A fairly new statistic in football, the "targets" category for pass catchers, has been catching on this year.

Ever since the sport's inception, "targets" has been a prominent theme for quarterbacks in another sense of the word: they are the targets of hard nosed and hard hitting defensive players. And this year, signal callers and other gridiron players have become the focus of heightened safety scrutiny, especially in the National Football League.

This past Sunday alone, three top quarterbacks were knocked out of games with concussions: the Chicago Bears' Jay Cutler, the San Francisco 49ers' Alex Smith and the Philadelphia Eagles' Michael Vick. The injury isn't confined to those standing behind center, of course, but quarterbacks' injury woes are the ones that command the biggest headlines.

It's no coincidence that the heightened caution comes amid a pending lawsuit filed by former players claiming long term health consequences from head injuries. Requiring Cheap Jerseys China sign off from an independent neurologist isn't just good health policy, it is wise public relations.

Of course, there may well be players who continue to fly under the radar as they try to hide concussion like symptoms. When he was a hard hitting special teams player and defensive back during his six year pro career, Tracey Eaton did everything he could to stay on the field, he shared in a recent interview.

Sometimes, after an especially rough hit, the field's white lines would appear to have changed color (purple) or Eaton would feel like cobwebs had crept into his head.

But he wouldn't let on to any coaches that he was seeing proverbial birdies hovering around his head. He also estimated that on three quarters of tackles that he made, one of his shoulders would come out of cheap jerseys joint.

"I don't think a lot of people understand the competitiveness and also the camaraderie on the team once you do make the team," Eaton said. "I wouldn't tell people I'm trying to make the team and to find a way to make it on the field, get on (game) film."

In Eaton's case, the concussions and other physical hardships that accompany an NFL career have not kept him from becoming successful in another arena. He has gone on to become a cheap nfl jerseys successful business leader working with the Amway Corp.

He and his wife, Kimberly, have drawn on their athletic backgrounds (she was a Division I track and cross country athlete) to build a Pro Bowl caliber business, known as the Diamond level. Over the past 17 years, they have worked with a growing team of Independent Business Owners within World Wide DreamBuilders (WWDB), a business training and development organization.

"I would do it again," Eaton said of the toll that playing had on his entire body, including his knees, shoulders and wrists. "I got something out of it that I transitioned into business. The concepts of playing injured, having a go early, stay late' mindset. I wouldn't trade anything for that."

Suicides such as those committed by Junior Seau and Dave Duerson have intensified questions about the long term health implications of concussions. But another reality that may play a factor are the feelings of displacement and depression that come from going from the limelight to relative anonymity, Eaton pointed out.

"Everybody's a little different, but with professional athletes it's almost like a fantasy life that you lead," he said. "Everybody's doing stuff for you, giving you things.

"I think he went through a stage a lot of guys go through if football is very important to them," Gayle said. "He wanted to get involved in something that could replace football."

"With some athletes, the spirit's not right," Eaton noted. "All your success comes from the outside in instead of from the inside out. When you get older, now what do you do to fill that bottomless pit?"

Helping players make the transition back onto the field after concussions is an important step that the NFL has made. But the league would do well to expand efforts to help these modern day gladiators make the transition from their playing days to the rest of their lives.

In that scenario, great public relations would simply be the residual effect of doing the right thing.