Former NFL quarterback Bernie Kosar sounds alarm on threat of brain injuries

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER IS ANOTHER. PROBLEMS ON OUR HANDS IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY. A COMPREHENSIVE NEW STUDY OF FORMAL FOOTBALL PLAYER SHOWS THE RISK OF DEVELOPMENT CTE IS CLOSELY LINKED TO THE COLLECTIVE FORCE OF HEAD HITS OVER AN ENTIRE CAREER. IT IS NOT JUST THE INTENSITY OF HITS TO THE HEAD BUT ALSO THE NUMBER WHEN YOU ADD IT ALL UP. FORMER CLEVELAND BROWNS QUARTERBACK BERNIE KOSAR TELLING

US ABOUT HIS PERSONAL TROUBLES. LET'S BRING IN THE CEO OF THE CONCUSSION LEGACY FOUNDATION. YOU ARE SAYING THIS IS HAPPENING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE FROM HIGH SCHOOL ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH THE PROS. >> YEAH, WE'VE WONDERED FOR A LONG TIME WHY SOME PEOPLE GET CT AND SOME DON'T. WE HAVE HAD A BIG FOCUS ON CONCUSSIONS FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS. IT IS NOT CONCUSSIONS THAT ARE

CAUSING THE CT. IT IS THE REPETITIVE HITS. BOTH THE NUMBER OF THEM AND THE STRENGTH OF THEM. THAT MEANS IF WE WANT TO PREVENT CT IN CURRENT PLAYERS IN THE NEXT GENERATION WE HAVE TO CHANGE HOW REPRACTICE AND PLAY AND HOW EARLY KIDS GET HIT IN THE HEAD HUNDREDS OF TIMES A YEAR. >> Dana: THE G FORCE PER HIT FOR HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS. DEPENDING ON

THE POSITION YOU PLAY, WIDE RECEIVER, DEFENSIVE BACK AND DEFENSIVE LINE. SO THESE NUMBERS, WHAT DOES 28.8 MEAN? WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? CAN YOU DESCRIBE? >> YEAH. THE GRAPHIC WHERE THEY SHOWED IS LIKE HITTING A CAR ACCIDENT AT 30 MILES-PER-HOUR. IT IS NOT A SMALL HIT. SOMETHING THAT AS A FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYER MYSELF I TOOK THOUSANDS OF BUT ADD UP OVER TIME BUT WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT

THE BIGGER HITS. ONE INTERESTING FACT ABOUT FOOTBALL IS THAT WE WORRY ABOUT CONCUSSIONS. BUT THEY AREN'T OFTEN THE HARDEST HITS YOU TAKE. A FOOTBALL PLAYER WILL TAKE 300 TO 400 HITS HARDER THAN A CONCUSSION OVER THEIR CAREER. GETTING RID OF THE KICKOFF, WHICH WE'VE DONE WITH HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAMS IS PROBABLY THE RIGHT WAY TO GO. >> Dana: AND THEN WHAT OTHER SORT OF CHANGES HAVE YOU

SEEN, CONCRETE CHANGES EITHER IN THE HIGH SCHOOL OR IN THE NFL? >> WELL, WE'VE MADE A LOT OF CHANGES AROUND TARGETING PLAYERS, PLAYERS THAT YOU DON'T SEE COMING. I THIS I THE BIGGEST CHANGE THAT IS GOING TO PREVENT CT GOING FORWARD IS CHANGING WHEN KIDS START TO PLAY TACKLE FOOTBALL. THERE IS A BILL IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK THAT WOULD BAN YOUTH TACKLE FOOTBALL PARTICIPATION

BEFORE 12 AND FORCE KIDS TO CONVERT TO FLAG FOOTBALL. IT IS CLEAR IN FLAG FOOTBALL YOU DON'T GET THE REPETITIVE HITS. CDC FOUND THE MEDIAN NUMBER OF HEAD IMPACTS IS 378 FOR TACKLE FOOTBALL. AND FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYER IT'S EIGHT. WE WOULD NEVER EXPECT TO SEE CTE COME OUT OF A FLAG FOOTBALL PLAYER. SO IF YOU TALK ABOUT ADDING THOSE HITS UP OVER A CAREER, MY CONCERNING

THING HAVING A YOUNG SON IF YOU START THEM YOUNG AND THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL. IF YOU START AT AGE FIVE PLAYING TACKLE FOOTBALL AND PLAY THROUGH COLLEGE I'M NOT SURE IF WE HAVE NEGATIVE CT CASES WITH THAT PROFILE. THE BIGGEST THING IS WE CONTROL WHO GETS CTE AND WHO DOESN'T. WE NEED TO CHANGE HOW WE PLAY FOOTBALL. >> Dana: APPRECIATE YOUR EXPERTISE AND PASSION FOR IT. WE'LL

