The short answer is yes; there is a connection between the position a football player holds and concussion. But there’s more to the story. There is a connection between college football players and concussions – period. The study showed there is only a one in seven chance that college football players will report concussion symptoms.

As I’ve written in previous posts, concussions are among the most common injuries to children. In fact, the number of emergency room visits for sports related head injuries in young people has increased by 62 percent in the last decade.

So how can parents help their children recover after a concussion?

Did you know that serious blows to the head happen every eight seconds? Even though they happen all the time, brain injuries are invisible to the naked eye. Or at least, they have been. But there’s some interesting news on

That’s a good question. You may have asked it yourself after reading the September 29, 2014, Time Magazine cover story, “He Died Playing This Game: Is Football Worth it?”

The article described the tragic death of a 16 year-old boy who died after suffering a traumatic brain injury while playing football last year. The story also cited the recent NFL court filing in which it was predicted that nearly one third of former players will develop dementia, Alzheimer’s disease or other debilitating neurologic disorders. Combine that with the violent criminal behavior exhibited by some professional athletes of late, and the NFL’s woeful response and you’re left with the same question. Is football worth it?

The University of Texas football fans got some bad news last week. During a press conference, Coach Strong revealed that quarterback David Ash had made the decision to retire from football. The reason? Multiple concussions.

Ash has repeatedly suffered head injuries. The most recent was during the season opening game against North Texas. But his problems with head injuries began long before that. In fact, concussion kept him out of play for most of last year’s games. According to Coach Strong, Ash had recently consulted with the UT medical staff, and all concurred that retirement from football would be the best option.

Did you know that last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), emergency rooms around the country treated more than 170,000 sports-related brain injuries, including concussions involving young players? And that number doesn’t count the ones who didn’t go to an emergency room.

Concussions are far too common. They are a serious brain injury. We’re learning more all the time about the consequences of ignoring them. Just last week it was reported that one in three retired NFL players is expected to develop long-term cognitive problems earlier than the general population. They’re talking about problems like Alzheimer’s and dementia.

In a great article published last month in Forbes, Chris Smith took an in-depth look at the concussion helmet backstory. Specifically, Smith posed a question about whether better head protection could help solve the NFL’s concussion problem.

As all football fans are aware, head injuries in the NFL have prompted concern and criticism; also a law suit that ended up in a $765 million settlement on behalf of thousands of NFL players. The concussion crisis, as it’s now being called, has prompted a great deal of interest in the development, testing and manufacturing of football helmets designed to provide better protection for players.