Former Bear Dave Duerson's family donates concussion test kits - Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Friday night kicks off Chicago's high school football season and a renewed commitment to educating coaches, parents and players about concussion awareness.

"I think that's really what we need because a lot of people don't know the risks of having a concussion - especially me, I had two last year," said Martin Shine.

"It's a sideline concussion test which will be able to screen for concussions while kids are playing the game. This is going to happen this football season," said Tregg Duerson.

Tregg Duerson is the son of Dave Duerson - former Chicago Bears' Safety who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound nearly two years ago.

Family members say he suffered from a neurodegenerative disease linked to concussions - they're suing the NFL.

At a news conference Friday morning, Duerson's son says he felt compelled to help reduce the risk of others and through his father's foundation is donating 80 concussion testing kits to Chicago Public Schools.

"Whenever I see a big hit, the first thing on my mind is did this person suffer a concussion and if they did how can we effectively treat this concussion," said Duerson.

Concussions reportedly represent nearly 9% of all high school athletic injuries. At Lane Stadium parents agreed that more safety measures are needed.

"I think it's a great idea. There's a lot of kids that get injured and there's nobody running out to them except the coaches so it would be great," said Jill Kehoe.

"I think that so many children in the past have had concussions that went undetected and then had further concussions after that as they furthered their career," said Cindy Webber.

The sideline kits would include a cognitive test that could be conducted by trained non-medical professionals.

"We've heard it. The role out of it as far as I'm aware has been staggered so we're not sure when it's going to be rolled out," said Matthew Walsh, a football coach at Taft High School.