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Jets receiver weighs risk of playing football with history of concussions

Jets receiver weighs risk of playing football with history of concussions

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Chris Owusu is certainly not short of options. The New York Jets wide receiver has a degree from Stanford, after all. He's from a family of high achievers with a brother at Stanford, another at Harvard and a sister at Columbia. But Owusu realizes that his NFL career might go at any moment because of his history of concussions.

He was an undrafted free agent signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2012, bypassed by all 32 teams despite his strong college career and a good showing at the NFL combine. One possible reason was a history of concussions, and it was something that happened to him again just a couple weeks ago.

Owusu has had a total of four concussions since he started playing college football, three while at Stanford including two his senior year and then one this August in training camp. At 25 years old, he should be entering the prime of his NFL career, especially after a camp where he was the best wide receiver on the Jets' roster after Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker.

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"Football is a very, very fun sport," Owusu told Shutdown Corner. "It can be rewarding, but it is also going to take a lot of sacrifice."

And for Owusu, he has to hope it doesn't take his mind away prematurely. He has a history of head injuries and has yet to play more than nine games in an NFL season. But this season, with the Jets' wide-open roster, Owusu has a chance to make the team and be a contributor on special teams and offense. This past Monday after suffering the first concussion of his NFL career early in training camp, Owusu returned to the practice field. He played Saturday night against the New York Giants and opened the game with a 41-yard kickoff return then had a 32-yard kickoff return in the second quarter.

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But there was a monkey wrench thrown into those plans as his latest concussion now makes it three in five years he has suffered.

"It's tough because I haven't been put in this situation for three years," Owusu said. "My symptoms didn't get worse. It was like, hey, I had another concussion. Obviously you think about long-term risk. I do a lot of things to prepare my head: I read books, I take fish oils. In many ways, I think I'm ahead of people who don't take care of their heads. I'm not thinking too far down the line, I'm just competing.

"My mom, she's a mom. She's told me — it's been a couple [times] now — to be careful. 'We support you, but maybe go down more.'"

He chuckles before turning serious.

"My parents talked to me about options. It wasn't what to do, it was what to think about moving forward," Owusu said. "And I respect my family so much that I listen, I consider it. I will listen."

Their advice, he says is "to consider going out there and using my Stanford degree."

It's something Owusu might have to consider doing if football doesn't work out.

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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer. Email him at kristianrdyer@yahoo.com