When the clock struck midnight a few days ago, it not only signaled a New Year, but a birthday for former WVU football coach Don Nehlen.
"Yeah," he laughed on Tuesday, "unfortunately."
The College Football Hall of Fame coach turned 80, which is difficult to believe. A blink of an eye ago, he was a spry 44-year old former Michigan assistant taking over the Mountaineers. Even now, he looks good and maintains the energy of a much younger man - albeit one with hip and back problems.
"Birthdays are birthdays," he shrugged. "At least I'm here."
Here. Still fascinating. And the movie "Concussion" gave reason to call the former coach, who still resides in Morgantown.
Nehlen, you see, has always maintained parents start children in the game of football way too early. I've passed along the advice to parents in hopes they'll listen. Usually, to no avail.
Anyway, I wondered if concussions played a part in Nehlen's thinking. In case you haven't seen "Concussion," it's a powerful story about the problem within football and, specifically, the NFL. The picture is centered around the sad end to former Pittsburgh Steeler Mike Webster and other league stars and follows Dr. Bennet Omalu (played by Will Smith), a forensic pathologist who identified CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
If you haven't seen the movie, I suggest doing so. Cinematically, it doesn't rise to the heights of, say, "Schindler's List" or "Casablanca," but it sends one home with a message that sticks. Also, there are many elements to the movie that connect to West Virginia, especially to northern West Virginia.
Of course, there's the link to the Steelers and Pittsburgh. But Dr. Julian Bailes, played by Alec Baldwin, was chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at WVU's School of Medicine for years. (He's now in Evanston, Illinois, and affiliated with multiple hospitals.) Many in our state, including yours truly, were operated on by another central character, Dr. Joseph Maroon.
Even outside the film there are Mountain State connections to the story. Wheeling attorney Bob Fitzsimmons, for instance, helped Webster piece together a medical history before the former NFL star's death. Fitzsimmons was also a leading critic of the NFL's previous attempt to suppress concussion research findings.
The topic is trendy, yes, but mostly disturbing. Football is the United States' most popular sport by far. We cannot get enough of it. Yet the science can't be ignored. Lives can't be ignored. The quality of lives can't be ignored. Fitzsimmons, among others, has called for the game to be played in safer ways.
Which brings us back to Nehlen.
"I just never felt the need for pee-wee football," Nehlen said. "You shouldn't start playing football until the freshman year of high school.
"It's a game that's just not that hard to teach. If it takes you 10 years to learn a game, I'd suggest you probably [should] find another game."
In the past, Nehlen has spoken about how kids burn out if started too early. He's expressed concerns about smaller bones in younger kids that break more easily.
Yet I pinned him down specifically about concussions. His answer was stunning, simple, mind-boggling and, perhaps, brilliant all at the same time.
"I know football players are bigger and faster than when I played ball," Nehlen said. "The reason is because of sophisticated weight programs. And that's fine.
"But when I learned the game, I was taught to block and tackle with my shoulders. The reason is because there were no facemasks. Then, first, there was a single bar across your face.
"When a full facemask was introduced, it became a weapon. Now when an offensive lineman comes off the line of scrimmage, boom, they use their headgear to strike.
"If you want to get rid of concussions, take off the facemasks. Players will turn their heads and use their shoulders then."
Preposterous, right? Or is it?
Look, folks are banging their heads against office walls trying to figure a way to make football safer. Lawsuits have made them do so. Rules have been enacted to soften blows suffered during exciting plays like kickoffs and punt returns. We now have targeting. Officials are calling penalties so often its turning fans off.
Maybe Nehlen's idea is radical. But could it also be great? Could it save the game we love?
"People think I'm crazy," Nehlen said. "But think about it. Headgears are used as weapons now. But girlfriends don't like guys with broken noses. Players will turn their heads, I promise you. And those in charge better do something because participation is going down, down, down."
There are many sides to this. Before players jump up and say no, for instance, consider there would be better face visibility and, thus, marketability. Hey, save lives and make an extra buck too, right? Win-win.
Oh, and Nehlen isn't the only coach to have offered up the plan. Perhaps the greatest of all time did so as well.
"Before Coach [Joe] Paterno died we were talking," Nehlen said. "He said the same thing. He asked me, 'Don, when we played do you ever remember anyone having concussions?' I said, 'No.' "
Certainly there were to some degree. Yet could a solution to such a complex, disturbing problem be so simple? Well, maybe.
"The pros ought to think about it," Nehlen said. "They need a solution because moms and dads out there aren't letting their kids play as much."
Indeed, forget words out of the mouths of babes.
Maybe, just maybe, those in charge of football should listen to the words of an 80-year-old coach.