Did you know that more than four million sports-related concussions occur in the United States each year? Mississippi State researchers are working to erase that number, studying animals known for effectively managing head trauma to reduce the impact of head collisions on the brain and surrounding tissue.

Audio Transcription: You are here about it most every week in the fall. Some player, somewhere, is fighting for his life after a head injury. Those are the days when the game stops being a game. So I started thinking about armors in nature. For example, rams are protected when they collide. Could that guiding principle be applied to football helmets?

We're replicating this process with the hopes of reducing concussions. We're taking strides to save lives.

Why do we do this? For the praise? To be esteemed as research pioneers? No, not at all. This is for them, the kids. We're making sure the game keeps being a game.