4 hours ago
AJ Long has watched the play at least 300 times. Handing the ball off, carrying out a fake and getting hit in the head by a defensive end. During last Wednesday’s practice, a “thud” session in which players only wore shorts, helmets and shoulder pads, the sequence that ended Long’s football career lasted no more than five seconds.
“Just over and over and over,” he said.
The next morning, Long woke up and thought it was still Wednesday. He couldn’t remember anything that had happened the day before. He stood up and started seeing white spots as his head began to throb.