Within the past few years, the spotlight surrounding concussions has increased incredibly. More research is being done, more tests are being run, and more people are talking about it. This is good, and I believe that it is very, very necessary.

In high school, I was a three-sport varsity athlete. This may seem all glamorous, but in reality, it kind of ruined my life. Although my love for the three games (soccer, basketball, and softball) is like no other, the physicality of them is just brutal. I'm a tough person, but being pushed around every day (I guess it doesn't help that I'm only 5 feet) wasn't fun. Being diagnosed with three severe concussions and having other blows to the head wasn't fun either.

There is no way to explain the emotional, physical, and mental pain that is associated with concussions. The amount of doctor's visits I've been to, tears I've shed, medications I've been on, and pain I've felt is unimaginable. I have also dealt with post-concussion syndrome, anxiety, depression, OCD and insomnia because of these injuries. You will never know what it's like until you actually have one, two, or more. It is a very serious injury that should never, ever be taken lightly.

Sometimes I feel like this is the case.

The reason I write this article is because I'm worried. I'm worried specifically about football, but not just football. As a diehard sports fan, I watch almost every sport and have unfortunately witnessed seeing too many hits to the head, no matter if it's at the high school level, college level, or professional level. In regards to football, I understand that the physicality of the sport makes this more prominent. In regards to soccer, I understand that headers are a part of the game. I'm just worried that hundreds and thousands of us who are affected by concussions are continuing to play after being diagnosed, and that's where the real damage comes in.

I'm guilty of this and I regret coming back to play. After receiving my first head injury, my recovery period was about four months. Then I went back to playing...and that's when I got another one. Four months is not a typical time period...it's usually much shorter; granted, every head injury is different, but, I really struggled. These days, athletes are coming back to play within days or even a short few weeks of being hit in the head. This is what really scares me. This gives absolutely no time for our brains to recover and process everything that's going on.

Ideally, in my opinion, after one concussion, people should stop playing contact sports. This will never happen, but I wish it was the case. After my first concussion, I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to get back out there; when sports are your life, you don't want to give them up. I get it. I just wish there was something we could do to never let concussions happen to anyone ever again.

My love for the game of football is immense. I watch game after game, no matter who's playing. As I've gotten older, I've paid more attention to the logistics of the game. When I was younger, all I understood was that a touchdown was when the offense (or defense with an interception) got into the end-zone; now, I get the game as a whole, and I love it.

Because of this, I've paid more attention to certain aspects of the game, with one of them being penalties, which in turn results in me paying a lot more attention to injuries. Certainly, not all injuries are a direct result of penalties, but a lot of them are: especially head injuries. With football, targeting (the head) has unfortunately become pretty prominent. There are yardage penalties for this, and sometimes a player can be ejected/fines can be enforced (fines are very rare), but that doesn't do enough for me. These hits need to be completely eradicated. I have seen so many wide receivers get absolutely pummeled by defensive players with their heads hitting one another, and quarterbacks being targeted in the head as well. This brings me to my next issue.

Without mentioning names, this year in particular, I have witnessed a certain quarterback have so many horrific, grueling blows to the head. I also know another quarterback who was recently medically disqualified due to the number of concussions he has received. I am so glad that there is a process that allows for an analyzation of concussions and a point where colleges have the right to disqualify athletes (although heartbreaking, it's necessary).

Regarding the first quarterback, he has had multiple helmet-to-helmet hits in every game he's played this season. These hits aren't "normal, part of the game hits." One was ruled as targeting, and the player who hit him was ejected. Many of the others, in my opinion, should've had the same outcome, but they didn't. For some reason that I don't understand why, the word "concussion" seems to be used very rarely in the college football world. This quarterback has no doubt had at least three this season (including one where he was literally knocked out laying face down on the turf), yet the team does not release that he actually has a "concussion"...just an "upper body injury." Seriously? Do you really think diagnosing the kid with a concussion and releasing that information to the public is a bad thing? Cleary the team does. He didn't have an upper body injury. He had a head injury. You don't get knocked unconscious and have an "upper body injury." Sure, your head is part of your upper body, but say "head injury." Unconsciousness is a symptom of a concussion. Why are we hiding this word from everyone? I don't understand. Teams say they're looking out for their players' best interests and health, but letting him go back in the SAME game is far from that player's best interest. It actually disgusts me and scares me to death. This should not be allowed. Period.

The same goes with the other quarterback who was medically disqualified. When I saw that news, I thought, "Since when has he had a concussion?" Policy states that after three, the player is not allowed to play anymore. Since when has he had three? The team had never released that this player had ANY concussions. ANY. Why?

I know why: because concussions are one of the most serious injuries a person can have and teams want to hide that information so that everything seems fine and perfect.

