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Ex-Chicago Fire player Chris Rolfe struggles daily after concussion

Chris Rolfe circled the Safeway's frozen-food aisles. Once, twice. Colors, lights, the whirl of shoppers, the clickety-clack of carts bombarded the senses.

A third time around.

He had suffered a concussion less than a week earlier, the effects of an inadvertent elbow crashing into the right side of his nose during D.C. United's MLS match at Chicago in late April.

Days had turned darker, fundamental tasks compromised.

He had come to his neighborhood grocery store in Alexandria, Virginia, for gluten-free cookie dough, among other items, but his aching brain wouldn't allow him to organize his thoughts.

A fourth circle.

Confusion. Questions. Anxiety.

On his fifth loop, he recalled, “I just lost it. I was scared and overwhelmed. I realized something was really wrong with me. It made it real.”

The concussion, his first in 10 years and fifth over a 12-year career, has derailed both his livelihood and life.

In his first extended interview since suffering the injury, Rolfe described in vivid detail the daily trials and tribulations of recovering from a brain injury.

He is getting better, turning a corner, he said, “but still not in the clear, by any means.” At least once a week, he attends concussion rehabilitation sessions, which focus on balance and eye movement. He does similar drills on his own. He has begun light exercise both at home and at RFK Stadium.

Comfort comes from visiting a farmers market and tending to his backyard garden.

Resuming his soccer career, though, is far from his mind.

“As some of the symptoms have dulled a little bit, I've been able to restart my life,” said Rolfe, 33. “The first priority has to be getting my life back. I have to be able to feel normal. I have to be able to drive to the grocery store and go inside and come back out and feel normal. I have to be able to read a book. I have to be able to comprehend what I am reading.”

Asked if he has thought about retirement, he wrestles with emotions.

“I would be a liar and an idiot to tell you I haven't thought about it long and hard.”

Rolfe's injury occurred April 30 in Bridgeview, Illinois, his first game at Toyota Park against his former team, the Chicago Fire, since moving to United in spring 2014.

In the 32nd minute, he was pressuring Rodrigo Ramos near midfield when the defender inadvertently elbowed him in the nose. Rolfe remained on his feet. Play continued. He reached to his face several times but remained in the flow of the game.

“It was a solid hit, but nothing you would imagine would cause this kind of trouble,” he said. “I thought it can't be that bad.”

In the locker room at halftime, he said, the contrast between light and dark was striking.

“That was when I knew something was up. It was almost like a dream — fuzzy,” he said. “I thought it was just a sight problem. I should have said something, but I didn't.”

Competitive instincts nudged him back onto the field.

“There was a play; I got the ball and tried to run at guys and just felt off-balance,” Rolfe said. “I felt the ground was moving. I should've asked to come out, but by the time I digested it, I was coming out anyway” in the 72nd minute — his typical departure period during the early stage of the season.

After the match, feeling wobbly and experiencing the same issues with light, he approached head athletic trainer Brian Goodstein. Goodstein summoned Chicago's team doctor, who diagnosed a concussion.

In a statement, United said: “When Chris left the field in Chicago and made our athletic training staff aware of his symptoms, we immediately alerted the doctor on site, which is the first step of the concussion protocol. The physician on site administered the SCAT 3 test, which evaluates the player's symptoms, cognitive functioning and balance, among other functions. The results of this evaluation are compared to the results of a prior baseline test to assist in the diagnosis of a concussion. Once Chris returned to D.C., he was evaluated again by team physicians, who have overseen his rehabilitation and recovery process.”

Rolfe said he took it easy that night at the team hotel and didn't feel too bad the next morning. The team flew home. With two days off, Rolfe stayed in Chicago to visit friends. Rain kept the group inside Sunday. The sun returned the next morning.

“The light was so bright,” he said, “it was like stabbing pain in the back of my eyes.”

He borrowed a friend's bike to ride four blocks for lunch with former teammate Gonzalo Segares.

“I noticed everything. I couldn't concentrate on the road,” Rolfe said. “I couldn't block anything out. I had no filter.”

Upon returning to Washington, he planned to report to RFK on Tuesday morning. As he steered his car onto an I-395 ramp, “I felt like there was a sandbag on the back of my neck,” he said. “It was so heavy, I couldn't keep my eyes open.”

Slow-moving traffic helped him concentrate on the road. He arrived at the stadium “completely worn out and scared.” He went to see Goodstein, then took refuge in the darkened lounge outside Coach Ben Olsen's office.

When he felt better, an intern drove him home. It was the last time he would visit RFK for weeks.

The team arranged appointments with specialists, MRI exams and concussion therapy.

“The first seven days, it continued to get worse and worse and worse,” he said. “And then it hit its peak and hung there for a month to six weeks.

“I couldn't read. I couldn't go for a walk. I couldn't go in the sunlight. I couldn't look out the window. I had my sunglasses on inside the house with the lights out during the day. I couldn't drive. I couldn't ride my bike.”

Rolfe was in regular contact with doctors and team officials. He documented all of his symptoms, the good days and bad.

In recent years, Rolfe has taken undergraduate courses online in an effort to complete his undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Dayton, where he played from 2001 to ‘04.

The concussion forced him to drop one of two courses this summer. “I would read one paragraph four times,” he said, “and still not get it.” Rolfe watches United's matches on TV, but until recently, the color contrasts and movement prevented him from viewing on a wide screen; he watched on his smartphone or laptop.

Absence from the team has compounded his heartache.

“I tend to beat myself up when I am not with the guys, especially if the team is not doing well,” Rolfe said. “It has driven me to go back as quickly as possible. I can't push this one.”

Concussions aren't discernible injuries and Rolfe has sometimes struggled to explain the effects to friends and family.

“It's nice there is greater awareness, so people understand it better,” he said. “They sympathize with me, but no one can really empathize unless they've gone through it.”

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