ALLEN PARK >> At age 33, Haloti Ngata had concerns about his future after 11 seasons in the NFL.
The Lions defensive tackle underwent neurological testing following last season to make sure all is good even though he had only been diagnosed with one or two concussions in his career.
“Just to make sure, with all the things that’s going on with brain stuff throughout the league, you hear that stuff. I don’t want to have problems when I’m older,” Ngata said on Thursday. “I want to be able to raise my kids and be able to play with them when they’re older and still be able to beat them in wrestling matches when they’re teenagers.”
He said it was his agent’s idea.
“He’s always on us about taking care of our bodies and making sure we’re doing things that can help us with stuff after football career. He’s always trying to help our transitions – get us into business and things to do with your bodies,” Ngata said.
He went through a process spread out over two weeks at the CORE Institute in Brighton.
“You get these brain scans and psychological tests and testing you while you’re working out and seeing how your brain is functioning and while you’re at rest,” Ngata said.
The results?
“Brain is good to go, keep on hitting,” Ngata said.
So he’ll continue on, heading into his third season with the Lions. As for the future past the 2017 season, he’ll take it year to year.
“My family and I are in a great spot. My wife and I, we’ve been in this league for a long time and just it all depends, if I’m banged up at the end of the year you start to think about it but if you feel great, the way Caldwell takes care of us, I feel like I could play forever but it’s always year to year,” Ngata said.
Xanders leaves
Brian Xanders, the Lions senior personnel executive, has left the team according to multiple reports.
Xanders, who was hired by former general manager Martin Mayhew, first joined the Lions four years ago. He’s a former general manager of the Denver Broncos.
The team has not confirmed the departure.
It’s unclear if he was fired or if it was a mutual decision that he should leave.
Mayhew credited Xanders with updating and modernizing the Lions’ draft process. He has interviewed for NFL GM positions and is expected to find a position with another NFL team.
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