Green Optimistic about Return this Season

Trent Green suffered his second concussion in two years, his second grade 3 concussion.  That apparently, after initial tests, has not made Green decide to hang up the cleats.  He is optomistic about his return to the Miami Dolphins…this season.

Trent is encouraged by the tests that have been compared to last years hit that left him with a high level grade 3 concussion that sidelined him for most of the season.  Although this concussion is still too early to grade completely, it is appearing to be a low grade level 3.  Green was allowed to fly home after the incident, with his team, in fact he was back at the stadium after the game.

Initial results have Green feeling as though his return is possible, while HC Cam Cameron is taking the “wait and see” approach.

The question is, if cleared, should he return?  Taking out of conisderation that he would be coming back to a team that is so far removed from any real playoff contention that it is closer to first draft pick seeding, is risking a tertiary injury to the head worth it?

A study of high-school and college athletes revealed that an athlete with no prior history of head injury is 3.4 times likely to suffer a concussion during the course of play.  An athlete who has 1 previous concussion is 1.5 times more likely to suffer his second compared to a player with no history.  That number is relatively low.  However, it is the predisposition to a 3rd concussive injury that Trent Green needs to think about.

A person suffering two previous consussions is 10.6 times more likely to suffer a 3rd and that number goes higher when they are within the same season.

Only recently, within the last few years, has the NFL began studying the effects of low grade and high grade concussive incidents.  Factors that are known to effect the situation are age, recovery, and overall physical condition of the player.

Trent Green will obviously be told the numbers, his wife will be told the numbers, and the two of them will sit down and plan out a course of action for his future.

As a fan of Trent Green the man and Trent Green the player, I hope he decides to hang the cleats on the hook in his closet, allow memory to take the place of games on Sunday, and move on to his next stage of life.  His family and his children do not need to see him lying motionless on the field of play again….ever.