Former Patriots Chris Hogan Shares His Most Terrifying Concussion Story
Chris Hogan was an undrafted free agent who entered the league in 2011, first being signed by the San Francisco 49ers, and spending his first few years on the practice squad on multiple teams. After his first crack at being on the 53-man roster with the Buffalo Bills, he would find his way to the New England Patriots.
During his stint with the Patriots from 2016 to 2018, Hogan would meet legendary receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. Both receivers talked about their concussion stories and Christopher Price from the Boston Globe recounted the pact both players had if any one of them were to be knocked out from a concussion.
"In addition to Julian's podcast, he had your buddy Danny Amendola on and they told some of their concussion stories, including one where they talked about having a packed where Amendola said one of them got knocked out, the other one would run over, peel him off the ground. The other thing they said was they would give each other information that would be asked of them by the medical staff as the concussion protocol doctor or individual whatever, on the sideline."
via Christopher Price, The Patriots Report
Hogan was instilled as a receiver for the Patriots when the entire NFL world became more cognizant of the dangers of concussions and CTE. There are far more protocols in place to protect players than there were when Edelman and Amendola were young receivers in the league.
Hogan did recount that he was able to learn and recite the information needed to get back into the game but recounts one time when he had been knocked out cold in his first NFL play.
"My first play in the NFL, I got knocked out, knocked out. Right. Buffalo Bills opening day and A.Q. Shipley, who actually went to Penn State. So I knew who he was. And and I played lacrosse there, obviously, so. Oh, yeah. I mean, he literally picked me up off the turf and was like, you know, you're okay."
via Chris Hogan, The Patriots Report
Getting knocked out has to be scary. Thankfully, there are more people in place to stop players from heading back out to the field after suffering head injuries.
