Unless you live in a cave, you have probably seen the hits that lead to Tim Tebow suffering a concussion two weeks ago against Kentucky. Tebow actually took two hits to the head on the play, the one pictured to the right, and another to the back of the head when he hit the leg of his own lineman. Tebow was knocked unconscious and spent the night in a Kentucky hospital. The raging debate this week is whether or not Tebow should play against LSU Saturday night. Many times, commentators refer to a concussion as someone having "their bell rung." Well, that does not really describe what a concussion is, and the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) discourages the use of words such as "ding" and "bell rung". According to Arnheim and Prentice, a concussion, also know as a traumatic brain injury (TBI), is defined as "a clinical syndrome characterized by immediate and transient posttraumatic impairment of neural functions-such as alterations of consciousness, disturbance of vision, loss of equillibrium, etc., due to brain stem involvement." The majority of concussions do not involve loss of consciousness, but Tebow's did. Now, Tebow will undergo numerous tests to measure his cognitive function, equillibrium, physchological function, etc., to determine if he can play. These scores will be compared to baseline scores taken before the season started. If he passes all these tests and scans of his brain come back normal, he will likely be cleared to play. I do believe the medical staff at Florida will not clear him to play unless he passes all of these tests. The next question is, should he play, even if he is cleared? While there has been some good research done on concussions, the long term affects are still unknown. It will be a tough decision, and one I am glad I don't have to make.
