Luke Kuechly hasn't thought about retirement despite latest concussion

Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly is perhaps the NFL’s highest-profile concussion case since we started to understand the ramifications of concussions for players.

Troy Aikman and Steve Young had to retire because of concussions, but that was before we knew what we know now about the long-term effects. We weren’t fully aware of what Junior Seau was going through when he played. Chris Borland retired over concussion concerns, but he isn’t as well known as Kuechly. Kuechly is one of the NFL’s best players, just 25 years old, and he’s dealing with a concussion with everyone watching.

On Wednesday, Kuechly was at a podium for more than 12 minutes patiently answering questions about his latest concussion. He was asked whether he has considered retirement. It was a fair question considering the scary concussion he suffered Nov. 17. Kuechly missed three games with a concussion last season, and has missed four games with this one.

“I’m holding off that retirement word for probably a little ways down the road,” Kuechly said. “It’s something, you appreciate everybody concerned with how you’re doing but whenever my opportunity comes back, I’ll be back out there.”

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We’ve seen a few players step away from the NFL when they could have kept playing, citing health concerns. That’s not on Kuechly’s mind. He said numerous times Wednesday that he wants to play, and will as soon as he is allowed.

Plenty of people have expressed concern to Kuechly, including his parents.

“They’re my parents and they want what’s best for me,” Kuechly said. “They understand I love playing football, but they want what’s best for their son. That’s kind of where they are with it.”

Presumably, Kuechly didn’t want to be having a press conference to speak about his health on Wednesday. It must be a strange situation to have everyone speculating about what’s going on in your brain and how you should proceed with your career. But with all the focus on concussions and the long-term effects for players, that’s part of the game now. Among the questions Kuechly answered was one about whether he was concerned about the brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known better as CTE.

“I’m not worried about that,” Kuechly said. “I think there’s a lot to be learned from it. I think there’s some studies out there that can say that, but I’m not a doctor and I trust what our guys say. I’m going to play football. That’s what I do and that’s what I’d like to do. I’m not concerned with that stuff until someone tells me otherwise.”

Kuechly could return for the final two games. He was cleared in the concussion protocol last week but Carolina held him out of Monday night’s game at the Washington Redskins. He said he appreciates all the well wishes and concerns about his health, but he just wants to play.

“I’m crossing my fingers every week they’re going to give me the thumbs up to go,” Kuechly said.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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