PITTSBURGH (NEWSRADIO 1020 KDKA) — Legendary Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis knows a few things about concussions – he suffered his share during his playing days – and now he’s working with Dick’s Sporting Goods to help increase awareness about testing for concussions.

Bettis talked to KDKA AM’s Larry and John about PACE (Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education), a program designed to help combat concussions in youth sports that promises to test one million kids across the U.S. for concussions.

“I’m glad to have partnered up with Dick’s in this new initiative,” Bettis said. “In terms of trying to help young athletes. People can say that I’m a guinea pig, in a sense that I wish I would of had the education, in terms of concussions, because I’ve had quite a few during the course of my career. I wasn’t educated about it and probably went out on the field when I shouldn’t have.”

Bettis said the difficult part of the concussion process is the desire to play, even when injured.

“You don’t want to be held out for something that you can’t necessarily feel or something you can’t see, something you can’t hear,” Bettis said. “Because you have that situation, you struggle with it.”

Listen to Larry & John’s interview with Bettis here:

The six-time Pro Bowler also weighed in on how the 2011 Steelers look for this season. Bettis said he doesn’t see any major points of concern.

Bettis said due to the lockout, this year is different than most, saying there are going to only be about eight to 10 teams who have a chance to win a championship.

“All the teams that are changing offenses, adding new quarterbacks, that’s making huge personnel decision in terms of offense or defense, those teams probably won’t be ready, in terms of a competitive football team, until mid-October,” Bettis said.

Bettis talks about the PACE program on Pittsburgh Today Live:

RELATED LINKS:
Dick’s Sporting Good’s PACE Program
New Program Focuses On Kids & Concussions
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