CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Months later, the father mustered the strength to sort through what was left in his dead son’s bedroom. A Little League photo collage. Mardi Gras beads from that soccer tournament in New Orleans. And a typewritten personal essay tucked into a yellow folder, with a single word pen-carved into its plastic cover:
“Concussions.”
His son Curtis had written the paper for a college composition class in 2009, five years before his death. In it, Curtis recalled having been knocked unconscious three times in 14 years while playing soccer, twice after leaping to head the ball, only to — “WHAM” — collide with another player.