The effects of major Sporting injuries, are sometimes short-term, but many athletes suffer the effects of their injuries well after they've retired. In many cases well known athletes, have had their playing careers end prematurely due to major injury. The most common major injuries endured by athletes today are concussions, and major knee injuries. Chris Berman (www.espn.com)
             Major injuries happen in all sports, but are more common in Hockey and Football. Concussions happen all the time in these two sports, due to the intense contact involved. A concussion is a significant blow to the head that may result in unconsciousness. "The length of unconsciousness may relate to the severity of the concussion. Often the victim has no memory of the events preceding the injury or immediately after regaining consciousness, with worse injuries causing long periods of amnesia." (http://health.yahoo.com)
             Often the maximum memory loss occurs immediately after the injury with regaining of some memory functions as time passes. Complete memory recovery for the event may not occur. Bleeding into or around the brain can occur with any blow to the head.
             Troy Aikmen and Pat LaFontaine are two prominent athletes whose careers were ended due to repeated concussions. Troy Aikman was the Pro Bowl Quarterback, who led the Dallas Cowboys to 3 Super Bowl Championships. Troy was the Most Valuable Player in Super bowl XXVII. (http//dallascowboys.com) On April 8, 2001 Troy Aikman retired from the NFL after suffering the effects of his 9th concussion.
             Pat LaFontaine is a name anyone from Western New York should be familiar with. Pat played center for the Buffalo Sabres from 1991 until he left Buffalo in 1997.
             At the end of the 1996 season, Pat sustained his 6th career concussion. Buffalo Sabres doctors refused to clear Pat to play in the 1997 season, he was later traded to the New York Rangers, where he played in 30+ games before being th...