While concussions have made headlines and been a big issue in the NFL, an athlete from another sport is making headlines when it comes to concussions. NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. confirmed on Friday that he is donating his brain to concussion research.
Over Easter weekend, Earnhardt made national news by retweeting a Sports Illustrated story about three former Oakland Raiders players donating their brains in honor of former Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler and announcing that he was going to donate his brain. Stabler died last July and was found to have Stage 3 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Earnhardt, who was inspired by women’s soccer player Brandi Christie and the former Raiders players, will donate his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, which has a partnership with Boston University, according to ESPN. Boston University currently has over 200 brains in their brain bank, USA Today notes.
"I was a donor already for many years ... and so it seemed like a reasonable thing to do for me," Earnhardt said. "Anything I can do to help others. Hopefully the science has advanced far beyond what it is today and they don't need it. It was something I didn't have to ask myself whether I wanted to do it or not. I just thought that was amazing that those guys did it in honor of their teammate, and I read where Brandi had done that maybe a month ago. That was really inspiring. ... I didn't expect it to turn into the story it did, but if by all means, if it raises more awareness and inspires people to donate their brains and pledge their brains -- they don't need just athletes. They need everybody. I'm going to give up all the organs that are worth anything when it's over with. So they can have it all."
While NASCAR drivers don’t usually get concussions, Earnhardt has experience with concussions. He had two concussions in 2012. The first concussion happened during a test at Kansas Speedway and the second one came after a crash in a race at Talladega, which caused him to miss the next two races, according to NASCAR.com. NASCAR mandated preseason neurocognitive testing for all drivers in 2014 as a result of Earnhardt’s concussions.
NASCAR returns to action this weekend after the Easter off weekend at Martinsville.
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