Former Super Bowl champion describes daily struggles (video)

"Short term memory's not good," Jim McMahon, former Chicago Bears quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion tells ESPN. "I won't remember a lot about this interview in about 10 minutes." McMahon and his girlfriend give a rare look inside the daily struggles he says were a result of repeated blows to the head incurred during his 15-year NFL career. McMahon and hundreds of other former NFL players are suing the league for allegedly concealing information about the risk of concussions.

ESPN Outside the Lines -- Taking Its Toll (8:12)(video)

The 52-year-old McMahon says he suffered three documented concussions during his career, impacts significant enough that he was unaware of his surroundings. Now he has good days and bad days according to his girlfriend, Laurie Navon, who has programmed the GPS in his car with their home address in case he gets lost. He repeatedly purchases the same books on his e-reader.

The Chicago Bears selected McMahon in the first-round of the 1982 NFL Draft where he won the starting quarterback position as a rookie. McMahon led the Bears to a Super Bowl victory in 1985, where he became the first quarterback in the championship's history to rush for two touchdowns. He returned to win the Super Bowl a second time as a Green Bay Packer in 1996.

On Oct. 12, 1988 the Chicago Tribune reported that McMahon had been evaluated by an athletic trainer on the sideline who said, "He had a concussion, but it cleared by halftime." The NFL has much stricter policies and standards regarding head injury today, as more information on concussions has become available.

Source: ESPN: Outside the Lines -- Taking Its Toll March 18, 2012

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