Concussion

Junior Seau's death got former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson thinking again about his own career in the NFL and his struggles with post-concussion syndrome after he retired in 2005. "It's corrode or explode," Johnson told a conference on pediatric concussions at Boston Children's Hospital on Friday. "And it all exploded by killing (himself). " Seau shot himself in the chest on May 2, echoing last year's suicide of former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson.

By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff BALTIMORE — Cody Ross was placed on the 15-day disabled list. GM Ben Cherington, while not as optimistic as Bobby Valentine was earlier today, did say his fractured left foot may be less serious than initially feared. Ross will remain in a walking boot for now. Scott Podsednik was officially added to the roster. Kevin Youkilis was activated. Ryan Sweeney went on the seven-day concussion DL and Daisuke Matsuzaka went on the 60-day DL retroactive to the beginning of the season.

LOS ANGELES — Yesterday, as the Bruins feared, center Marc Savard was diagnosed with a concussion, his second in 10 months. Savard’s latest concussion is described as moderate; he suffered a severe concussion on March 7, 2010, when he was knocked out by Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke. On Saturday, Savard was hit by former teammate Matt Hunwick in the second period of the Bruins’ 6-2 win over Colorado. Savard flew home from Denver Sunday and met with doctors yesterday. Kings blank Bruins, 2-0. C3 “When you go through a concussion, a second one, I don’t think he’s doing...

Conor Roddy doesn't remember anything about the play that knocked him out of an April 18 game against Duxbury, jeopardized his senior season on Medfield's lacrosse team and forced him to miss three days of school. He slept for the next 18 hours after getting home and couldn't watch TV without getting a headache for almost three weeks. Even walking became a difficult task. Area coaches call him one of the best players in Massachusetts, but Roddy was no use to Medfield standing on the sidelines with a concussion for four weeks during the heart of the Warriors' schedule.

Manchester United striker Javier ‘Chicharito' Hernandez missed Wednesday night's match against the MLS All-Stars after being hospitalized overnight for a concussion sustained during a training session a day earlier. The dynamic Mexican goal scorer wasn't missed as Man United beat the MLS All-Star team 4-0. According to a statement released by the English Premier League champions, the 23-year-old Hernandez sustained a mild concussion when he took a ball off the top of his head.

PITTSBURGH - Instead of traveling with his teammates to Toronto last night after a 2-1 loss to the Penguins at Mellon Arena, Marc Savard stayed behind at the team hotel in Pittsburgh, left in no shape to fly because of a blind-side jolt to the head delivered by Matt Cooke. Savard, wheeled off the ice on a stretcher at 14:23 of the third period, was diagnosed with a concussion. According to coach Claude Julien, Savard blacked out momentarily. Savard was not admitted to a hospital.

WILMINGTON - Given the ferocity with which Chris Neil walloped Johnny Boychuk Saturday, it is no surprise the Bruins defenseman will not play tonight in the rematch against Ottawa. Nor is Boychuk expected to dress anytime soon. Boychuk has been diagnosed with a concussion and didn't practice yesterday. It is the first concussion Boychuk has suffered as a Bruin. Neil dropped Boychuk with a clean shoulder-to-chest hit in the third period of the Bruins' 5-3 win at Scotiabank Place.

Olaf Kolzig made 32 saves last night and the Washington Capitals held on for a 2-1 win at Madison Square Garden over the New York Rangers, who lost Eric Lindros to another concussion. Jeff Halpern and Trent Whitfield scored as Washington ended a three-game losing streak and won for the first time in seven road games (1-4-1-1). Kolzig made 19 saves in the third period, shutting out star forward Jaromir Jagr only five days after the Capitals traded him to New York. Martin Rucinsky scored for the Rangers, who lost for the fifth time in six games.

Yankee starter Carl Pavano was hit on the right side of the head by a line drive off the bat Baltimore's Melvin Mora yesterday and suffered a mild concussion in the third inning of the Orioles' 7-2 victory in New York. After hitting Pavano, the ball ricocheted into foul territory down the right-field line. The righthander was taken to a hospital and was diagnosed with a mild concussion before returning to Yankee Stadium. Pavano, who declined to speak with reporters, accompanied the team to Boston.

Twelve days after he suffered a Grade 3 concussion and a broken nose when he was belted into the end boards at TD Banknorth Garden, Patrice Bergeron didn't have to speak to relay how he was feeling. His body said it all. Bergeron, wearing a dark, pinstriped suit and a white shirt under his neck collar, strode slowly yesterday into the Will McDonough Press Room. The 22-year-old Bergeron, walking carefully while hunching over slightly, had the pace of an older man, using both hands as he climbed the steps onto a podium, where he spoke for approximately 12...

