It's a common scene in pro sports, a player gets hit, or gives a hit to an opponent…and they're down for the count.
Concussions are a big part of sports and now New York State is doing it's part to help young athletes stay safe as well.
It was supposed to be a game to remember, but Saratoga Catholic senior Andrew Hadeka, can't recall any of it.
"I honestly don't remember," he said. “It was pretty much a blank space, that game. I remember warming up, a little bit of the first half and after that it was just nothing. I really couldn't see straight, it was like blurry. And one of my teammates said he actually had to pick me up off the ground because I couldn't really stand up on my own."
Andrew had suffered a concussion.
"It must have been a hit," he said. “The doctor said actually it could have been a week before, it could have been more than one concussion."
His concussion was one of four suffered to players on the Saints program this year, quickly making it an epidemic in high school athletics.
"If you rewind 10, 20 years ago when concussions were thought of as getting your bell rung or something along those lines they really had no idea there were long term implications of somebody getting hit a few times in high school or college that might potentially effect them down the road," said Shenendehowa Athletic Trainer Rick Knizek.
Now the Empire State is doing its part to try and change that perception, in-acting a law next July that requires players suspected of a concussion to be benched immediately. Student athletes can only play again, once they are symptom free for at least 24-hours and cleared by a doctor.
“They're not like sprained ankles where you don't have to be a doctor to know their shelf life,” said Saratoga Catholic Football Coach Stve Rossi. “A couple weeks with a sprained ankle you ice it and you can be back, with concussions what I'm realizing right now is we don't know......what I like about the new rule is it takes away the discretion on our part, you know he looks alright you can put him back in, it's not like that anymore, he's either cleared or not cleared."
"We have a trainer who works every game and she stops in 3 to 4 times a week and whenever there's any question about anybody being dinged up, as far as a head injury goes, they go right to her. She lets you know when they come back, she handles all the tests, she takes them through the whole process...I'd rather it be that way; she makes that decision," said Amsterdam Football Coach Pat Liverio.
It's a decision, by the State of New York and athletic programs that are meant to protect, but also is still a work in progress.
"I don't think 24-hours is long enough quite frankly, because you do it again, you concuss again after that first one and take a 3rd one or a 4th one, we're not just talking about the end of a hockey career, we're talking about the end of the gray matter and functioning as a human being", said CBA Hockey Head Coach Jeff Fraser.
"If you don't know the answers and you don't know the long term effects of this stuff, let's air on caution until we do,” said Rossi. “It's helping, it's protecting the kids, which is the first thing we have a responsibility to do."
"The incidents and frequency of concussions over the last few years has increased quite a bit and now what they are finding is the effects of concussions that are sustained now have significant impacts on people long term, for example, they are tracing the effects of concussions to things such as ALS, Parkinsons, so I think that there is a real sense that we need to start doing something now at this level to prevent those types of things effecting people down the road," said Knizek.
Helping to offer a clear focus on player safety, which is exactly what we need to remember.
On Tuesday morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer will be at the CBA in Albany to push for legislation to improve high school football helmet safety standards to help prevent concussions.