This brings me to my next problem. By now, a lot of people reading this article know who I'm talking about, but some still don't, and I'm going to keep it that way. This certain quarterback (not the one who was medically disqualified, the other one) has been pretty successful this year for a young player. This past week, he started and played throughout the entire game. The team struggled greatly throughout all four quarters, and by the time the clock hit "5:00" (minutes) left in the game, they were down by 31. Surely, a romping. With everything that has happened to this quarterback this season (head injuries, major hits), you would think that the coaching staff would say, "Okay, that's enough for today, we'll put our next string QB in to protect _______". Nope. Not what happened.

Instead, they left him in and the next thing you know, he's down on the ground writhing in pain with yet ANOTHER head injury. Still no "concussion" diagnosis given to the public six days later, just "upper body injury." Excuse my language but I'm calling absolute bullsh*t.

When the clock started winding down, I said to myself, "Take him out, Coach. Take him out. He doesn't need to be in there right now." Even everyone on Twitter was saying the same thing. Down 31. Why risk anything bad happening to your starting quarterback? Even if he hadn't had past head injuries, it makes sense to take out a starting QB when you're either up by a lot or down by a lot. It's the same thing in the NFL. Bill Belichick often scares me when my Patriots are winning by a very good amount and he doesn't sub Jimmy Garoppolo in (or at least doesn't do it until there's two minutes left). I understand that coaches want to keep a rhythm and get the kids as many reps as they can; however, there are certain situations where you just don't do that: like when your QB is one of the best in the league (hi TB12), or if they've sustained serious injuries that already limit them.

At the post-game coaches conference, the coach said that he deeply regretted leaving his QB in. He is quoted saying, "The reason I kept ______ in the game is because we were still fighting to get down the field to see if we could get a couple more touchdowns and try to make it a great comeback-type situation."

This absolutely BLEW MY MIND.

This is a FOOTBALL COACH who hopefully knows the game very well (even though I beg to differ with the way he "coaches" but that's besides the point). There were five minutes left in the game, you were down 31, and you thought you would come back? Seriously? This is so irrational and so incredibly irresponsible. I am baffled. The reaction to this on Twitter was similar. People were enraged that he'd say something like this and try to justify leaving his very vulnerable quarterback in when there was absolutely no point in doing so.

In my opinion, this quarterback should not be playing football anymore due to the hits I've seen him get just this season. He will not be playing this weekend either due to an "upper body injury." The "concussion" word or "head injury" was still not used in the official injury report released by the team. The same goes for all injuries. It seems all too often that the injury reports just say "upper body injury" or "lower body injury." Thanks for the help, that's real specific.

I just don't understand why teams think it's okay to hide concussions. Take care of your athletes, respect their best interests and do what's right. Too many people these days are suffering from diseases and illnesses due to the amount of concussions they've received and the fact that they continue to play after they've gotten multiple. This is very prominent in football.

Many times, the athletes hide their symptoms because they don't want to be told that they can't play or that they have to sit out. I'm guilty of this. There have been too many games I've played with a straight up migraine, dizziness, or other symptoms. When you play a sport you love, you'll play through the pain. However, this is the worst possible thing you can do and now, I deeply regret doing it. I was forced to stop playing soccer and basketball; I could not experience my junior and senior year seasons. It was devastating...arguably the worst times of my life. But, you have to look at this way: do you want to sacrifice the rest of your life for a few games? If you do, you should probably re-evaluate things. For those of you who have had to give up sports you love because of concussions, please know that I am so sorry and I know exactly how that feels.

Overall, concussions scare the absolute sh*t out of me. This is probably because I constantly watch sports so I see them all the time. I myself have had my life turned completely upside down due to them, and my brother and other family members have also suffered very seriously from them. I pray that in the future, more people recognize their symptoms and say something about them. Nothing will ever get better by ignoring symptoms and letting them get progressively worse.

Please, please, please: be careful. Listen to your body. Otherwise, you're really going to regret it. Trust me. Take it from someone who suffers from multiple different illnesses because of these injuries.

My wish is that concussions are completely eradicated from sports, but I don't ever see that happening. Things are only getting more physical, more demanding and more serious. In the future, I hope that teams start being more responsible for the health of their players. Sure, athletes can lie about their symptoms -- I know that -- but if you watch these hits that they're taking, there's no way their bodies are actually okay.

One game when the quarterback came back in after being looked at in the locker room (after an awful helmet-to-helmet hit), he threw two interceptions. This is completely unlike him, which proves that either his vision was off, he wasn't feeling well, or something else relating to his hit that he'd taken. I'm not saying that all interceptions are caused because QBs have concussions...I'm saying that his rhythm and typical demeanor on the field were completely off after he returned from the locker room.

This is such a serious issue that needs to be changed immediately.

xoxo,

A very concerned student/athlete/friend/multiple concussion survivor