Richard Sherman’s Story

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Most Sundays during football season, I see teammates and opponents get concussions. It’s just a part of the game. Football is a violent sport and there is always the risk that someone is going to get hurt. I have a few more years left to play the game and don’t want to cut short my time with the sport I love, so I keep on playing.

My second and last concussion occurred in 2011 while playing for the Seattle Seahawks. It was my first season with the NFL and I had to prove that I was so much more than a fifth round pick. Back then I was willing to take my chances to make a name for myself. In a game against the Bengals I did what I shouldn’t have and led with my head -- getting into a situation; 260-pound fullback Chris Pressley’s right knee connected with my temple, flipping my head over. My vision was blurred, but I acted like nothing happened and continued to play the game half-blind. It was minutes later, as my head started to clear, that I came up with my first career interception and I became part of the “Legion of Boom.”

Yes, my first major accomplishment with the NFL happened while I was concussed. But it didn’t take me long to realize that preserving my brain would be essential to any long-term commitment to playing professional ball.

I truly care about player safety and the future of the great sport of football. In addition to keeping myself safe in the remaining years of my career, I also want to reach out to all athletes in contact sports, professional and those still in school, about the importance of keeping their heads intact.

I became an advisor to Oxeia to contribute to an action that could change the face of how concussions are treated. Wouldn’t it be great if football players, hockey players and boxers, among others, could play their sport without the constant worry of repercussions from getting walloped in the head? Oxeia’s progress toward the delivery of a treatment for concussions fills me with great excitement about the future of sports.