‘I started crying. I lost my breath’: the long toll of concussions in college football

Traumatic brain injuries are common among young players, who are left dealing with them long after their athletic careers are over

The six-month stretch where I was both going through concussion-related symptoms and continuing to engage in football activities was the worst time of my life," former Vanderbilt offensive lineman John Jabo" Burrow told us by email of his time in college football.

That stretch came between spring practice in 2011, when he experienced what he considers to be an undiagnosed concussion, and the first game of that fall season, after which he chose to medically retire from a sport which is treated like a religion in the small city where he grew up.

Former players we spoke to for The End of College Football have been granted anonymity to protect them from reprisal and in accordance with academic research protocols and research ethics board requirements.