Ben Utecht knew that life in the NFL

would require a lot of blood, sweat, and bruises.

But he never imagined that his dream career

would cost him his identity.

ANNOUNCER: Ben Utecht had a successful career

as a tight end in the NFL.

He played with the Indianapolis Colts

when they won Super Bowl 41 in the 2006 season.

But Ben's success didn't come without bumps and bruises.

He suffered five concussions during the years

he played and by 2009 was experiencing

memory loss at the age of 28.

In his book, "Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away,"

Ben shares an emotional love letter to his family

and tells how faith keeps him strong as he

faces an uncertain future.

Please welcome to "The 700 Club" Ben Utecht.

Ben it's great to have you here.

Thank you so much.

Let's talk for a moment about memories

because that's really what you write so much

about in the book.

And you say that memories-- we might not realize it

until we face something like you have--

but they really define who we are.

They are our past, and we're creating them in the moment

that we're in.

Talk a little bit about when you first

realized that you were losing some of yours.

Well, it was after I retired from the game.

And we moved back to Minnesota, which

we call the land of memories.

And it wasn't until I found myself

sitting around the table of family and friends,

talking about the past, and realizing

that many of those memories were no longer there.

Yeah

Memories like being in one of my best friend's wedding

as a groomsman, as a singer--

Now that was a shocking story.

--it's just completely gone.

And for the first time in my life,

I began to realize that we really are living memories.

Our relevance as human, what connects us to the people

that we love, to the things that we are passionate about,

only live in what we can remember about those things.

You had your first concussion when you were pretty young,

a child really.

You've had five and have had some residual injury

as a result of that.

But in the beginning- I mean I remember this,

my sister had an accident as a kid.

You had a concussion, it was like you just

kind of laid low for a little while.

But new research has shown it's pretty serious.

Well, a concussion is a traumatic brain injury.

And so it definitely is much more serious

than we have given it credit for in athletics.

And, like you said, all growing up

in high school sports, college sports,

and even the documented concussions

that I had in the NFL really kind of fell

into that category of getting your bell rung.

Get back up and get back in and play.

And my exit from the NFL was really timely

because it was at a time when the concussion crisis was

really coming to the surface.

And I think we're really heading in a good direction.

You really played a role in bringing that all

to a head with the Football League

and the legalities of all of this for players.

That had to be pretty intense.

And it was a long, drawn out process.

Well, it was very intense.

And to be honest with you, if someone would have told me

that I would be advocating for the injury that took me away

from the game I love to play, I would have said no way.

It's not fun to talk about.

And I love football.

You know my message has always been pro-brain pro-game.

Yes.

How do we make the game safer, how do we make it better,

and how do we take care of athletes

so that we can continue to love watching the game that

gives so much entertainment?

You-- even when you were injured,

not just with your concussions but other injuries,

I don't think this is uncommon in football--

but you play with the injuries.

I mean you went back on the field

before you had recovered from some of these.

And you really, in some ways, you don't have an option.

Because, I'll put it this way, but they kind of own you--

Right.

--a little bit.

Well, you know, that was one of the biggest things that

was a surprise to so many family and friends,

in the writing of this new book is how many injuries I faced.

Not just the concussions.

But from my junior year in high school, from my 11th grade

year, there wasn't a season that went by that I did not

have a serious injury.

And the lessons that I had to learn, especially

about my faith, through that process.

And the surrender that was involved in that,

to give all the trust over to the Lord,

is the only way that I could have made it through.

Yeah.

Well, really you get shot with stuff, and you're taking stuff,

and you're toughing it out and enduring but not

without some long-term ramifications.

Your book is called "Counting the Day

While My Mind Slips Away."

Yeah, pretty inevitable.

Yeah.

Well, talk about that title, where it came from.

Well, the title is actually the first line of a song

that I wrote for my wife and daughters,

called "You Will Always Be My Girls."

And it was a song that was put forth as a challenge to me

by a producer and friend, Rick Barron, who just challenged

me write to write a letter that deals with some of my greatest

fears, which I had not yet faced at that time.

And so I did.

I set out, wrote a letter, and we turned it

into a song that is not only about my personal story

but really a song that's designed

to get people to emotionally connect

to how important their mind and memories are.

Right

Just like that's what the book is supposed to do.

And when you do that, how does that change the way

you value every moment?

And then when you value every moment better,

you have more purpose.

You live differently.

You live differently.

We have a short clip of that music video.

We'd like to share with you right now.

So let's watch.

BEN UTECHT [SINGING]: I'm in here counting the days,

while my mind is slipping away.

I'll hold on as long as I can to you.

Wow, it's a powerful video.

I'll tell you more about it in a few minutes.

But a lot of what you're doing now

is raising awareness about traumatic brain injury.

I think people are becoming more aware of it.

Do you?

I absolutely do.

And I think the critical part though

is just what's the message.

What messaging are you're using, especially

since we have 20 million children in this country.

What do we do about it?

Exactly, what do we do about it.

And what kind of a message do we give

parents that is actually-- that they can use,

that's got some meat on the bones.

And that's I think what's been so critical for me is not

to give a message of fear.

But there's a way to make smart choices and smart decisions

so that your children can still enjoy

playing the contact sports that teach them so many lessons.

You have four beautiful daughters, a gorgeous wife.

But if you had a son, would you let him play football?

The number one question. [LAUGHTER]

You know, I've tried to fall as politically correct as possible

on this because there is so much fruit that can come out

of being a part of the team.

Yeah.

And there's no greater team sport, in my opinion,

than football.

And so really what I would do is I would

listen to the neurologist.

And the neurologist will tell you

that a child's brain is going through its most

developmentally important stages from 2 to 12.

So if I had a son, I would try my best

to protect him during those times,

and then allow him as his body has matured

and as he's gotten stronger, to step into that position.

So really you're talking about starting tackle football

in eighth to ninth grade versus second grade today.

And I think that would save six years of head to head contact.

Well, the book is an amazing account of your life

and all that's happened to you with regard to this.

We are skimming the surface as you know. [LAUGHTER]

I want you to know the book is fascinating.

And you'll never watch another football game quite the same

after you read it.

The book is called "Counting the Days While My Mind Slips Away.

It's available wherever books are sold.

And you can also watch a web exclusive interview with Ben

on our Facebook page.

Just go to www.facebook.com/700club.

While you're there, watch that music video,

"You'll Always Be My Girls.

That's on our Facebook page.

And Ben, we just thank you for being with us, and for the job

you're doing.

I'm supposed to say, "Go Vikings" to you too because I

know you're a Packers fan.

And I'm going to forgive you for that because [LAUGHTER] I

have God's grace.

But as a Green Bay girl, go Pack!

[LAUGHTER] Here's a little sample

before we go to break of the video.

BEN UTECHT [SINGING]: You'll always be my girls.

You'll always be with me.

You're the beauty of my world.

And no matter how tomorrow unfurls,

you'll always be, you will always be my girls.