Gene Upshaw’s lasting legacy: Concussion research

A lot of former Raiders were in Tahoe last weekend for the Gene Upshaw Memorial Golf Classic, a star-studded tournament that benefits both cancer and concussion research. The field was packed with former NFL stars like Marcus Allen and former Niner Garrison Hearst and the great Otis Sistrunk.

But a mild-mannered healthcare administrator might’ve been the most important man there.

Tomas D. Hobday is the president of the Tahoe Institute for Rural Health Research. His department is focused on creating the first objective testing mechanism for head trauma and concussions.

“When you have a player that gets a concussion, all of the drivers want to get him back on the field,” Hobday explained. “The players. The coaches. The trainers. And all of the testing mechanisms used are subjective. Our goal was to create an objective test that would take away the guesswork.”