The Guy Named Harrison: Book One

50

Harrison was looking and feeling so much better by the end of the week. It was now Friday. He'd been diagnosed with his concussion on Sunday.

Earlier this week, the team trainer Ryan would come and check on him every day. But as he got better, by the end of the week Carrie was taking him to go see Ryan, where he also got to see his teammates.

After meeting with Ryan, he met with the Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. Harrison was of course, ruled out for this weekend and most likely the next two. He would probably miss a fourth game, but the Panthers played three more games before getting a bye, giving him another week to recover where he didn't miss a game.

Carrie felt so bad for him when he told her he was probably going to miss the Monday night game against the Dolphins. She knew he loved to play in the spotlight. Harrison was also bummed he wasn't allowed to travel with the team to Tampa Bay for their game against the Buccaneers. But he was allowed to be on the sidelines for the following two home games before their bye week.

The news of their sudden engagement still hadn't surfaced to the media. Both of them were quite glad because Harrison said he had something else planned for after he got cleared. They also had the chance to talk about his future in the NFL following this concussion.

He explained how much football meant to him, but also agreed with her regarding concussions and CTE. Harrison had consisted calling it quits after the first concussion, but really wanted a Super Bowl ring before he retired. He also said if he suffered another concussion or head injury of some sort, that he would seriously consider and most likely choose retirement. Because her and their hopefully future kids were way more important than football. He also agreed to see a neurologist after every season and have an MRI preformed. If anything concerning was found, he was done.

They also thought about if they had kids. And specifically if they had a son. Would they let him follow in his fathers footsteps? They decided that answer would be a probably not, unless something game changing came out to help prevent concussions and head injuries.

Harrison also decided to try out a new device Luke had already tried this season. It was called a Q-collar. It was worn around the neck and designed to force the brain to swell up entirely in the skull following a hit. That allowed the shockwaves to travel through the skull instead of the brain moving inside the skull to prevent concussions.

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Carrie followed him inside their house after going to see Ryan for today's appointment. "What do you want to do today?" He asked.

"Rest for you," she answered.

"But I wanna do something," he complained like a little boy.

She understood where he was coming from. He'd been cramped in bed all week until yesterday when they went to see Ryan for the first time.

"Can we play catch?"

She considered. "Alright. Just don't hurt yourself."

Harrison grabbed a pair of sunglasses and a Panthers hat and led her into the garage where he grabbed a football.

They stepped through the backdoor and into the backyard. "Go deep."

Carrie tore across the backyard and caught his pass. Then she threw the ball back to him while being careful not to make him move sharply to catch it.

It was a perfect pass. He caught it just in front of his chest. "Nice pass."

"Thanks. I learned from the best."

Harrison threw it back. As she caught the ball, he took off his sunglasses for a few seconds. He was still a little sensitive to bright lights such as sunlight.

He quickly put them back on and caught the football. After throwing it back and watching her leap to catch it, he knew he was so lucky to have met her. Harrison didn't know how he would make it through this without her.

Carrie was the best thing that ever happened to him. She took care of him. She continued to support his football career even though she had concerns about CTE. She gave up her job and career for him. She loved him. And Harrison loved her more than he could ever imagine.