Junior Seau was one of the best middle linebackers in the NFL during his 20 years of playing, collecting over 1,500 tackles and dishing out an insurmountable number of hits. In 2011, shortly after retiring, he committed suicide by shooting himself. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted a study of Seau's brain and diagnosed him with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated head trauma (Pilon and Belson). Seau is among countless other former players whose football career changed their lives forever. Former quarterback Terry Bradshaw told USA Today how bad his mental health had become. He says, “I couldn't concentrate or remember things, and I suffered from depression” (Breslow, “NFL Concussions: The 2013-14 Season in Review”). Seau's death and Bradshaw's decline are linked to a growing epidemic in sports today: concussions. Recently, concussions have increased in contact sports, particularly football (Breslow, “What We've Learned from Two Years of Tracking Concussions”). This increase, along with increased awareness and pressure from lawsuits and media, has led to the search for better concussion diagnostic technology and rule changes in football. Concussions and the effects associated with them have forced football to change for the better. A concussion is “a brain injury caused by force to the head or direct force to the face, neck, or chest” (“Comprehensive Concussion Center”). These traumatic brain injuries (TBI) frequently occur in contact sports. Andrew E. Lincoln's research on the incidence of concussions in high school showed that concussions were steadily increasing in these sports, but especially in football. His study also showed: “Concussions increased 4.2 times compared to the middle of the article......E., et al. “Trends in Concussion Independence in High School Sports.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. American Journal of Sports Medicine, January 29, 2011. Web. May 12, 2014. “New NFL Rules Designed to Limit Head Injuries.” » NFL.com. National Football League, August 6, 2010. Web. May 13, 2014. .Pilon, Mary and Ken Belson. “Junior Seau’s death ruled a suicide.” New York Times. New York Times, January 10, 2013. Web. May 18, 2014. .Vrentas, Jenny. “Where the game is going.” The MMQB with Peter King. Time, October 25, 2013. Web. May 19 2014. .