Tim Tebow concussion

Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Florida Gators football team , located at the University of Florida in Gainesville suffered a concussion in the third quarter of the game against Kentucky on Saturday Sept 26, according to media reports.

Tim Tebow, a Heisman Trophy-wining American football quarterback, is the first college football player to both rush and pass for 20 touchdowns in a season, according to wikipedia.

In the game against Kentucy, Tebow, although experiencing a respiratory illness, ran for two touchdowns and threw for a another touchdown. Unfortunately "late in the third quarter, he was hit in the chest by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham; his head snapped, then hit the ground while falling by knee of Florida tackle Marcus Gilbert," wikipedia states.

Right after the impact, he briefly displayed a signature fencing response with his left arm indicating that a concussion had occured.

Tebow was moved to the sidelines and started vomiting, further indicating some brain injury. He lost consciousness for a few minutes and was taken by ambulance to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center in Lexington, KY for treatment.

UF coach Urban Meyer spent the night at the hospital with Tebow and said later that his quarterback performed well in the tests.  Meyer was cited by sportingnews.com as saying that "His CT scans came back and indicated that Tim suffered a concussion.  Other news outlets report that the concussion is mild because no bleeding was found in the brain.

Tebowzone.com said on Sept 28,  that Tebow was back in Gainesville after spending one night at the hospital in Kentucky. The concussion he suffered is characterized by his parents and cited by the news site as "mild" or "normal", meaning that he is likely to stay out of the game field for 2 to 3 weeks.
 
Concussions occur to football players so commonly that the athletes take it as part of the game. The NFL estimates that there's one concussion at every other game, or between 100-150 players each season, foodconsumer.org reported early this week.

The brain injury, mild or severe, is expected to raise risk for a myriad of health conditions after they retire, including Alzheimer's disease, depression and joint problems among others.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes some information on traumatic brain injury on its website to remind athletes, coaches and parents of the risk of concussion.

All concussions are serious brain injuries and can occur in any sport. They can take place without loss of consciousness, the CDC says on its site. 

Concussion symptoms include headache, nausea or vomiting, balance problems or dizziiness, double or blurry vision, sensitivity to light and or noise, feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy or groggy, concentration or memory problems and confusion.

By David Liu davidl at foodconsumer dot org

edited by Rachel Stockton