Jim K. Transcript

Hi, my name is Jim Kovach. I’m a former NFL player who would like to submit a Concussion Box story to help build the dataset of individuals out there who have suffered concussions and create a database to provide assistance to those and kind of some uniform aspect to this highly variable condition, these traumatic brain injuries that can be suffered, in my case in sports, but bike riding, and, you know, falls, out in the community. 

So my concussions occurred in the mid to late 70s, and 80s. I played in the NFL in the 80s, college football before that. It was at a time where, you know, the double sessions and activity really demanded a lot of hitting all the time. It was back in the days before the science around it started to develop. Interestingly, I was in medical school, when I played in the NFL, I’d go back to medical school, the University of Kentucky, so I was halftime a doctor and training and halftime an NFL player. And even then with that background, I really had, as I look back on it now, kind of a simplistic view, like we all did have about concussions, or at least most of us had that simplistic view. 

I remember we trained in Vero Beach, Florida. And we had two days and a lot, a lot of contact for the New Orleans Saints. And I remember I used to call it getting my head in shape, because I would have a lot of the symptoms that I know now are concussions. I mean back when in the 70s and 80s, it was like you had to be unconscious to get a concussion. We know that that’s not true now. But I used to have these headaches with temporal artery, looks like bang, bang, bang, just throbbing. Especially for that second session, you know, because you’d have the morning sessions, you’d hit for two hours, come back, eat lunch, lay down for an hour, get back and do it again. In 93 degree heat and Vero Beach. You know, the sensitivity to light and noise, sluggishness, a little bit of balance problems. I mean, yeah, those were concussions, and I was getting them all the time. And, you know, I basically didn’t do anything about it. So when I think of a concussion, the ones I had, where I had some semblance of, not losing consciousness altogether, never did that. But basically, feeling unsteady, kind of vertigo sort of environment, was a couple of times in games. And there, basically, I was pulled out of the game just because I couldn’t call the signals anymore. One was against the Chicago Bears and Walter Payton, trying to chase him around, tackle him. He had a fullback from Penn State, Matt Suey was this fullback. And this caught me looking in another direction, was the kind of the worst time because the head kind of whips back and forth. This coup contrecoup is what it’s called force that really, really kind of put me out. And, tragically, my mother, who was a nurse was in the sidelines. I grew up in Cleveland, so they drove down to see the game. And it was one of many where she saw me get hurt, unfortunately. It was a great sport, football, I really loved it. And all of us did, who played it. 

But yeah, so now that I, you know, continue to be a physician and work at UC Davis Health. And in the school of medicine health system, this passion that I have to try to assist how I can primarily through research and trying to identify new technologies could that could be used to minimize concussion risks or to enhance the individualized therapies. Basically, rest is the primary one, to this variable disease to try to create a database that could serve as a resource. 

That’s why I’m excited about Concussion Box. It’s the idea of basically creating these stories and then annotating them and creating kind of a database that could be used to offer guidance is a very futuristic and exciting prospect. And so, that drew my attention to it because it’s kind of a novel approach to this kind of crowdsourcing, I guess, with concussion experiences. 

And so I think that things have changed now. A lot less hitting, you know, you look at the Guardian Caps that are now being used, at least in double sessions now. They basically go over the helmet. It’s kind of an odd looking cushiony sort of spongy sort of look that has mixed reviews, but the data suggests that it’s really reducing concussions that are least reported. And one thing about research though, you have to kind of think well, is it the Guardian Cap hat, or is the cap basically altering the way the players are playing together? Or are the practices changing? I know they’re changing. So that may have something to do. There’s just not as much contact thankfully, as there was when I was playing. And that’s the beauty of research is to statistically try to take all those components into effect into consideration and really learn what it is that’s cause and effect, what is what is what is leading to changes and hopefully in the right direction are reducing concussions. And then importantly, trying to identify more individualized therapies and techniques to bring people back safely to the playing field. Anyways, kudos to Concussion Box and that’s my story. Jim Kovatch, former 49er and New Orleans Saint and currently working with UC Davis Health. Thanks for the opportunity to share.