Myles Garrett may be ushering in a new era of NFL players who think about their future when it comes to concussions.
The Cleveland Browns star defensive end said he was hesitant to report concussion symptoms after suffering a head injury in a Week 7 loss to the Tennessee Titans. However, after considering what it might mean for his future, Garrett did the right thing and brought the symptoms to his team's attention.
"It doesn’t really bother me what other people say, whether I’m being a man or not," Garrett said Tuesday after being cleared from concussion protocol, according to Nate Ulrich of the Beacon Journal. "I want to have kids one day, and I want to be able to take care of them how I see fit.
"I don't want to be constricted by my playing and how football has affected my mind. I’ll play through anything. I’ll play through my foot, my arm, anything that’s affecting me below my neck, because I can’t play around with my brain."
Garrett, who missed Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London, said he didn't experience any of the symptoms - which include loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, and nausea - during the game. Family members noticed he was acting oddly that night.
"I did (hesitate) because I really wanted to play," he said. "I didn’t want to have something like that be a hindrance to me or my team, so once I still felt it that second day, so on Tuesday, I really felt like I should say something.
"You can deal with a thumb or an arm or a back or a leg. But messing with your mind and allowing those kind of things to carry on, that can do harm for a long time."
