Sportsfrog.com

Some interesting comments from Wayne Chrebet, regarding Jon Kitna’s miraculous return to the field last Sunday in the Lions’ week two win over Minnesota.

“I don’t think it was right,” Chrebet said yesterday during a conference call with reporters. He added: “I saw his eyes on the sideline and I know that look because I’ve seen it on my eyes and other players’. I disagree with what they did. I’m sure he wanted to go back in, and I’m sure he told them that. But I think they have to look at the best interest of the player.”

The story is an interesting one. Kitna’s comments indicate that perhaps he didn’t actually suffer a concussion. That’s hard to say, though. The bottom line is that we still know so little about all this. Chrebet’s above comments and throughout the article sound like he’s coming from a very subjective, one-sided point of view. And there’s the whole debate that these are paid professionals who choose to do this, etc.


Chrebet’s comments on younger players, however, are indisputably right on:

“High school kids, I don’t think are mature enough to make decisions like that for themselves, in my opinion,” he said. “I think if a high school kid has a head trauma or a concussion, something like that, I don’t think that their input should matter. The doctors just need to shut that down. Because I don’t think a high school kid can make that decision for himself or to have any influence whatsoever to make that decision.”

And in speaking of high school football concussions, the NY Times ran a great piece last weekend about that very story that is worth a look to see how the actions of these pros are effecting the mindset of youth athletes.