The impact of concussions on players
UD’s Cory Stover feeling symptom-free after bout with concussion
“We really need to educate athletes better about the impact of concussions.” — Cory Stover
UPPER DUBLIN » It was an innocuous play.
Cory Stover was playing tight end in a ninth-grade game and was tackled, just as he had been numerous times in his brief career.
“I caught a ball, ran about 15 yards and was tackled,” he said. “My facemask hit the ground, but I didn’t think any more about it.
“The next day I had a dull headache. It wasn’t painful, it was just there.”
The Upper Dublin freshman had suffered a concussion, only he didn’t know it.
But after a week has passed, he sensed something was wrong.
“I just had a dull headache, my mind was kind of foggy, but I still didn’t think it was anything significant,” he recalled. “After a while I realized it was getting worse.”
The innocuous play had completely changed his life.
“A week later I was playing with my friends and I realized it wasn’t getting any better,” Stover said. “I went to our trainer. I was still concerned, but I thought I might be overrating it a little bit.”
“My head still hurt,” he said. “In fact, it was until the second half of last year that I felt 100 percent.
“The tough part is walking
around with a dull headache all the time, and not knowing what it is.”
Stover played basketball his freshman year, but in retrospect, he knew it was a mistake.
“I’m not sure why I was allowed to play that year,” he said.
It turned out even worst when he was elbowed in the face, bringing on his second concussion.
“My 10th grade year was real difficult,” he said. “I didn’t play football or basketball. My head still hurt.
“I was going to school every day with a headache.”
The pain, he said, would finally not subside until the second half of last year.
In the meantime, he said, he has thoroughly researched the subject of concussions. And while his days of football are over, he feels he’s better off for the experience.
“At first, I used to ask myself, ‘Why me?’” he said. “But since then I’ve done plenty of research. I educated myself.
“We really need to educate athletes better about the impact of concussions.”
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t miss it.
“My days of football are over,” he said. “If I went out there now I’d be doing myself a disservice.
‘I miss it a lot. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing now than playing football.
”But now I’m just a cheerleader.”
Stover’s long-hidden passion became evident at the end of the 2015 season when the Cardinals enjoyed a Cinderella year that culminated in reaching the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals.
Parkland defeated the Cardinals, 30-14, but after the game Cory got to share a special moment with his brother Ryan.
“After the game, Cory, Ryan and I had brief time when we got together and talked about the season and what we had accomplished,” said father Bret, the Cardinals head coach. “Cory got very emotional said he felt he could have made a difference if he’d been able to play.”
These days, Stover has accepted his fate, confident that this sad tale will have a happy ending.
It’s been a difficult four years, he said, but his future is bright.
“This story will be a memory one day,” he said.