Andy Fantuz didn't want to have to set an example, but he had no choice. Physically, or morally.
"You can't be two-faced," said the Hamilton Ticats receiver, who is not only a national activist for concussion awareness, but is returning to practice only this week after suffering a concussion in a Canadian Football League pre-season game June 19 in Toronto.
"You have to do what you preach. And I believe in the word we spread and the information we spread. You really have to take that step-by-step process."
One of those steps involves not taking one until you are concussion-symptom free.
So, a couple of weeks ago while Fantuz was deciding whether to return to action for the July 3 game in Edmonton, he felt some pressure building in his cranium when he was running, and shut it down again.
That's difficult for a pro athlete to do. His team was struggling, the game against Edmonton was likely to be close and the Cats tend to win more with him and lose more without him. But it was a siren call that had to be ignored.
"Yeah you could play," he explained after Monday's practice, his second in a row without issue, meaning he'll likely start in Calgary on Friday night. "But you're susceptible to injury and, if you get an injury while you're still feeling that first concussion, it's so much worse."
And he's been concussed before, in 2011 his first year in Cat livery. That repetition calls for even more caution, especially from a guy who is well-informed on head trauma because of his work with Tim Fleiszer and other promoters of concussion education. That involvement has helped him deal with this concussion, he said.
As long as there are any symptoms, Fantuz says, your only physical conduct has to be "rest." And he's adamant that, even once a person is free of symptoms, it's still "a seven-day, seven-step process" toward returning to something as demanding as a football practice. Day 1 is one simple low-exertion activity, building incrementally until, by the fifth day, you're running and, by the sixth, you can step onto the field to experiment with stronger physical demands.
But, if there is any kind of relapse, the process has to be abandoned and restarted once the head is totally clear. That's what Fantuz went through prior to the Edmonton game.
The Cats could have used him in that four-point game, or any game. Since the start of last season, they're 8-5 with him in the lineup and 2-5 with him injured.
"I don't blame the losses on me being out," he quickly responds. "The first game we just played poorly and the second game was just frustrating; we thought we deserved to win, and had it. But, sitting at home, it's so frustrating, you just wish you could be there to do whatever you can to help us out."
His return Friday will definitely help the Ticats out. Hamilton's Canadian content takes a huge hike because he's essentially a ratio buster, lining up against the league's best defenders and creating space for himself in the most dangerous areas of the field.
"Andy has great time and space ability," Kent Austin says. "He knows coverage, he knows how to uncover himself. He really does understand what we're doing conceptually, at a very deep level. So we're able to do more, and ask more of him, because of that."
What Austin was saying, partially, is that Fantuz is smart. What we're saying is that his approach to concussion is as intelligent as his grasp of the game.
"You want to get back and help the team," he says. "But it's a bigger issue. You're thinking, 'You've already had one concussion, you've got to be extra careful.'
"And it's not only me, it's my family, my loved ones. They're worried about my long-term health, they're not worried about the next game."
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