George Visger

Turning Tragedy into Triumph
I began playing football at 11 years old in Pee Wee Pop Warner, and suffered my worst concussion of my 12- year football career my 3 rd year, when I was knocked unconscious in a Bull in the Ring drill and hospitalized.

I played two seasons varsity at Amos Alonzo Stagg High in Stockton CA, where our only loss was a bowl game my Jr year. We finished my 1975 senior season 11-0 and ranked 3rd in CA behind the co-National champs Rancho Cordova and Loyola high. I was selected All Everything and All American Top 100 before I attended the University of Colorado on a football scholarship, where I majored in Fisheries Biology, and played in the 1977 Orange Bowl.

I started 3-years at defensive tackle, was Honorable Mention All Big 8 in 1979 and selected by the NY Jets in the 6th round of the 1980 draft. I played with the 49ers in 1980 and 81. During the 1980 season, I sustained a concussion against the Cowboys, yet played the entire game by clearing my head with smelling salts as told to me by the trainers two weeks later. I have no memory of that game nor playing the Rams the following week.

Early in the following 1981 Super Bowl season, I developed hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and underwent 3 emergency VP shunt brain surgeries in 8 months and was given last rites at age 23.

After a multi-year Work Comp legal battle to get my hospital bills paid, I was the first NFL player to win a Work Comp case in 1986 and returned to school to complete my Biology degree. During a 10-month period in 86-87. while enrolled in Chemistry, Physics and Pre Calc courses, I survived five emergency brain surgeries and several gran mal seizures. Despite developing dyslexia and major short-term memory deficits, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Biological Conservation and minor in Social Science in 1990, and began a career as a wildlife biologist. In 1994 I survived a 9th brain surgery and returned to work as a wildlife biologist two weeks later. I taught high school biology, algebra and chemistry for 2 1/2 years before returning to work as a biologist in 1999. In 2003 I founded Visger and Associates Inc., Environmental Consulting, and The Visger Group, Traumatic Brain Injury Consulting in 2010.

I've been featured on CNN, NPR, ESPN Outside The Lines, and media throughout the US, England, Germany and Brazil. In 2010 I consulted directly with Dr. Rich Ellenbogen, co-chair of the NFL Head, Neck, and Spine Injury Group on rule changes to reduce TBI in football, and many of my suggestions have been implemented to date. The Sport Digest published my recommendations as The Visger Rules 12/10/10.

I conduct Traumatic Brain Injury Recovery seminars and motivational speeches, co-authored an eBook memoir in 2012 with Irv Muchnick, “Out of My Head; My Life In and Out of Football,” and has published in;
Slate Magazine 2015 A Dangerous Game http://Www.slate.com/tdevestating_repurcussions_of_football_head_injuries January 2015,

US News and World Report 2013 Should Football Be Fundamentally Changed http://Www.usnews.com/author/george_visger February 2013

Sport Digest 2010 The Visger Rules - Recommended Changes to NFL Rules http://thesportdigest.com/2010/12/visger-rules-recommended-changes-to-nfl-rules/).

Mr. Visger has also been the recipient of several awards over the years including:
· 2014 Moving Mountains, TBI Survivor Advocate of the Year
· 2012 CA State Senate Award, TBI Advocacy
· 2012 Brain Injury Association of CA, TBI Survivor Volunteer
of the Year Award
· 2001 Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame, Individual Induction
· 1998 Stockton Athletic Hall of Fame, 1975 A.A. Stagg High
Team Induction
He was featured in the Family Connect Care 2020 podcast; Unlocking the Doors of Dementia https://familyconnectcare.com/dementia-podcast/

In 2019 he settled a 38 year legal battle for Work Comp benefits to get his medical bills paid. His biography; Facing Giants: My 38 Year Battle will be published in March of 2025 during Brain Injury Awareness Month and George will be featured in Susan Sember’s (Silverlight Productions) theatre movie; Beyond The Game in 2025.