Bengals owner Mike Brown on concussions: “I can still count to 10″

Concussions have become the focal point of NFL safety. Recently it has become more commonly known that concussions do not actually end when the symptoms do. Damage to the brain can last years or even decades, and cause motor pathways to waste away.

In light of this, owners have had to spend extra money to ensure their players’ protection, far more than when Brown was a player. That’s not to mention how much the league is losing in courtrooms.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Brown said, “I’m for doing everything we can to protect the players.”

(But)

“This is not proved at all and yet we are besieged by it in the media and in the courts.”

Brown is not exactly wrong. Long standing brain damage in relation to concussions has not been proven, per say. But it looks like a safe bet that it will be soon.

After incidents with NFL players and concussions Brown should tread lightly around the topic. It is certainly a sore spot.

Players like Mitch White live in a post-concussion world. One that reportedly causes White to lose his ability to speak, move or think. Last September White took up a lawsuit with the NFL.

“I don’t hate the N.F.L.,” White said in September. “I love the sport. I in no way want to damage the league. I just thought I’d get better eventually. I had no idea this could be for the rest of your life. That this will affect you, your family, your wife.

“I expected to be hurt. I knew there was a possibility I could be paralyzed. Did I know I could get brain injury and be like this? No. I couldn’t fathom that happening.”

Even after claims like this, Mike Brown isn’t buying in.

“I’ve had my share of concussions and I can still count to 10,” Brown told reporters.

“Those sorts of things were part of sports in my era, and it still is.”

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