The NFL is doing it’s best to ensure that present and future football players are protected to the fullest extent they can. Many former football players are giving back in their own ways also and that mean donating the one thing that can be studied to see the effects the game has on them, the brain.
ESPN New York is reporting that former Jets, Cardinals, and Chiefs running back Thomas Jones will donate his brain to the Sports Legacy Institute so that it can be studied for CTE once he is deceased.
Jones spoke about why he is doing it, and what he hopes to accomplish. Jones also acknowledged that he is also working on a documentary series on head injuries and other issues faced by ex-players.
“Honestly, like I couldn’t give you a number because you just play with them,” said Jones, who last played in 2011. “You can’t know; nobody does. I think the guys counting the concussions were the ones that got knocked out.
“It’s like taking a fresh, ripe apple and tapping it with your thumb over and over again.”
“The fans look at it as money,” Jones said, “but once you’ve bought everything you want, you realize there is more you want out of life.”
Kudos to Jones who admitted he sometimes has trouble remembering a name of the person he just met, and is really scared of developing CTE.