MAKE DIAGNOSES AS THEY WOULD ON THE GENERAL POPULATION.

Jason Van Geel, a Tiger-Cats linebacker, had a specific technique on punt returns, Hipsz explained. Van Geel would loop around and blindside a player with a blow to the head. Hipsz believed he was concussed on one such play. On the sideline, a doctor held up his fingers to Hipsz.

“In retrospect, looking back, I don’t know why I didn’t say I saw double the amount of fingers,” Hipsz remembered. He returned to the game, only to sustain another serious blow, at which point he advised personnel he wouldn’t return.

Hipsz believes he also was concussed that same season during a home game, but can’t remember the opponent. The Als’ were making us play when we were banged up. I don’t want the next generation (of players) to go through the same crap.

“I’m happy to put my name to it. I believe there’s pressure put on the doctors by their teams. Teams want to win, but they also want to maximize what they’re getting from their investment. When a doctor takes the Hippocratic oath, the most important thing to them should be the welfare of their patients. I understand it, they’re put in a really difficult spot.”

An email request for comment from a member of the Als’ medical staff wasn’t answered.

While there was no concussion protocol in the CFL at that time, the league and its players’ association