Ben Utecht — the former tight end for the Cincinnati Bengals and Indianapolis Colts who suffers memory loss from five concussions during his NFL career — says the game must change to protect players.
"People have to put brain health as priority number one," the 6-foot-6, 245-pound ex-gridiron star said Wednesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV.
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"We need to connect athletes to neurologists … the brain experts, and we're not doing that.
"In my six years in the NFL, I never once saw a neurologist, believe it or not, even though I had five documented concussions."
He said that football programs for young people must also be made less violent.
"We need to institute a non-contact, high-level league for youth sports to save our children during the most developmental stages of their brain," said Utecht, who played pro ball from 2004-2009.
He recalled the devastating moment when he knew his memory had faltered.
"My wife and I had a good friend of ours talking about wedding memories and I [said to] my friend Matt, 'You know I wasn't able to be at your wedding,' " he said.
"He kind of looked at me funny and I said, 'No seriously, why wasn't I able to be there?' And his wife got their wedding photo album … and, page after page, there I was as a groomsman in the wedding, I sang in his wedding.
"We all kind of sat there at the table just in awkward silence. I have no memory of that event. That's one of a couple handfuls of gaps that are just no longer a part of my past."
One in four National Football League players are likely to suffer from dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease or other impairments, according to a report filed in court by the league's lawyers.
Utecht, who helped the Colts win Super Bowl XLI, is now a singer and songwriter and has released several albums, including
"Christmas Hope."
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