Gary Plummer, Junior Seau's teammate from 1990-1993, believes that although there were no reports of Seau suffering a concussion, the future Hall of Famer may have suffered over 1,500 during his 20 year career.
In the 1990s, I did a concussion seminar," said Plummer speaking to the San Jose Mercury News. They said a Grade 3 concussion meant you were knocked out, and a Grade 1 meant you were seeing stars after a hit, which made me burst out in laughter, Plummer told Inman. As a middle linebacker in the NFL, if you don't have five of these (Grade 1 effects) each game, you were inactive the next game.
Junior played for 20 years. That's five concussions a game, easily. How many in his career then? That's over 1,500 concussions. I know that's startling, but I know it's true. I had over 1,000 in my 15 years. I felt the effects of it. I felt depression going on throughout my divorce. Junior went through it with his divorce.
Many have speculated that head traumas suffered during Seau's career may have contributed to his death.Seau's family has decided to let researchers examine his brainfor signs for evidence of damage resulting from football-related concussions.