Colorado Avalanche: Facing Concussions in Modern Hockey

Oct 4, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos strong safety David Bruton (30) and Denver Broncos linebacker Shane Ray (56) tackles Minnesota Vikings running back Jerick McKinnon (31) in the fourth quarter at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos defeated the Vikings 23-20. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Linebacker Duties in the NHL

And being truthful after digging into it some? It’s pretty hard to tell. Imagine you’re a middle linebacker in the NFL. Your job is to throw yourself into violent collisions against the humongous player opposite you in an effort to maul the opposing quarterback behind him. You do this for a high percentage of plays.

Doing this, you’re going to knock your helmet against your opposition in violent variations several dozen times during each contest, every week, for however many weeks your team can stay in the hunt.

Maybe the worst brain traumas are indeed the cringe-worthy ones from the big collision variety:

Those certainly can’t be very good to a player’s brain either. So, how DID we arrive at this 96%? Was it lots of small injuries or several really bad ones that disfigure a person’s brain? Already, the landscape around concussions raises more questions than answers.

We need to keep digging.

Next: What's CTE?