The NFL’s concussion protocol contains very clear steps for ensuring that a player has fully healed from a given brain injury. But the league has yet to develop a standard for determining whether a given player has had too many brain injuries.
As the five-year anniversary of the NFL’s unprecedented sensitivity to concussions approaches in October, some veteran players inevitably will confront the question of whether they have had so many that they should not risk another.
For Welker, it’s a possibility that the latest concussion will be his last one. But it’s too early to have that conversation. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, possible cutting-edge technologies will be used to determine the real damage to Welker’s brain and the prospects for future harm.
Regardless, Welker would be wise to tabulate his assets, examine his investments, and decide whether he’s got enough after taxes and a decade of whatever he has spent while playing in the NFL to make it for another 60 years or more without a football salary.
Otherwise, he may not have to worry about having enough money to cover him for another 60 years or more.