KAYE: Welcome back, it's 20 minutes past the hour. In today's "Health Tracker," we're looking at football and head injuries. An incident earlier this month has sparked new conversations about the safety of the game and the danger of concussions. Just over a week ago, 50-year-old former Chicago Bears and New York Giants player Dave Duerson committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest. You may be wondering why in the chest because his last wish was actually to have scientists examine his brain to see if repeated hits to the head had a visible effect. His death shocked his family and former teammates. Mike Ditka was Duerson's coach with the Bears. He's also known as one of the NFL's all-time tough guys. Here's what he had to say about the game and concussions.</s>MIKE DITKA, PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME: Football's a violent game. People hit hard. You put a helmet on somebody and the helmet becomes a security blanket. People have no fear of striking with their head or striking in the head because the helmet provides protection for them. But when you also collide helmet to helmet, a lot of things can happen to the head and the brain. And basically that's what's happened. You know, you can't just let leg hit on a football because it is a physical sport. But what the league has done now on concussions. They've done a good job because they're holding a guy out who has a concussion for at least one week. He has to be passed by an outside doctor, not a team doctor. If he's passed, then he can play the following week. So they're doing the right thing. Can they stop it? I doubt it because football is football.</s>KAYE: Be sure to tune into CNN this afternoon for much more on concussions and football. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosts "Head Games." That's today at 2:30 p.m. Eastern time. We'll be right back.
Health Tracker: Football and Head Injuries