Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison has had several concussions over the course of his career and he is taking matters into his owns hands, or should I say into his helmet, to help prevent future ones.
The Associated Press reports Tuesday that the veteran linebacker said that he has been wearing extra padding made of Kevlar in his helmet for about a year now to help better deal with head collisions.
Harrison also admitted on Tuesday that he has suffered “double digit” concussions during his career and that he\’s never missed a game due to one.
According to the report, Harrison was the first NFL player to use CRT padding in his helmet and he claims that the quarter-inch buffer that the military grade material provides has helped reduce the number of postgame headaches that he has suffered from in the past.
The article also states that Harrison feels that the nuisance of the additional weight is tolerable considering the extra protection that it provides him. That is the ultimate meaning of, peace of mind.
Harrison fractured the orbital bone in his right eye in the week 4 loss to the Houston Texans last season and later explained on Twitter that the forehead pad in his helmet came down and hit him in the eye when he made contact with Texans tackle Duane Brown. It makes you wonder if that forehead pad was the extra padding that he talked about on Tuesday.
The eye injury ended up requiring surgery and Harrison was sidelined several weeks during his recovery as a result.
Regardless, whatever it takes to help prevent future concussions I am all for and I am sure that many other players in the league would sacrifice a little comfort if it means that they do not have to go through what several former players go through later in life because of concussions.
