UAB gets NFL grant to study concussions

UAB has received at $100,000 grant to aid their work to reduce the effects of concussions.

NFL Charities is awarding the university $100,000, to study a compound that might limit some of the side-effects of a concussion. A team of researchers with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is working on a drug that would help stop the body from doing more damage after a hit.

The effort hits close to home.

Woodlawn High School senior Willie Gates has been on the school's football team all four years and knows firsthand the damage a head on hit can do. He suffered a mild concussion last season.

"We hit head to head and I was just laying there and then I didn't know where I was. They took me to the side and was asking me how many numbers can you hold up," Gates said.

Willie was out of the game for two weeks with a sharp headache and pain. He says his neck hurt very badly.

His coach, Bruce Breland, has seen his share of concussions in his 20 years of coaching.

"I've had a couple that very likely the kid was so severe hurt that it [was] a possibility we [weren't] going to let him play again. It lasted and lingered that long," Breland said.

Now, if a player suffers from a concussion, he's seen by a trainer and possibly makes a trip to the hospital. 

Breland says the notion of the drug UAB is researching sounds promising, but says there are still factors to consider.

"The problem that you don't want to run into is it be a quick fix and players trying to get back too early," Breland said.

The NFL is dealing with growing numbers of players getting concussions, as well as long-term disabilities from those brain injuries.

The league is also facing a lawsuit filed by 2,000 former players.

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