Hunter
07/24/23
A former Hawkeye offensive lineman has pledged his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation.
The Gazette reports Dr. Jay Bickford has been a professor of social studies education for the last 14 years at Eastern Illinois University after teaching and coaching at Mid-Prairie High in Wellman for nine years. He lettered as an offensive lineman for the Hawkeyes in 1998 and 1999, Hayden Fry’s last season as Iowa’s head coach and Kirk Ferentz’s first.
The 47-year-old said he had his first seizure about a year after he was done playing football. He then learned about CTE, a degenerative brain disease found in people who have experienced repetitive brain trauma. Symptoms usually don’t occur until years after the traumas are experienced, and the disease can only be diagnosed post-mortem.
Bickford is on anti-seizure medication and does things to build up his cognitive resources after learning that doing diverse activities helps keep individuals from having symptoms emerge.
Based on what’s happened to him, Dr. Bickford forbade his son from playing the sport. He told the Gazette he participates in a yearly research study for the Concussion Legacy Foundation, and has willed his brain to the organization to continue their research.