NFL: Hang 'Em Up Troy

Troy Aikman on the sidelines after suffering his 10th career concussion -- Someone close to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman needs to send him a message now. It's time to walk away from the game gracefully or risk being carried away from it on a stretcher bound for the closest emergency room.

Aikman suffered his 10th career concussion in a 17-13 loss to the New York Giants on December 17th. So, why doesn't he just retire right here and now? Well, I can give you $7 million reasons why. If Aikman stays listed with the Cowboys in March of 2001, he'll receive a $7 million bonus. He hasn't been hit in the head enough to forget that.

But this isn't really about money, is it? Though I'm certainly no neurosurgeon, and hardly an expert on head injuries, I've seen my fair share. I'm an Emergency Medical Technician by trade and I've seen the instant effects from this type of an injury. I've also seen the long-term effects and those are much scarier. One thing I can't stand is when I hear an announcer say, "...he's suffered a mild concussion."

The truth is that there is absolutely nothing mild about it. Let me explain a littlebetter here. There are 3 common grades of concussions:

GRADE 1:Transient confusionNo loss of consciousness Concussion symptoms clear in less than 15 minutes

GRADE 2: Transient confusionNo loss of consciousnessabnormalities last longer than 15 minutes

GRADE 3:ANY loss of consciousness either brief (seconds) or prolonged (minutes)

Now, permanent brain damage can result from a single occurrence of Grade 1, or Grade 2concussions. So how can someone list some of these injuries as mild when the symptoms sometimes last for days? There have been more than a few players in the last few years who were smart enough to know when to quit. And, for a couple of them, the timing may still have been too late.

ESPN football analyst and former Steelers and Bears running back Merrill Hoge retired three games into the 1994 season after suffering his second concussion in a three week period. More than six years removed, Hoge stillsuffers from the effects of those injuries.

Former NFL QB Chris Miller spent three years away from the game after a series of concussions forced him to retire. He returned in 1999 as a backup for the Denver Broncos but was forced to retire once again after sustaining another head injury against the Oakland Raiders in a Monday night game on November 22nd of that year. I watched that game and Miller barely took a hit on the play that put him back on the sidelines. He was merely brushed.

As fans, we tend to live vicariously through our heroes and warriors on the football field. We want to believe that they're invincible and expect them to carry the torch every Sunday to victory.

Unfortunately, that's not reality. Football is a violent sport. These things happen. Maybe we, as fans, need to learn to let go as much as the players that get injured do.

Aikman has had a remarkable career. He's accomplished just about everything he can. He's a shoe-in for the Hall Of Fame. It's very rare to see a player ride off into the sunset clutching the Lombardi Trophy to end a brilliant career. John Elway was able to do that and I'm sure that image only fuels Aikman's desire to do the same. But there comes a time when you have to look at your future and if that future is in any way facing compromise, then it's time to bow out. I believe #8 is at that juncture now. I only hope he makes the healthy decision. His life depends on it.