Junior Seau's death got former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson thinking again about his own career in the NFL and his struggles with post-concussion syndrome after he retired in 2005. "It's corrode or explode," Johnson told a conference on pediatric concussions at Boston Children's Hospital on Friday. "And it all exploded by killing [himself]. " Seau shot himself in the chest on May 2, echoing last year's suicide of former Bears defensive back Dave Duerson . Duerson left a note asking for his brain to be studied for signs of brain trauma; no link has been established...

Junior Seau's death got former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson thinking again about his own career in the NFL and his struggles with post-concussion syndrome after he retired in 2005. "It's corrode or explode," Johnson told a conference on pediatric concussions at Boston Children's Hospital on Friday. "And it all exploded by killing (himself). " Seau shot himself in the chest on May 2, echoing last year's suicide of former Chicago Bears defensive back Dave Duerson.

During a soccer game two years ago, Megan Wirtz, a goalkeeper for her high school team, was bending down to pick up a ball when an opposing player accidentally kicked her in the face. Her face swollen and bleeding, Megan was taken to an emergency room and stitched up. No one realized she had sustained a severe concussion until three weeks later, when a player ran into her during another game and she fell to the ground with a seizure. Doctors say she experienced what is known as second impact syndrome, a sequence of events in which a child or teenager sustains a hit before...

More than 60 former NFL players have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles, joining hundreds of others who claim pro football didn't properly protect its players from concussions. Lead plaintiff Art Monk played wide receiver for the Washington Redskins from 1980 to 1993, and says in the lawsuit filed last week that he suffered multiple concussions in that time. More than 1,000 former NFL players are suing the league across the country, saying not enough was done to inform players about the dangers of concussions in the past, and not enough is done to take care of them today.

Junior Seau's apparent suicide this week was all the more haunting because there was speculation a year ago that the linebacker, a certain Hall-of-Famer, showed signs of being affected by the thousands of hits to the head he suffered in his 20 years in the National Football League. After finishing out his career with the Patriots, Seau was arrested in 2010 on suspicion of domestic violence. Hours after being released without charges, his car went off a cliff.

Junior Seau, one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history and an emotional leader on four Patriots teams, including the 2007 squad that went 16-0 in the regular season, was found shot to death at his home in Oceanside, Calif., on Wednesday in what police said was an apparent suicide. Seau was 43 years old and less than three years removed from his final NFL game - at Gillette Stadium in the Patriots' playoff loss to the Ravens on Jan. 10, 2010. "This is a sad day for the entire Patriots organization, our coaches and his many Patriots teammates," the Patriots organization said in a statement.

Steelers safety Will Allen and running backs Mewelde Moore and Isaac Redman sustained concussions during Monday night’s game in Cincinnati and must pass post-concussion tests before being cleared to play Sunday against the Patriots. The tests measure a player’s cognitive skills before and after a concussion. A player is allowed to return only after his tests return to normal and he shows no signs of having had a concussion. If either Moore or Redman can’t play, rookie Jonathan Dwyer might be needed Sunday night against New England (6-2)

The Bruins continued their winning ways at the Garden yesterday, pinning a 4-2 loss on the Carolina Hurricanes, but they also continued to pay a steep price in terms of injury. A sellout crowd of 17,565 sat in near silence after Patrice Bergeron, felled in a second-period collision with Canes defenseman Dennis Seidenberg in open ice, needed 3-4 minutes to regain his feet after taking the force of the hit directly to his head and banging his head hard upon falling to the ice. Bergeron, who missed the remainder of last season after sustaining a Grade 3 concussion on Oct. 27, 2007,...

Junior Seau, one of the greatest linebackers in NFL history and an emotional leader on four Patriots teams, including the 2007 squad that went 16-0 in the regular season, was found shot to death at his home in Oceanside, Calif., on Wednesday in what police said was an apparent suicide. Seau was 43 years old and less than three years removed from his final NFL game - at Gillette Stadium in the Patriots' playoff loss to the Ravens on Jan. 10, 2010. "This is a sad day for the entire Patriots organization, our coaches and his many Patriots teammates," the Patriots organization said in...

When a rough hit leveled Duxbury High School player Tucker Hannon at a hockey game in January, his parents' outrage was understandable. The rival player, who appeared to pump his fist after smashing into Hannon, wasn't even penalized. Hannon, though, suffered a concussion and missed five weeks of school, and on Friday his parents were in court seeking assault and battery charges against the opposing player, Alex Way. Plymouth County Clerk Magistrate Philip McCue decided there wasn't enough evidence.