Former West Morris football player turns traumatic brain injury into inspirational podcast

Jane Havsy | Morristown Daily Record

Show Caption Hide Caption New Research Shows Impacts Of Football On Youth's Brains According to new research conducted by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center's O'Donnell Brain Institute, just a single season on the gridiron is enough to trigger measurable changes in the brains of some school-age football players.

Kevin Saum wants a couple of things to be made clear up front. He isn't opposed to youth sports. In fact, he still enjoys football, even though the sport almost claimed his life 11 years ago.

Saum acknowledged he shouldn’t be here right now, with an undergraduate degree from Rutgers and a Georgetown masters in sports industry management.

Saum hoped to play college football after graduating from West Morris. But that dream ended on Oct. 5, 2007, when he suffered second-impact syndrome on the football field, a traumatic brain injury resulting from cumulative insults.

Saum had experienced severe headaches after a hit on the field a week earlier, but hid his symptoms. After the second impact, he had a grand mal seizure and was airlifted to Morristown Medical Center where he received an emergency craniotomy to relieve the pressure on his brain.

Saum's long recovery was slowed by infection and an allergic reaction. But he beat the odds, since almost 100 percent of SIS survivors have some kind of disability – and 50 percent die.

Physically, Saum was OK – except for a scar curving from his hairline past his right ear. But healing his "identity crisis" took far longer.

"I didn't wake up on Oct. 5, 2007, thinking I was never going to play football again, and that's exactly what happened," said Saum, 28, a Morristown resident. "I wasn't prepared for that. I was backtracking to figure out what's next."

Saum worked for the Rutgers football team, and interned for the Jets while earning his undergraduate degree in sports management. He got more involved with health and safety issues in athletics, and launched the Heads 'N Tales podcast to share stories like his.

"I was trying to heal myself, to find paths to try," said Saum, who has worked for Atlantic Health for three years. "I'm trying to prevent the suffering for other people."

Saum and childhood friend, Josh Boyd, a 28-year-old former Monmouth University centerfielder, also launched weekly discussions about fantasy football – and injuries in the National Football League. They discuss big hits, penalties, and whether rule or equipment changes can make the game safer. Saum analyzes video with the eye of a former player, and Boyd as a fan who was "losing love for football."

"I don't blame football for my injury. I blame the mentality I had as a 17-year-old of sacrificing my body and trying to play through pain," Saum said. "I never listened to my body, telling me to take a break or sit out because I was so hurt."

Now up to 133 episodes – plus NFL recaps – Heads 'N Tales is about to celebrate its third anniversary, not bad for a guy who "didn't know how to record" when he started. It is downloaded about 3,000 times a month.

Read more: Kevin Saum accepts football Hall of Fame award

Football: Natural grass field, mountain mists, late starts all part of West Morris tradition

Saum launched the podcast by introducing his personal story through an interview with his "guardian angel," West Morris athletic trainer Suzanne Barba. Lou Vanorski, an assistant behavioral specialist at Morristown and long-time football coach, was his second guest.

"I knew he was a fighter. I knew he'd do something big. I didn't expect him to sit back," said Vanorski, who coached Saum on the Long Valley Raiders from sixth through eighth grades and is currently the offensive coordinator at Mendham.

"We probably know him locally as 'the kid who had the head injury,' but he's establishing himself with a wider base. He's worked really hard to get his message out there."

Saum highlighted guests like Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand, who broke his neck in a game against Army in 2010; former New Orleans Saints lineman Kyle Turley; Bella Picard, who suffered a spinal cord injury playing softball; and David Vobora, who overcame an addiction to painkillers after his NFL career and opened an adaptive-training facility.

"It's his baby pet project that's become really, really big," Boyd said. "He enjoys having people tell their stories for the first time, like how he got to tell his story. The more stories like that he can get out, he feels really good about that."

Staff writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@gannettnj.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/