Former New England Patriots player Rob Gronkowski suffered 20 concussions during his NFL career, but he recently revealed that wouldn't stop him from letting his kids play football.
"I would let my son play football, but first off I would educate him on the game," he said in an interview with CBS News. "Educate him on what I went through. I truly believe any injury that you receive is fixable. I went through it. I had nine surgeries. Probably had like 20 concussions in my life, like no lie. I remember five, like blackout ones."
Almost immediately, Gronkowski was quizzed on his thoughts and replied to the concerns on Twitter. Chris Nowinski, the co-founder of the BU CTE Center and an expert on football-related head trauma, responded to his comments.
"I appreciate and respect that you have the guts to talk honestly about #concussions and #CTE," Nowinski tweeted. "But right now #CTE cannot be fixed."
In a worrying response, Gronkowski tweeted, "It is fixable. I fixed mine."
"There are plenty of methods in this world that allow the brain to recover from severe damage," he continued. "That is also why I would allow my kid to play football." At one point in his career, he had to have a pint of blood drained from him after the Super Bowl due to internal bleeding.
For the most part, the replies to his tweet have showed concern for his belief that CTE can be "fixed." Nowinski added that while the brain is able to recover from some damage, CTE cannot be cured as of right now. Others responded to Gronk with a mix of doubt and humor.
Gronkowski recently revealed that he was an advocate for the legalization of CBD by pro sports leagues."For the first time in a decade, I’m pain-free," he explained at a press conference in New York City last month.
