Football players experience 200 lb. hits to the head

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Youth football players could soon be forced to sit on the sidelines to protect their health long term.    
    
Purdue researchers say football players can take as many as 1,100  hits to the head in one season.

Lafayette Jefferson High School senior remembers how some of those hits feel.

"I felt so bad at school that I needed to go home," said Henderson. "Otherwise, I felt like I would have thrown up or passed out or something."

That is how Henderson, a receiver, described one of his two concussions that he experienced playing football this season. After the hit, Henderson didn't remember much.

"It was pretty foggy," said Henderson. "I was pretty much just sitting there looking at my feet because it hurt too bad to look up at the bright lights."

Players like Henderson might not have to experience too many moments like that for much longer. Several groups worldwide, including the Purdue Neurotrauma Group, hope to implement a hit count to youth athletes even younger than Henderson.  

"As kids brains are developing, they're a lot more susceptible to injury," said Eric Nauman, a Mechanical Engineering professor at Purdue. "So, if you talk about somebody sustaining damage at the age of 10 versus 25, you might actually change the way their brain develops."

A hit count helmet tallies the number of blows a player receives to the head over the course of a game, or even a season.

How hard are some football players getting hit?

"The average that we saw in the first two seasons we were studying was about 20 G's," said Nauman.

He said a sneeze can measure about 4 G's and rollercoasters measure in at about 5.

A crushing hit in football is a different story.

"We saw 100 G hits all over the place," said Nauman. "A 100 G hit is roughly a 200-pound blow to the head."

A blow Nauman said young brains shouldn't have to repeatedly experience.

"I don't think a hit count by itself is quite enough," said Nauman. "But it's a start."

The Sports Legacy Institute hopes major youth sports groups adopt a hit count by next year.
    
Nauman said the biggest problem is oftentimes the cost, as one hit count helmet runs as much as $2,000.00