“What the hell kind of bullshit suggestion is this?” Chen Yingxiong held the examination report the doctor had given him, questioning the club’s chief sports medicine doctor Bruckner, who was sitting across from him. Also present were the club’s head coach Dalglish and the club’s manager, Nyon Law.

This was the first time the two men had met since their falling out. It didn’t mean they had shaken hands and made peace, but rather that the current situation required them to face it together and discuss solutions.

The matter concerned Chen Yingxiong.

It all started with the large-scale physical examination organized by the club.

Originally, it was to check for any potential heart problems among the players.

Unexpectedly, they didn’t find any heart problems, but the examining institution gave Chen Yingxiong a suggestion, along with a very long appendix to explain the importance and scientific basis of the suggestion.

The suggestion first passed through the hands of Bruckner, the club’s chief sports medicine doctor, who carefully read it before giving it to head coach Dalglish and Chen Yingxiong.

The suggestion itself was very simple, just a short sentence: “It is recommended that this player use his head to compete for the ball as little as possible.”

But such a simple sentence was like a bolt from the blue for both Chen Yingxiong and Dalglish.

The reason Chen Yingxiong was so good at scoring goals had a lot to do with his world-class heading ability. Many times, when people couldn’t solve a problem with their feet, Chen Yingxiong could easily handle it with his head. Especially in the English Premier League, a league that particularly valued aerial ball battles, the importance of heading was self-evident.

Now, they were telling Chen Yingxiong not to use his head to head the ball, or at least to use it as little as possible… Wouldn’t that be equivalent to crippling one of Chen Yingxiong’s legs? Nearly half of his goals were scored with his head.

In other words, if he wasn’t allowed to score with his head, his goal tally would be reduced by almost half at the very least! What did that mean? It would instantly turn a world-class striker into a near-first-class striker…

Chen Yingxiong certainly couldn’t accept this suggestion, so he simply ran to Bruckner.

Facing the refined medical doctor in a fit of anger, Chen Yingxiong naturally didn’t have a pleasant expression. He felt that this was a way of cutting off someone’s means of making a living, and it was very insidious.

“This is science, Yingxiong. You have to accept it,” Bruckner said calmly, pushing up the silver-rimmed glasses on his nose. He didn’t feel annoyed by Chen Yingxiong’s foul language.

“Bullshit science!” Chen Yingxiong spat. “Is there something wrong with my heading? Why do you want to stop me from using my head?!”

“The suggestion is to use it as little as possible…”

“What’s the difference between that and not using it at all? You’d be happier if I didn’t use my head, wouldn’t you!”

Bruckner spread his hands. “This is for your health, Yingxiong.”

“Health? Hahaha!” Chen Yingxiong laughed when he heard this. “Go look at this physical examination report. Who’s the healthiest person on the whole team? Who’s the strongest? It’s me!” Chen Yingxiong poked his chest with his thumb, his expression and tone very proud and confident.

At this time, Dalglish spoke. “Alright, Yingxiong, calm down. Let’s hear the doctor’s explanation.”

After speaking, he nodded to Bruckner with a smile. “Begin, Doctor.”

Bruckner didn’t look at the suggestion and appendix following Chen Yingxiong’s physical examination report, because these things were already in his mind, and he could speak off the cuff.

“As early as six years ago, an Australian neuropsychologist named Dr. Rod Markham, after collecting a large amount of data and conducting experimental research, discovered that heading can indeed cause cumulative and long-term brain damage. Dr. Markham strongly urged FIFA last year to cancel heading in matches…”

Hearing that a doctor was actually calling on FIFA to cancel heading in matches, Chen Yingxiong couldn’t help but sneer. This was truly the funniest joke he had ever heard. Heading was an indispensable part of football. Football without heading… Would that still be called football?!

Bruckner glanced at him. Chen Yingxiong curled his lip. “Alright, you continue, Doctor…”

Bruckner then continued to elaborate on the issue. “A medical research report published in the *Journal of the American Medical Association* also shows that concussions suffered by football players due to repeated heading will damage their memory and planning ability. In addition, a report on football from the Heiloo St. Anna Hospital in the Netherlands also shows that 39% of football players show functional damage in tests to identify planning ability, and mild chronic brain damage is also related to heading in football matches. Furthermore, the report also shows that 27% of players have experienced a concussion once in their sports career, and another 23% of players have suffered two to five concussions. And a thirty-year follow-up study by a European medical institution shows that football players are five times more likely to suffer from brain diseases—such as Alzheimer’s disease—after retirement than ordinary people.”

