Cleveland Browns return man/receiver Josh Cribbs put something out in the open that the NFL would probably would have preferred stayed under wraps.

Cribbs told the Canton Repository that football players often hide concussions and don't tell the truth to the team's medical personnel in order to go back into games.

“A lot of guys don’t report concussions,” Cribbs told the paper. “Guys are thinking they’ve got to support their families."

Indeed, as the old saying goes, N-F-L stands for "Not For Long" with the average career lasting less than four years, and with players wanting to maximize their earning power during what time they have to collect a check for playing professional football.

As Cribbs pointed out, players who gain a reputation for being prone to concussions might be writing themselves a ticket right out of the league sooner than they might ordinarily have done. So, some players are willing to make the long-term trade off of being able to fully function later in life for the short-term gains a lucrative NFL paycheck can bring.