Lawrence wants others to know about concussions
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Blake Lawrence maintains a near-perfect GPA in marketing and will graduate in December, only 2 1/2 years into college.
School, he says, has always come easy.
“I want to keep it that way,” he said, “make sure my brain still works.”
Lawrence smiled, but he was being serious.
Four concussions in 18 months is nothing to joke about. That’s why Lawrence, a junior on the Nebraska football team, won’t play again.
When a normally jovial, goofy player finds himself standing motionless, staring at the ground 10 yards in front of him, it’s time for some soul-searching.
“I don’t care how many tackles I had or how many games I played,” Lawrence said. “I was able to wear a uniform and be a Husker.”
Now, he’ll finish his career — this season and next — on scholarship as a volunteer student assistant coach and begin work on his MBA.
Lawrence also wants to share his experiences with other players and help educate others — and himself — about the seriousness and ramifications of concussions.
“It is a risk, a risk we all take when we first start to play football,” Lawrence said. “I know there are a lot of players out there who’ve sustained more concussions than me and may not realize it.
“I think the awareness of the topic is increasing. There’s a lot more research being done, a lot more attention brought to concussions and protecting brain injuries.”
Lawrence has read studies about the long-term effects of concussions on former NFL players.
“But more recently there was a player who had never played in college, just high school football,” he said, “that when he died, they did a study on his brain and he had some serious brain damage.
“As more awareness is being brought to concussions and what not, I think we’re going to get a better understanding of what kind of risks people are taking when they step on the field.”
Lawrence said he’s physically fine, that he’s merely taking a precaution to prevent further damage. The concussions, though, have affected his emotions. He’s been hit in the same spot — his left frontal lobe, an area that affects emotions — each time.
“As far as emotionally,” he said, “I feel very out of it and kind of down.”
Lawrence, after suffering his third concussion in the spring, began wearing a special helmet designed to absorb hard hits. He said the helmet helped, that he took hits he normally wouldn’t have been able to.
But a series of hits in practice last Monday — an intense practice only two days after a 31-10 loss to Texas Tech — was too much for Lawrence to overcome.
The first hit came in a tackling drill, a hit that Lawrence delivered. Then came back-to-back hits — one with a running back, the other an offensive tackle — in the actual practice. Lawrence was “woozy and frustrated” but didn’t want to say anything. Teammate Mathew May, noticing Lawrence was “out of it,” convinced him otherwise.
Lawrence took off his pads for what turned out to be the last time, then talked to a trainer.
“I always wanted to save the last one for something big. Not a tackling drill on a Monday,” Lawrence said. “I wanted 85,000 people to say, ‘That was his last play.’ That was one of the hardest things for me. I called my dad and I said, ‘Dad, I didn’t even know it was my last day of football.’ That was the hardest thing for me.”
Lawrence said he’s thankful the coaches are allowing him the opportunity to stay with the team, that he, too, wants his Senior Day.
“You always hear that saying, ‘Play every play like it’s your last,’” he said. “I know what that feels like now, I guess.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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