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By BRANDON ZIMMERMAN
(Gainesville, Fla.) Sun

Chris Leak thought he had suffered a concussion. Turns out, his self-diagnosis apparently was wrong.

The University of Florida quarterback suffered a blow to the head during last year's 21-14 win over Georgia in Jacksonville. Leak, who is now on the Chicago Bears, said he played nearly the entire game with blurred vision and a headache. After the game, Leak told Meyer he thought he'd suffered a concussion. But UF doctors and trainers
evaluated Leak and told him his injury was nothing more than a headache.

"I didn't have a concussion, but I didn't know," Leak said two days after the game. "When you get your bell rung in a game like that, you don't know what to think of it."

Concussions have become the most talked-about football injury in recent months.

As large numbers of former NFL players are diagnosed with depression, memory loss, headaches and early onset of Alzheimer's disease, the league is studying the long-term effects of the injury. And Leak's concussion-that-apparently-wasn't illustrates just how difficult it is to diagnose such head injuries.

"It's tough because there's no black and white," said Kyle Johnston, assistant athletic trainer for the UF football team. "It's something you have to be cautious with and it's something we take very seriously."

Florida has used technology to make the diagnosis and treatment of concussions easier. Like hundreds of other schools across the nation, Florida runs all its incoming players through the ImPACT (Immediate Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) baseline test.

The computerized exam measures cognitive function, including memory and reaction time. If a head injury is suspected, players retake the exam to determine the severity.

"It tests memory, visual motor speed, reaction time, impulse control .� .� . these areas," he said. "We go back and test them again on these same tests (if there is a head injury). Then we can see what their visual motor skills are, what their reaction time is."

Very little can be done to prevent concussions in a sport as violent as football. Nonetheless, there are a few ways Florida uses advances in equipment. The Gators give players custom mouthpieces that can help absorb shock. A mold is taken of each player's mouth, and the mouthpieces are made specifically to conform around each player's teeth.

Florida has also taken advantage of recent helmet technology in hopes of preventing concussions. In 2002, equipment company Riddell created a new helmet called the RevolutionT. The helmet's design is different from a normal helmet in that the shell extends across a larger part of the player's jaw.

"We do the best we can to prevent them," Johnston said.

Football isn't the only sport at UF in which its players are wary of concussions. Florida's soccer team also administers the ImPACT baseline test on its players. Like football, diagnosing concussions on the soccer field is not as easy as a torn ligament or broken bone.

"Not one clinical factor can be used to diagnose concussions or determine when to return to action," said soccer team trainer Emily Kiefer.