STAY IN TOUCH. THANK YOU. >> THANKS, DANA. >> Bill: NEXT GUEST IS SUFFERING FROM TRAUMATIC BRAIN ISSUES AFTER 12 SEASONS IN THE NFL. BERNIE KOSAR. FORMER CLEVELAND BROWNS QUARTERBACK. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. >> GOOD TO BE WITH YOU TODAY. WHETHER YOU CALL IT CTE WHEN WE'RE DEAD OR PASSED OR TBI, TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, NOW THAT WE'RE ALIVE SOME OF THOSE BRAIN INJURIES, FENCING, MIDBRAIN DISORDERS

IS TRAGIC. NOT ONLY WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH EX-NFL PLAYERS BUT YOU GUYS WERE TALKING ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH YOUTH AND YOUNGER PEOPLE. NOT JUST IN THE SPORT OF FOOTBALL. THIS CONCUSSION ISSUE, THIS TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY THAT WE'RE SEEING WITH SO MUCH OF OUR MILITARY AND YOUTH, IT IS SUCH AN ISSUE THAT IS MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE EFFECTS ON MYSELF, SOME, OF COURSE, NEAR AND DEAR

TO ME NOW. I'M TRYING TO FIND AN ALTERNATE OUTCOME OTHER THAN SOME OF THE WAYS THAT UNFORTUNATELY US NFL GUYS HAVE BEEN PASSING WITH THESE TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES THAT WHAT RESULT IN THE CTE. >> Bill: I WAS READING DURING YOUR NFL CAREER YOU WERE SACKED 250 TIMES. I WOULD GELS YOU HIT YOUR HEAD. HOW MANY CONCUSSIONS DO YOU SUSPECT YOU HAD DURING YOUR PLAY CAREER AND

SOME SYMPTOMS YOU WERE EXPERIENCING AS YOU CONTINUED TO PLAY? >> YOU KNOW, BILL, I'M PROUD TO BE SITTING HERE THIS MORNING AFTER ALMOST 40 SURGERIES, 80 BROKEN BONES, 100 PLUS DOCUMENTED CONCUSSIONS, 15 SEIZURES. WE ARE ATTEMPTING TO DO THIS INTERVIEW A HALF DOZEN YEARS AGO. I WAS ON PROBABLY 50 PLUS PILLS FOR 25 PLUS YEARS, THIS WHOLE CENTURY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A PROTOCOL AND AN

OPTION THAT ALLOW ME TO HAVE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE WHERE I'M ABLE TO ARTICULATE AND ENUNCIATE AND COMMUNICATE MULTIPLE SYLLABLE WORDS. IT WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THAT. THE TYPE OF INJURIES THAT HAPPENED AS A RESULT OF PLAYING AND STUFF, HECK, I WOULD THINK AS MUCH AS TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED, AS MUCH AS WE MADE ADVANCEMENTS IN SOCIETY, HECK, SOME OF THE SAME DOCTORS THAT I HAD IN THE 1980s

AND 90s -- I KNOW WE DIDN'T KNOW AS MUCH BACK THEN. THEY ARE THE SAME DOCTORS DOING THE SAME STUFF TO GUYS IN THE NFL TODAY. HECK, THE TWO OF THE QUARTERBACKS FOR THE MIAMI DOLPHINS ENDED UP HAVING A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES ON THE FIELD OF THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL THIS YEAR. ENDED UP WHEN I SAW THE DOCTORS THEY ENDED UP HAVING THE SAME TYPE DOCTORS. BEING

ABLE NOW TO TRY TO BRING AWARENESS FOR THIS FOR GUYS LIKE MYSELF TO TRY TO COME OUT THE OTHER SIDE OF IT IS SOMETHING LIKE I'M REALLY PROUD TO BE SEEING WHAT DR. CHRIS IS DOING AND FOR GUYS LIKE YOURSELF, BILL AND DANA, TO BRING AWARENESS TO THIS ON YOUR SHOW TODAY. >> Bill: THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT AND YOU SUFFERED OVER 100 CONCUSSIONS. A JAW

DROPPING NUMBER. WE WISH AND YOUR HEALTH THE BEST AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING ON THIS MORNING TO SHARE WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING. >> GOD BLESS YOU BILL AND DANA.