Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly was a ball of grinning, thumbs-up-flashing, chuckling energy when he spoke to reporters for the first time since his scary Thursday Night Football collision a month ago.
So his response to a reporter’s question about whether he had considered the long-term effects of his concussion, the second he has sustained in as many years, was jarring in juxtaposition.
“You’re a smart guy, and you understand what happens to guys with multiple concussions at 50, at ...” a reporter started.
“What happens to ‘em?” Kuechly said with a half-grin.
In March, the NFL’s top health and safety officer, Jeff Miller, publicly acknowledged for the first time that a link between football and neurodegenerative diseases such as CTE exists, and cited findings by Dr.