Editor's Note: Story originally appeared in 2010.
Former Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas once was labeled the NFL's smartest defensive player.
He's now using his head unlike ever before.
Thomas, a victim of repeated concussions late in his career, is among 19 active or retired NFL players who agreed to donate their brains, upon their death, to a study on the effects of repeated head trauma on the nervous system. The announcement was made Monday by the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at the Boston University School of Medicine.
Brain trauma in sports is of growing concern due to the discovery of a neurodegenerative disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in recently deceased athletes, including Gerald Small, a Dolphins cornerback from 1978-83.
"I would like to make sure the game of football survives," said Thomas, 36, a Dolphin from 1996-2007 who was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs in September and is a free agent. "The scientific findings to date are clear that repetitive trauma to the head results in CTE in many athletes. I want to do my part to help the researchers understand this disease and to discover treatments and an eventual cure."
Chris Nowinski, who co-founded the Sports Legacy Institute to study such injuries, said Thomas needed no persuasion when they met for the first time last Tuesday in Palm Beach during the initial gathering of the Mackey/White Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, which brought together players and researchers.
"He was completely up to speed on our work," Nowinski said. "He had already decided to participate."
Other additions to a registry more than 250 strong include current Chicago Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer, Hall of Famers Mike Haynes and John Mackey, and former players Kyle Turley, Don Hasselbeck and Lofa Tatupu.
Nowinski acknowledged that the addition of Thomas, a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, brings attention to "concussion crisis" but said preventing ailments including dementia and depression in NFL players is only part of the focus. Three million play youth football.
"This is not just about professional athletes who may know there are risks to the game," Thomas said. "This is about making sure that the game is safe for all of those children."
As the spotlight shines on the Saints and Colts and Sunday's Super Bowl, Nowinski is at work in South Florida. On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is expected to announce a campaign for all 50 states to adopt legislation that would place restrictions on when players can return to youth sports after suffering head injuries.
Nowinski pointed to an eight-second YouTube clip called "Big Football Hit-Helmet to Helmet" in which two 8-year-olds in Texas run toward one another in a drill and ram each other helmet-first. One player ends up on the ground, writhing.
"That was sent to me by a parent who's a supporter of ours," Nowinski said.
"He said, 'Can you believe this?' It shows exactly what needs to be stamped out of football."
Nowinski is a former Harvard football player and World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler whose repeated concussions led him to co-found SLI, a nonprofit, in 2007. Since then, the NFL and players' union have devoted about $7 million on health-care expenses for retired players suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. This season, the NFL announced measures prohibiting players who have suffered a concussion from returning to play that day.
Thomas was a stocky fifth-round draft pick from Texas Tech in 1996 who made 1,106 tackles. Two years ago, coaches named him the NFL's smartest defensive player in an ESPN.com survey. But Thomas' latter seasons were marked by concussions.
Nowinski said the NFL is now "very receptive" to SLI's findings. Contrary to what some may assume, the issue is not one of bigger, stronger and faster players colliding with greater force, he said. The problem has existed for years. It just didn't have a name because there's no way to scan living players for CTE.
"The more people we get into this, the larger the problem appears," Nowinski said. "We still can't find an ex-player who doesn't have signs of CTE who played on the college or professional level. So we know it's more prevalent than we originally thought."
Small, who had interceptions in three consecutive playoff games to help Miami reach the 1983 Super Bowl, died quietly at age 52 in October 2008. Dr. Bennet Omalu examined Small's brain and found evidence of CTE.
James Hawkins, a teammate of Small's at San Jose State, said Small went into seclusion in his later years and died in his sleep in Sacramento, Calif., while living in his aunt's house. Hawkins is uncertain what caused Small's death.
"Once he was not playing, it was really, really tough on him," Hawkins said.
"His mother passed, but before his mother passed, she lost her house. He really went into somewhat of a depression. He was really a bodacious guy before."
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Chris Nowinski's Sports Legacy Institute issued a 10-point plan in October to make football safer. A summary:
1. Reevaluate how the game is practiced: More than 50 percent of hits occur outside of games. Youth teams should have full contact once a week.
2. Encourage mandatory brain trauma and concussion education for coaches, trainers, parents and athletes. Teach them the signs of a concussion and why it's important that players rest when suffering from one.
3. Reevaluate protective equipment including helmets and shoulder pads.
4. Develop better methods of concussion detection and diagnosis: The Centers for Disease Control provides free clipboards with concussion diagnosis protocols. Coaches could be required to carry them.
5. Develop better methods of concussion management: Returning too soon can result in extensive brain damage or death. Minimum return-to-play standards — including a visit to a medical professional — should be enforced at all levels.
6. Consider minimum medical resources: Requiring a trainer or doctor on the sideline should be considered in football.
7. Reevaluate techniques of tackling and blocking to minimize contact to the head.
8. Reevaluate the rules.
9. Reevaluate rule enforcement and the role of referees: The NCAA recently began suspending players for intentional helmet-to-helmet hits. Referees could eject players for illegal hits to the head and be trained to identify concussed players.
10. Reconsider the culture of the game: TV announcers could stop glorifying illegal hits. Children could stop being pressured to play through concussions.
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