The concussion specialist does not sound very knowledgeable to me. He sounds very old school. I doubt your problems are from just the one concussion. It is far more likely that during your years playing football you received many if not thousands of sub-concussive impacts. There is adequate evidence that Post Concussion Syndrome can follow an accumulation of sub-concussive impacts without any diagnosed concussions.

To take this issue to the extreme, there are situations where teen athletes have developed CTE without ever suffering a diagnosed concussion. The brain damage from an accumulation of sub-concussive impacts is greatly ignored if not denied.

Your PCP likely prescribed Elavil (amitriptyline) to help you sleep and reduce your head aches. It is a common prescription. You may want to try putting the ice pack on your upper neck at the based of your skull. Most head aches manifest from there.

My best to you.