When you think of professional wrestlers, you may not think of Harvard University, but that's exactly where Chris Nowinski was educated before he became one of the hottest young wrestlers on the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) circuit.

A three-year letterman and two-year starter at defensive tackle for Harvard, Chris graduated cum laude in 2000 with a degree in sociology. He's a passionate athlete who played four sports in high school and senior year was captain of both his football and basketball teams.

After graduation, Chris joined Trinity Partners, a consulting firm in the Boston suburbs. But to take on a new physical challenge, he started going at night to the professional wrestling school founded by legendary former wrestler, Killer Kowalski.

He caught his first break by winning a spot on MTV's reality TV show Tough Enough, in which 13 wrestlers competed for a contract with the WWE. He was known as Chris Harvard.

Chris loved it. "I didn't win, but was one of two runner-ups, and I decided to stick with wrestling.

"Things really started rolling after that. 18 months after first stepping into the ring, I was on Monday Night RAW," which was WWE's flagship program. "The show was live improvised theater in front of millions of people. At the end of six months, I was voted Newcomer of the Year."

But there was a problem, which Chris summarizes concisely. "I started getting kicked in the head too much."

In 2003, Chris received the final concussion of his life.

"I didn't think I had a concussion. I wrestled for three more weeks, with headaches and deteriorating mental faculties. I thought that was what I was supposed to do."

When Chris and another wrestler were driving out to a match, he admits, "I really fell apart. I was having trouble keeping up a conversation with my driving partner. He called ahead and told them not to let me wrestle."

"I was very stressed out and didn't believe them. But the next night there was a violent episode where in the middle of sleep I stood up on the bed and tried to climb the wall. My girlfriend couldn't wake me up and was terrified. Eventually I jumped onto a nightstand and destroyed it, still didn't wake up, and eventually woke up to broken lamps and furniture. I was scared to go back to sleep."

The head of the WWE, Vince McMahon, told Chris to take a little time off.

Chris eventually saw seven different doctors, and everyone was surprised he wasn't recovering. Finally he saw Dr. Robert Cantu, Chief of Neurosurgery Service and Director of Sports Medicine at Emerson Hospital.

"I learned the reason I wasn't bouncing back from this concussion was that I had been suffering undiagnosed concussions regularly throughout my football and wrestling careers, and the cumulative damage seemed to have finally caught up with me.

"Here I was, a Harvard grad who had been competing for over ten years, and I didn't understand the truth about concussions. The 30-second speeches coaches give you about concussions never stuck. I began to realize few athletes understand the long-term risks of concussions, which include Attention Deficit Disorder, Alzheimer's disease, memory impairment, and depression.

Still, it was hard for Chris to give up wrestling. "Only after I had symptoms for a year did I decide not to go back." But then he started investigating more about head injuries.

"Four guys retired from my college team due to concussions. I called them, realized they were still struggling years later, and decided it was worth my time to write a book."

First he had to get better. "I couldn't do anything while I was recovering. For eighteen months I was a real mess. I worked a little as a spokesman for the WWE. But I mostly just suffered through it.

"After that, I started working on writing and research, and it became my therapy. My writing at the beginning was terrible, and my focus wasn't that great.

"When I started to figure out how to get book published, I found a good agent, but publishers didn't care about concussions. We started shopping the book around in 2003, but didn't sell it for about two years.

"I had the information in my head and the platform of being an ex-high profile guy. It was a short-term bridge for me. Finally the first small publisher we approached snatched it up. Financially it was not that worthwhile, but it was something I had to do."

The book, Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis, has received critical acclaim. Bill Littlefield, host of National Public Radio's ‘Only a Game' said "Nowinski has done current and future football players a terrific service with this book. Now if only those players, coaches, and parents for whom it is meant will read it."

Chris also founded a non-profit organization called Sports Legacy Institute, which seeks to understand - and educate people about - neurodegenerative conditions caused or accelerated by traumatic brain injury.

In January of 2007, Chris led an investigation that determined the suicide of 44-year-old former NFL star Andre Waters was linked to his depression caused by multiple concussions. He then helped a number of other former NFL players come forward with their stories of the after-effects of head trauma.

Says Chris, "I am amazed at the progress we have made. The NFL recently decided to eject people out of the game for direct helmet-to-helmet contact. Phase one is over. The transition is over."

Chris is still a performer who likes to be in the spotlight. He gives numerous speeches about head injuries, and also served as the political correspondent for the WWE's Smackdown Your Vote! Campaign, an effort to encourage Americans ages 18-30 to register and vote up until he led the investigation into the Chris Benoit tragedy, where in June of 2007 Nowinski's former colleague Benoit killed his wife and seven year-old son before committing suicide. When the Sports Legacy Institute found he had extensive brain damage from years of trauma, WWE quietly let him go.

But this Harvard educated athlete, one who relishes intellectual as well as physical challenges, knows how lucky he is. He had the smarts to succeed, but he almost lost them. Like countless high school and college athletes, he initially did not realize that "getting your bell rung" isn't a rite of passage, it is a threat to your long-term health. Fortunately, Chris is now spreading the word.

To learn more, visit Sports Legacy or Concussion Crisis..