Mark Robinson: Jake Kelly discusses concussion factor in retirement, which players are in head-knock danger?
Jake Kelly says concussion was a contributing factor to his retirement at the end of the 2024 season. Mark Robinson writes, Kelly isn’t the only one at or near the concussion “red zone.”
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He’s a smart, adventurous type Jake Kelly. At 29, he retired from the AFL because he was yearning for a life of travel post-footy and, in part, because he was worried about the head trauma he had suffered throughout an 168-game career.
He left the game with faculties intact – physically and mentally – but acknowledges the fear of cognitive impairment later in life was a fear he could not ignore.
As effects of concussion consumes athletes and collision-sports bodies around the world, Kelly departed Essendon “fulfilled” by his two-club career.
“The large majority of the decision to retire was based around the fact I wanted to move on to the next stage of my life, I wanted to travel, I wanted to get into the business world,” Kelly said.
“There was a small factor (in that) I was hesitant to keep on playing, based on the fact I didn’t want to keep getting repeated head-knocks.
“Was that the determining factor retiring? Absolutely not. Was it a contributing factor? Absolutely, it did have an impact on my decision. But it definitely wasn’t the sole reason or the main reason.”
Kelly suffered four concussions in the past four years which, according to concussion experts, puts him in the “red zone”.
An Oxford University study in 2023, which had 15,000 sports and non-sports participants, found that having just one moderate-to-severe concussion could have a long-term impact on brain function. The researchers found that people who reported three or more concussions had significantly worse cognitive function, and it got successively worse with each subsequent concussion after that.
In contrast, the Concussion and Brain Health Position Statement (2024), which was formulated by the Australian Institute of Sport and is the universal guideline for all collision sports in the management of concussions, says “where three concussions have occurred within a 12-month period, consideration needs to be given to missing a season of contact collision sport’’.
The Oxford report clearly states if a person “has experienced three or more even mild episodes of concussions (he or she) should be counselled on whether to continue high-risk activities”.
Data obtained by the Herald Sun shows that 29 AFL players had collected three or more concussions over the past four seasons. Potentially more alarming was that concussions suffered before 2020 and suffered in junior football were not included.
Kelly was one of seven players to have recorded four concussions and one of those players, Josh Battle, earlier this month signed a six-year deal with Hawthorn worth an estimated $850,000 a season. Clearly, the Hawks did not have a concern.
Port Adelaide’s Todd Marshall registered five concussions, the last being in the semi-final win over Hawthorn, which raised concerns about his future in the sport.
Topping the list with six were Adelaide’s Will Hamill, who was delisted in early October, and Western Bulldog Anthony Scott, who suffered three concussions in 2022 and another two in 2024. Scott, who played 22 games in 2023, managed only two games in 2024.
The data showed that 19 players have accrued three concussions, while another 76 players have recorded two concussions.
Kelly, who had just spent a week in Jordan and spoke to the Herald Sun as he was about to board a plane for Kenya for a family holiday, said he was surprised he was so high on the concussion list.
“I had a few recent ones and I think what it fed into (retirement) was I was so excited to get into post-footy, it was just another contributing factor which made the decision really bloody easy,’’ he said.
“I was very happy to keep playing, but it definitely pushed me slightly more in the direction of wanting to retire.”
The plight of great mate and former Crows teammate Paul Seedsman, who retired due to severe concussion symptoms caused by the impact of head trauma, was very personal for Kelly.
“I’m very conscious of it (concussion), because he is a great mate and is still battling with concussion symptoms,’’ Kelly said.
“I was very conscious that I didn’t get to the point where I had risked my long-term cognitive health given I was so excited by post-football in terms of a business career. So I didn’t want to ever risk my cognitive function.’’
He said he was mindful of – but not influenced by – the recent retirements of Angus Brayshaw (Melbourne) and Nathan Murphy (Collingwood) because of head trauma.
“It made me stop and think, but it never made me stop and think to the point where that was going to be sole reason I retired,’’ Kelly said.
“I’m excited about post-footy, I’m really passionate about a lot of things post-footy.”
Retirement to those who know him wasn’t unexpected, despite him being this side of 30 and playing 20 games in 2024.
“I’ve always been someone who was going to retire early, so it wasn’t a surprise decision,” he said. “Because from the moment I got drafted I was very content on leaving before I was completely done. I didn’t want to rot away in the VFL.
“I never loved footy that much. I loved getting better, I loved the people, loved growing as a person, but the purity of the game I was never in love with.
“So, retiring early was always to be something that I did.”
A man surging with the travel bug, Kelly plans to join his fiancee in London next year, travel for six months and perhaps start working in wealth management and/or in the banking sector.
At present, the whole Kelly clan is bound for Nairobi and then will visit the gorillas in Uganda to complete a long-time family visit to Africa.
“I was absolutely privileged (to play AFL),” he said. “I couldn’t care about the games, it was more the people that I met, the memories. I was very fulfilled for that reason and that’s why retiring was such an easy choice.
“I have zero issues with my physical body and my mind, I’m very lucky, no issues at all.”
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