessing a possible concussion. Technology and study are both es- sential tools in this field of CTE and concussion prevention. "But right now," Schmidt said, "there still is really no way to look at the brain and see if there is anything wrong with it." ✦ Irish Not Immune To Concussion Repercussions UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com Senior defensive lineman Daniel Cage is sitting out this season in part because of concussions he suffered last year, and his status for 2018 remains in doubt. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA