Not a huge hockey fan but I've followed Crosby's situation. The thing with concussions in sports is they focus so heavily on the ones that linger and once a guy is fully recovered it's not really newsworthy.

I've seen Bergeron play and to say he isn't fully recovered would be nonsense. Claude Giroux was out with a pretty nasty one, again back and as good as ever.

There's no reason to believe Crosby can't get there as well. Sure he needs to be careful, but I'm sure like any athlete he knows his body and will know when he can get back on the ice. He took some shots when he got back, and while it pushed him back, it's obviously nothing like what he went through with the original concussion.

I was watching ESPN Classic the other day and Mark McGwire was talking about the concussion he received in 1995 after David Cone hit him in the head with a pitch. McGwire was knocked pretty goofy, couldn't stand, had severe balance issues for weeks after. He took a week off, came back and hit well. What was very interesting was how he claimed the concussion forced him to "rebuild his body", and go on to achieve what he did in the late 90s. But that's not something people focus on because he made it a non-issue by working through it.

On a more personal level, I've spoken with a former UFC fighter who dealt with severe post concussion for 18 months. He informed me that it took 3 years to feel completely like himself. In his words, he's better than ever, feels good enough to compete as a fighter and training and teaching on a daily basis.

There are more positive outcomes with this than negative. There's no reason not to believe you or these athletes won't return to top form.