A TBI retired his football dreams at 15. Inside youth sports' pervasive problem
Nov 25, 2025
Clayton Liebman suffered a life-threatening injury on the football field. What to know about concussions and TBIs in youth sports.
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Clayton Liebman was a budding star on the Notre Dame Prep JV team in 2024
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At just 16, the sophomore running back from Scottsdale, Arizona, was building a reputation for being tough to bring down
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He quickly became the centerpiece of his team's offense. I was just hoping to, you know, have a decent role in the team
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And then my coach found out how good I was. and next thing you know, I was getting 30 carries a game, 250 yards, a couple touchdowns
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But that success on the football field turned into a family's worst nightmare in an instant
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Last October 24th, one week after this performance against Higley High School
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Clayton was tackled during a third quarter play. He couldn't get up
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He lay on the field unresponsive and started convulsing. An ER doctor came out of the stands to help team trainers, and Clayton was rushed to the hospital
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I went down, but I had to stay, kind of stay back, yeah
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So he, they did not want me to see what condition he was in
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Clayton suffered a brain bleed. Doctors performed a craniotomy, removing part of his skull to relieve pressure
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He spent nearly two weeks in intensive care, much of it on a ventilator
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He doesn't remember what happened on the field. There's one memory I can think of
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I was in the hospital. I don't think I was talking. I was throwing the football with my uncle
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and I was doing it left-handed because the right side of my body was shut down
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Clayton's injury is a severe example of a sports-related traumatic brain injury
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80% of TBIs are categorized as concussions, which can affect up to 1.9 million U.S. kids each year
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The CDC estimates seven out of ten emergency room visits for sports related concussions are among children ages 17 and under Dr Carissa Niehoff of the National Federation of State High School Associations
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says it's the number one medical issue in high school sports. So the issue's always there. Sports come with inherent risks
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And it's not just football. It's soccer. It's baseball. It's any sport, really
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I mean, our bodies are active and there's a risk that we're going to hurt our head
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All 50 states have laws in place to help protect kids playing organized sports from head injuries
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Several states, along with the NFHS, specifically track concussions. And Dr. Niedhoff notes that nationwide, numbers have remained steady or are declining
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Yet despite the fact that youth sports have tackled the concussion protocol head-on for more than a decade
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traumatic brain injuries still occur. A lot. Concussions account for roughly 15% of all high school sports injuries, according to the CDC
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It's essential for athletes, coaches, and parents to be vigilant and speak up if something doesn't look or feel right
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When the kids don't self-report and somebody may not have seen a play or a situation happen
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we may never know until later. And then they go home and they have these symptoms and then the parents don't know
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and so it can quickly slip through your fingers. Concussions are like snowflake injuries
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Every person that sustains a concussion might experience it a little differently
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In the past, doctors diagnosed concussions on a grading scale using indicators
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like the type of impact suffered and whether or not someone lost consciousness
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But that approach is now outdated. While symptoms and recovery time may vary from patient to patient
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concussions are now diagnosed and treated on an all-or-nothing model. Either you've experienced enough force
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to trigger a concussion, or you haven't. Dr Ginger Yang is a principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research at Nationwide Children Hospital in Columbus Ohio She specializes in youth concussion diagnosis and recovery and said the most important thing a coach or parent can do if they suspect a concussion is keep the player on the sidelines
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Athletes who have suffered a concussion are four to six times more likely to suffer a second one
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When you have a concussion, seeking care right away so you can recover sooner and also get enough rest before you go back and waiting until you're fully recovered going back so you will not have additional concussion
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Dr. Yang also mentioned one of the factors that could lead to injury or concussions is when kids specialize in one sport and the pressure to perform that comes with that
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Athletes are supposedly tough. You never say like you're tired or whatever because you're tough
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So sometimes they push too hard. That could be impact on the athletes, not only physically
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but mentally. Dr. Niehoff agrees that's often the toughest part. Kids and coaches want to push
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through to reach a goal or win a game. That's where education about the symptoms and signs of
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concussions becomes so important. Especially with the student athletes themselves. to say, hey, if you get dinged, it's okay to say timeout for me
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My head got banged and I'm not feeling right. NFHS guidelines stress minimizing the risk of head injuries by using protocols and protections before kids even play a game
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We got rid of the bull in the ring drill. We got rid of some of the named drills that used to be central to football
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not hitting the ball so much in soccer, wearing helmets in baseball and softball
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lacrosse for boys, just looking at better protective ways to approach practice and play Even with those precautions an injury like Clayton can happen without warning and change everything They think his potentially had been happening in the whole
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game. So he was tired, but he still felt like he could still play. So there wasn't really any other
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symptoms. Clayton completed over six months of intensive rehab to restore his speech and many
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of his motor skills. He had to strengthen the right side of his body and learn to walk again
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His recovery continues, and he's currently repeating the 10th grade. Before my injury, I was a straight-A student, taking honors and AP classes
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and I had to get rid of some of those classes, but I'm still doing pretty good
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Yeah, I'm getting better and better, getting more used to it, yeah. He has, yeah, resilience, grit, all of it
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He was the same way with his ACL when he was recovering from that. He never, why me? Why? Just, all right, now what do I do to get back
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And he was the same way with us. So it's just kind of his mentality
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Like many kids, Clayton was all in on his sport. He began suiting up and winning trophies in tackle football in fifth grade
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He still loves the game and became wistful when asked what he'll miss most
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Just playing on a team, you know, supporting my teammates, scoring touchdowns
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It was just a good camaraderie we had. The family is thankful the entire community rallied behind them
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Clayton heard from professional athletes Larry Fitzgerald, Trey McBride, Cam Scadaboo, and Steve Nash
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Teammates visited every day of his recovery, and they still wear Clayton's strong bracelets
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This football season, he returned the favor by coaching them up from the sidelines
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Clayton will never play football on this field again, but he does have some big goals coming up
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His 17th birthday is in December. And he wants to relearn how to drive a car
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For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis
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