For any football player, it should be an easy decision.
After getting knocked senseless by a few concussions, you finally come to your senses about what really matters in life. And you hang up your helmet.
If only it were that easy.
For two Eastern Washington University players, leaving the game behind was the toughest decision of their lives. That they walked away at all says as much about changing attitudes as it does about Jordan Talley and Jordan Tonani, a pair of consummate student-athletes who have bright futures in the game of life.
In the last few years, the conversation about sports-related concussions has migrated from the locker room to the living room. Recently it was back in the public eye with the billion-dollar settlement for thousands of former National Football League players, and the sudden retirement – at age 24 – of star linebacker Chris Borland of the San Francisco 49ers.
Explaining a decision that will cost him millions of dollars, Borland told a national television audience, “I’m concerned that if you wait till you have symptoms, it’s too late.”
Washington State wide receiver Kristoff Williams retired from the game midway through his senior season last year after suffering his fourth concussion.
All of them cited studies that tie repetitive head trauma to brain damage, depression and memory loss. More than 70 former NFL players have been diagnosed with progressive neurological disease after their deaths.
On the other hand, a recent Mayo Clinic study found that players at the high school level and below face a risk little greater than had they played on the chess club.
To parents who hesitate to let their 10-year-old strap on a football helmet, Stanford University anesthesiologist Ed Riley says, “Let them play.”
“I understand the concerns and share them, but I have concluded those concerns are misplaced,” wrote Riley, the brother of Nebraska football coach Mike Riley, in a recent op-ed piece in The Spokesman-Review.
And the debate rages: When is it too late? And what is too many?
“There’s no magic number,” cautioned Brian Norton, head athletic trainer at Eastern Washington.
In other words, it depends – on the age of the player, the severity of each concussion, the opinion of doctors, the advice of loved ones.
And how much a player loves the game, with all its trappings.
Heeding the warning
A month ago, Jordan Talley was back where he belonged, carrying a football for Eastern Washington. He’d suffered a single concussion as a high school senior in 2010, then another as a running back for the Eagles early in 2012. He missed most of that season, suffering headaches and other concussion-related injuries.
A year later, the Eagles moved Talley to linebacker, partly to address a shortage at that position but also to give him a respite from the every-down hits at running back. He played defense for two seasons with no concussions, but longed to get back on offense.
He got his wish. Last winter, after his junior season, Talley was called into head coach Beau Baldwin’s office.
“He said, ‘I have an opportunity for you at running back,’ and of course I just jumped on it,” Talley said on April 2, the first day of spring ball.
With that, Talley bounded onto the red turf at Roos Field. He felt like a kid again, playing the position he’d loved since he first played as a third-grader in Portland.
Fate had intervened, putting the ball back in his hands. Two weeks later, it was ripped away when Talley took a hard hit to the head during practice.
“I knew what it was, but there was a little bit of denial,” said Talley, who initially walked home rather than face Norton – and reality. Talley knew all about the studies and the suicide of former NFL star Junior Seau, who was found to have suffered from a brain disease likely caused by repeated concussions.
But that didn’t make the decision easier.
The choice was Talley’s, but it was an informed choice, thanks partly to EWU’s trainers. Norton, who’s been at Eastern for a decade, said he and his staff do their best to educate the athletes.
Before they play, “We get a thorough history, and we determine how many they’ve had in high school, and how severe they were.
“Our doctors look at the brain and do a full neurological exam, and we do a lot of education,” Norton said.
A big piece of that education, Norton said, is telling football players that it’s “not cool to hide it, that they need to come straight to us.”
Reluctantly but on his own accord, Talley, 22, sought out the trainers. “They were very supportive,” offering advice without admonishment, he said.
“It was definitely one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” said Talley. “Football is part of your identity. It’s part of what you do every day.”
But in addition to toting a football, Talley carries a 3.6 grade-point average while majoring in biology. He hopes to be a cardiologist.
Back in Baldwin’s office, it was Talley’s turn to spring the surprise. Baldwin returned the news with a welcome embrace.
“That’s what I like about Coach Baldwin, and that’s what makes him such a good coach,” Talley said.
Tough choices
The son of a college football player, Jordan Tonani first hit the field as a first-grader on Spokane’s South Hill.
He played both ways as a wide receiver and defensive back at Ferris High School, helping lead the Saxons to the State 4A title in 2010 before signing with Eastern.
After redshirting the following year, Tonani got back on the field as a safety in 2012. He made one of the biggest plays of the year, an interception return for a touchdown that proved to be the winner in a 27-24 win at Montana State that helped Eastern claim the Big Sky Conference title.
By then Tonani had played 14 years of football with only minor injuries.
“I guess I was lucky,” Tonani said.
But in the spring of 2013, he needed surgery to stop the pains in his hip. Tonani missed that season, but was good to go the next year.
Three games into the 2014 season, the Eagles were locked in a thriller at Washington when Tonani suffered his first concussion late in the game.
“That one was pretty bad, and it threw me off,” said Tonani, who didn’t miss a game because the Eagles had a bye the following week. He kept playing, but suffered his second concussion in late October.
Said Norton, “He (Tonani) did all the right things” to get back on the field.
After taking a game off, Tonani took another one – from a teammate – on Nov. 8 against Montana.
“I remember after the game, it felt weird,” said Tonani, who also recalled his position coach, Jeff Schmedding, approaching him and saying in a compassionate tone: “You know what this means, don’t you?”
So did his mother, Carole, who implored him to quit, “You can’t do this to yourself,” she implored.
Tonani, 22, knew she was right. “With any other injury, I’d disagree, but I wasn’t going to mess with this – I know what it can do.”
Moving on
For both players, there was a sense of unfinished business. After two seasons playing defense, Talley had gotten a brief taste of carrying the ball. “It almost seemed unfair,” said Talley, who spent the rest of spring ball helping coach the running backs. For him it was a way to pull back, gradually, on his own terms.
It wasn’t as easy for Tonani, who after retiring couldn’t bear to watch the game go on without him. Finally, last month, he found a seat in the stands and watched the Eagles hold a scrimmage.
“That was my first real activity since I left,” Tonani said. “I played my whole life and it’s hard to even watch – that’s the hardest part by far.”
“But I know that there’s more to life,” said Tonani, who has a 3.8 GPA in business administration. He’ll graduate next month, look for a job and perhaps later pursue an MBA.
For both, moving on was easier because of the Eastern coaches. This year, the Eagles are thin at running back and safety – they could have used both players – but Baldwin said he understands.
“With both of those young men, I told them I’m happy for you that you’re moving on,” Baldwin said. “As a father, if you’re my son, this is exactly what I want you to do – move on. Missing not only what they did on the field, but their personality, moving forward and a new chapter in their lives.”
“They have a life ahead of them that’s so much bigger than what they’re doing here,” Baldwin said.