This is a special encore edition. They say a smart athlete will use their head. But what if using your head cost you everything? That’s a question being asked in locker rooms the world over. Whether it’s boxing, hockey, or soccer, it seems that head injuries are finally being taken seriously. In the United States, lawsuits brought by players, as well as a body of scientific evidence, has lead to growing awareness about the impact American football has on players’ brains. And now a similar debate has kicked off across the Atlantic among players and fans of the sport that American football evolved from: rugby. On this special edition of Making Contact, producer Luke Eldridge brings us to the UK to hear Concussions: Your Brain or the Game?
Featuring:
Lewis Moody, former rugby player; Dr Michael Grey, motor neuroscience physiologist at the University of Birmingham; Peter Robinson, father of Ben Robinson; David Barnes, Rugby Director of the Rugby Players’ Association in England.