Joseph Maroon, a neurosurgeon, began working for the Pittsburgh Steelers as a consulting doctor starting in 1977 and over 46 years has examined and treated stars from the notoriously hard-nosed dynasty, including the Hall of Famers Terry Bradshaw, Mean Joe Greene and Lynn Swann.
Many of them, he said, worry about the health of their brains because they played when concussions were viewed as “dings,” full-contact practices were common and the most violent hits were still permitted.
“Certainly, everyone who has participated at that level has some concern,” Maroon said last week in his office at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital.