Who Wants To Train With Bucs Legend Derrick Brooks?

High school football players who get a physical and a baseline concussion test with Dr. Jonathan Phillips could win an opportunity to train with Bucs legend Derrick Brooks.

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, 2600 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Wesley Chapel, is offering free baseline concussion tests to high school players who schedule a physical with Phillips, a sports and family medicine doctor and founder of the hospital's new Concussion Center. 

Those who receive the baseline concussion test will be entered in a contest to win a prize pack including a training session with Brooks and Executive Suite tickets to a Storm game. The grand prize winner also will receive a Storm jersey and tour of the facility.

Formerly a linebacker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, earning a  Super Bowl XXXVII ring, Brooks is now the co-owner and president of Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League, which plays its home games at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. 

Why Receive A Baseline Concussion Test?

Recent tragedies involving high school and youth football players have highlighted the need for baseline concussion tests.

Phillips founded Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel's Concussion Center located in the hospital's Wellness Center to treat sports-related concussions and educate athletes and parents on preventing concussions. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head that can change the way the brain normally works.

Every year, 1.7 million people suffer traumatic brain injuries, 75 percent of which are concussions. Traumatic brain injuries are a contributing factor to a third of all injury-related deaths in the United States, according to the CDC. And, even if they don't result in death, concussions can cause attention and memory problems, weakness, impaired coordination and balance, hearing and vision problems, impaired perception and emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, aggression and impulse control.

The prevalence of concussions is so acute that, on Oct. 12, 2012, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a new law requiring the Florida High School Athletic Association to to adopt guidelines for the immediate removal of student suspected of sustaining a concussion or head injury, and prohibiting return to practice or competition until a written medical clearance has been received from an appropriate health care provider.

The Florida Hospital Sports Concussion Program uses state-of-the-art protocols including the use of computerized neurocognitive testing software. 

The athletes are baseline tested prior to the start of their sport season on a series of neuro-cognitive tests (25 to 30 minutes). These tests challenge the athlete’s concentration, verbal memory, design memory, reaction time and mental processing ability. 

If a concussion is suspected, the athlete will be put through the same computerized test within 24 to 48 hours following the initial injury and then once again after being symptom free. The results are compared to the athlete’s baseline and used to determine if the athlete can continue playing.

Neurocognitive testing is now used by the NFL, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, a majority of Division I colleges and universities and more than 900 high schools across the country including 18 in Central Florida.

The hospital's sports-concussion experts have been recognized both nationally and internationally for their work on sports-related concussion. 

FHWC is the official orthopedic and sports medicine and outpatient rehabilitation provider of the Tampa Bay Storm. 

Appointments for physicals, including the free baseline concussion test, can be made at 813-929-5350.

To learn more, visit the Florida Hospital Sports Concussion website.