One could equate the feeling of getting hit by a football player like Troy Polamalu, James Harrison or Ray Lewis to getting hit by a train.

Surely being hit even once from any of these players could warrant a possible lifelong injury, whether it be to the body or the head.

Some consider the idea of inflicting damage to an opponent to be synonymous with football. Many fans watch the game specifically to enjoy good his; however, people do not always realize what injuries loom over the field on any given game day.

After players get carted off the field, we do not witness the struggles they endure to get back to the game.

We get caught up in the angles and the speed of the tackles, we do not consider the end result.

Some fans could easily be reduced to tears for the victims and their families who have to cope with these situations.

According to CNN.com, 50-year-old Dave Duerson, former Chicago Bears safety, committed suicide possibly as a result of trauma from the game. Duerson shot himself in the chest, keeping his brain intact for examination.

He had to be checked for a debilitating brain injury called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. It has not been determined whether Duerson had brain damage that can cause bizarre behavior and severe depression.

According to Emery Moorehead, his friend and former Chicago Bears teammate, Duerson never mentioned health problems or concerns. It was not even evident to his family.

“Everyone saw him. He never mentioned anything. He was quite upbeat, speaking of getting married in April. It just came out of the blue,” Moorehead said.

The NFL has been criticized for many years because of the lackadaisical way it handles head injuries.

Just last year, the league’s new medical committee members vowed to change by stepping up efforts to prevent head injuries.

It is crazy that now all of a sudden the NFL finds this matter important.

The NFL has been around long enough to have taken a front-row seat to such an issue.

It is not like the game has suddenly changed and the players are now precisely focused on causing head injuries.

The athletes of the NFL did not become vicious “beings” out of the blue who just want to send people to the doctor’s office.

People assume players are aggressive, but they do not go into the game to intentionally harm other athletes. Duerson’s death has lead many players, including Mooreheard, to express their concerns for the punishment their bodies have endured from repeated blows and grueling tackles they have received.

“It makes me concerned,” Moorehead said. “You’re kind of conditioned to block with your head. You lead with your head. After playing 20 years, there’s a concern.”

Dr. Robert Stern, co-director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, told CNN athletes are becoming increasingly aware of the risks of tackles the more the game develops and as players get stronger.

BU’s center has a brain donation registry for athletes to study effects of trauma on the brain and spinal cord.

Stern also said he hears “frequently from former players…of them being aware of their memory slipping or behavior changes that they’re now becoming more and more concerned about because of awareness of CTE.”

With the registry option available, the NFL should partner with each team to examine current players for signs of CTE. Utilizing this method, the NFL can try to get help for the players that are dealing with the struggles of CTE.

CTE has also been called the punch-drunk syndrome and pugilistic dementia. Career boxers who have suffered repeated blows to the head have been known to develop the syndrome.

It is believed largely to affect aging boxers and football players who have experienced crushing blows to their heads.

Recent studies suggest the reason football players are likely to have CTE may be the result of blows to the brain they have suffered on the football field.

The effects are mainly neurobehavioral.

These symptoms include poor decision-making, behavioral problems, failure at personal and business relationships, use of drugs and alcohol, depression and suicide. The list of players who have experienced these symptoms goes on and on.

As fans who love the players and big hits, we must remember that football players risk their lives every day to entertain and please us. After the uniform, equipment and black eye paint are removed, they are still humans who can get hurt.