Chen Yingxiong grinned, not caring about what Bruckner said. On the other hand, the expressions on Dalglish and Nyon’s faces became increasingly serious.

“Recently, a two-year study on high school football teams has been released. This research report shows that concussions are likely caused by multiple headers accumulated over time, rather than just a single head impact. Researchers at Purdue University have been studying football players at Jefferson High School for two seasons. Twenty-one players completed the relevant research in the first season, and twenty-four completed the research in the second season, including sixteen repeat participants. In each season and at the end of the season, the pressure sensor data from each player’s helmet was compared with previous brain imaging scans and cognitive tests. The most important implication of the new findings suggests that concussion is not the result of a single blow, but rather the result of the total number of blows that occur throughout the season. A blow that causes a concussion is like a bundle of straws falling on a camel’s back, it seems insignificant, doesn’t it?”

Chen Yingxiong shrugged, his face still nonchalant.

“But accumulating it is terrible. The experimental process is very complicated to explain. I think even if I tell you, you may not know what it means. Simply put, they did an experiment to test the activity level of players’ brains when facing a specific task. Brain imaging technology using MRI functional imaging can clearly see the active scene of the brain. This scan reveals that one part of the brain is most active in special tasks. They observed changes in brain activity suggesting that a player must use different strategies to complete the task, and that this is likely due to a reduction in functional strength… For example, when you need to pick up this glass of water…” Bruckner grabbed the glass next to him.

“When your body is normal, you can easily pick up this glass. But if you have problems with your brain, maybe your body can’t accurately judge how much force to use to pick up the glass, maybe after you pick it up, the glass will fall down again because you use too little force. This is a manifestation of the weakening of your brain’s functional strength.”

“Of course, I can pick up this glass very easily!” Chen Yingxiong said and grabbed the glass of water that Bruckner had just put down.

“Yes, of course you can. In fact, concussion is a medical term, and it doesn’t necessarily mean you have a concussion if you have symptoms. The impact of heading on you is subtle. Many clinicians will think that if you don’t have symptoms of a concussion, it means you don’t have a problem. However, even without symptoms, we find that there are actually many changes.” Bruckner continued after answering Chen Yingxiong’s words. “The scan results show that the level of brain activity change is significantly related to the number and distribution of impacts that athletes experience. The function has not changed, but the brain activity has changed. This result shows that a certain area is no longer used to complete the task. Therefore, although those subtle and difficult-to-detect injuries cannot be displayed as concussions, they may affect the brain for the rest of their lives. This is still indirect evidence, but it suggests that the result of all impacts is a concussion or a change in the brain. In the study, players received between two hundred and one thousand nine hundred head impacts in a season. Two players received more than one thousand eight hundred impacts. The data on the helmet’s sensors showed that the impact force on the brain varied from twenty Gauss units to more than one hundred Gauss units. The most severe impact was nearly three hundred Gauss units. A player experiences an impact force of about twenty Gauss units when heading a ball once. According to statistics, the average number of headers a football player makes in a game is eight and a half times. But your number of headers is definitely much higher than this average, not to mention that some of your headers are completely head-to-head offensive methods. You seem to be enthusiastic about using your body to defeat your opponent…”

Chen Yingxiong shrugged. “This is a man’s way of competing.”

“But it’s not wise at all.” Bruckner shook his head.

“Hey!” Chen Yingxiong rolled his eyes.

“Such frequent head-to-head contact will increase the burden on your brain, although each header and contest will not bring any fatal damage to your brain. But quantitative change leads to qualitative change. Experiments have proved that there is a gradual increase in damage before a concussion occurs, so this suggestion is correct, and you should follow it, Yingxiong. Don’t laugh at the suggestion to cancel headers in football, Yingxiong. You should know that in the memorandum issued by FIFA to its member associations in 2003, it stated that referees should not prohibit players from taking self-protective measures that do not harm others. You should be clear about the reason for the appearance of Chelsea’s goalkeeper Čech, right?”

Chen Yingxiong didn’t say anything, but it was obvious that he was still unconvinced.

He didn’t understand the various scientific experimental data listed by the medical doctor. Although the medical doctor had tried his best to describe those very professional terms in plain language, he still didn’t understand them very well. He only knew that he was best at heading, and heading didn’t make him feel uncomfortable in any way.

He firmly didn’t believe that he had a concussion, or that he might get a concussion.

Bruckner seemed to know that he couldn’t convince this stubborn person for a while, so he changed the target of his persuasion to the club’s manager and the team’s head coach.

“You two must know Dean Richards, right?”

This question changed Dalglish’s expression. Nyon was stunned for a moment, and then frowned.

