NFL players and experts quotations (Message Activities)

“You are supposed to be tough. You are supposed to play through pain. You are not supposed to cry. We are taught that early on in the game as kids. Tough sport. Brutal sport. It’s like the gladiator. People want to see the big hits. They wind up on Sports Center. And as a player, you don’t want to admit you are injured."   - Eric Dickerson

“I’m fortunate to have found out early, in 1990, just two years after I retired, that I have neurological damage. I try to manage it. I know what can trigger headaches and try to avoid it. I have short term memory problems, so I make a special effort to remember people and names. I have to work harder, but it’s important.”   - Harry Carson

“A study of 2,500 retired NFL players found that those who had at least three concussions during their careers had triple the risk of clinical depression as those who had no concussions. Those who recalled one or two concussions were 1 1/2 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression.”   - Dr. Kevin Guskiewicz 

“For some people, one concussion is enough—they are slow to recover and they should give up the sport. But most athletes recover in 7 to 10 days.”  - Dr. Robert Cantu

"You get a concussion, they've got to take you out of the game. So if you can hide it and conceal it as much as possible, you pay for it the next day, but you'll be able to ... stay in the game."   - Mike Sellers

"I've had times where I walked up to the line, where I know the play, but don't know what to do."  -  Tony Stewart

"If you get a little headache or something, you're not going to say anything. This is football, and everyone gets their heads rattled a little bit."  - Jamie Silva

"I don't want to come out of games. I always feel that's some kind of weakness. Somebody hits me and takes me out of the game, I feel weak. So if something happens, I take a minute to try to re-gather myself and then go back."  - Anthony Hargrove

"A lot of people think we're gladiators, but we're human beings. We get injured and we've got the rest of our lives to worry about. Playing football is like a vapor - it's here and it's gone - and you still have the rest of your life to live."   - Damien Woody