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Tony Dungy: Players hide concussions

Tony Dungy says the nature of a football player is to want to compete at all costs, and that players will hide concussions from team doctors if that’s what they have to do to get on the field.

And Dungy, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for three years, says he himself had that attitude as a player.

“I got two concussions that I remember while I was playing,” Dungy said today on The Dan Patrick Show. “You want to get back in the game. You don’t want to give up your spot.”

Dungy will lead the league’s new Player Advisory Forum, which will give players the opportunity to address their concerns to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on issues including health and safety. Dungy says teams are getting better at addressing issues related to concussions, and he said that the Colts implemented a new testing procedure last year that allows the team to establish whether players’ mental functions have been impaired by concussions.

“I think teams are doing a better job,” Dungy said.

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8 Responses to “Tony Dungy: Players hide concussions”
  1. Krow says: Nov 20, 2009 10:23 AM

    Players hide all sorts of injuries… not just concussions. I think it has something to do with making all those millions of dollars. Just a hunch…

  2. The Coop says: Nov 20, 2009 11:20 AM

    And the NFL isn’t exactly comprised of brain surgeons, rocket scientists and Rhodes scholars.
    It might be pretty difficult to identify concussions based on talking to a player.
    I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin.

  3. penguininbondage says: Nov 20, 2009 11:44 AM

    Dungy is Goodell’s fluffer. Period. Blame the players, real good reasoning.
    With the expert trainers and doctors every team has it should be very easy to detect a concussion.
    Though a player may be able to complete a sentence, even if hooked on ebonics, there are other indicators that a player cannot hide.
    A simple sidwalk humiliation test, like for drunk drivers, works just fine.

  4. nasheagles says: Nov 20, 2009 12:36 PM

    I played an entire game with no recollection until the final few minutes… was blacked out but perfectly conscious to everyone else…. played a great game

  5. RaiderChile says: Nov 20, 2009 1:20 PM

    Damn, Dungy is like Walt Disney (Walt finked on the commies) outting NFL players’ secrets.
    He will never coach again with all his releases of the players inner workings.
    Who could trust him after all of this?

  6. Empire Jones says: Nov 20, 2009 1:25 PM

    In unrelated news, players also hide mistresses and drug addictions.

  7. Gautam says: Nov 20, 2009 2:02 PM

    looking at how professional sports treat injured players as scrap, this is not surprising

  8. MasterShake says: Nov 21, 2009 12:05 AM

    Players also hide dead dogs and dogfighting rings. Maybe Dungy is a step behind on matters other than football????

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