“He passed away a year ago, at the age of only thirty-six.”

The reactions of the two aroused Chen Yingxiong’s curiosity. He didn’t know who Dean Richards was, but he really wanted to listen now.

But Bruckner stopped talking!

Chen Yingxiong had no choice but to ask, “Who is that?”

Dalglish seemed to be lost in thought. He was indifferent to Chen Yingxiong’s question. Nyon next to him explained to him, “Dean Richards was once a member of the England under-21 national team, playing as a center back. In 2001, he replaced Campbell, who left the team, and transferred to Tottenham at a high price of 8.1 million pounds, which was still a record for Tottenham’s transfer fee at the time. However, less than four years after joining Tottenham, Richards was forced to retire due to head disease. He often said that he would feel dizzy on the field, which interfered with his normal game. As a center back, Richards often used headers to clear the ball, and a year before his retirement, Richards was found to have abnormalities in his brain during a scan at the hospital. After that, he began a long period of recuperation. Finally, although the doctors confirmed that it was not a malignant tumor, this brain disease made it impossible for him to continue playing, otherwise it would have a very bad impact on his health, so he had to retire. And many people attributed Richards’ premature retirement at the peak of his career to excessive heading, which caused serious brain damage.”

Nyon briefly told Chen Yingxiong the reason for Richards’ retirement. Finally, he added, “He passed away last year due to a brain disease…”

Hearing this vivid and bloody example, Chen Yingxiong was silent.

Seeing that Chen Yingxiong didn’t say anything, Bruckner continued to strike while the iron was hot. “In fact, in the football circle, it is not uncommon for players to retire or die due to brain diseases. In 2005, former England national team captain, fifty-seven-year-old Emlyn Hughes died of brain cancer. And in January 2002, English football legend and famous striker Geoff Astle passed away at the age of only fifty-nine, and the coroner also confirmed that he died of brain damage caused by frequent heading during his long career. I don’t think you want to live to be less than sixty years old, right, Yingxiong?”

“Uh…” Chen Yingxiong stopped being stubborn. Of course, he didn’t want to live only to his fifties and then die of brain disease…

“It is precisely because of brain damage that many medical professionals suggest that FIFA cancel headers or let players wear helmets like in rugby matches in order to minimize the damage to players’ brains from headers. However, many football authorities strongly oppose such proposals. They believe that canceling headers will cause players to lose important means of scoring goals, reduce the number of goals in matches, and affect the viewing experience. And wearing helmets makes football matches look ridiculous and out of place. Of course, I understand this, because I myself am a fan. If I were to see twenty-two people running and kicking the ball on the field wearing helmets, I would also find it very strange… We cannot change the general trend, but I think we can still do something for your health.”

Suddenly, Chen Yingxiong, who had been silent, thought of something. He raised his head and asked, “Does this physical examination report suddenly suggesting that I use my head as little as possible mean that my brain has already suffered irreversible damage? Even if it’s still very small?”

When he asked this question, even Dalglish, who had been absent-minded, raised his head again and looked at him in surprise.

It must be said that asking this question made Chen Yingxiong very nervous. He was afraid of getting an affirmative answer, which would mean that he would definitely become demented in the future, or… die prematurely due to brain damage?

Fortunately, this time Bruckner shook his head very firmly and quickly. “No, your body is indeed better than everyone else’s, so there is no problem in this regard at present. But if you continue to play like this, Yingxiong, given the extent to which you rely on headers in the game, I can guarantee that you will definitely have this situation. You should know that you are only twenty-three years old, and your career is still very long. Judging from your physical fitness, I think you may be able to play until you are forty years old. With so many years left, if you insist on using your head to head the ball, can you imagine how many repeated impacts you will suffer? How much damage will those impacts cause to your brain? Accumulated, what a terrible number will these damages eventually become? The reason why this report specifically recommends you is because your heading frequency is too high. I think you may have more than two thousand two hundred headers in a season… This is a very scary statistic. Not just heading for goals, but when you compete for the ball in the frontcourt, when you pass the ball, you will use your head. For your own health, you should really seriously consider this suggestion, Yingxiong.”

After hearing that there were no problems with his brain for the time being, Chen Yingxiong breathed a sigh of relief. “I will seriously consider it, but not now, Doctor. I think I have more important things…”

His words were interrupted by Dalglish. “No, Yingxiong. The doctor is right, you must seriously consider this suggestion now.”

This time it was Chen Yingxiong’s turn to be surprised.

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ps, don’t think it’s over here. Today is the last day of March, five chapters for monthly tickets!