Carson saw a specialist in 1990, but still suffers the effects of his playing days.
"I like to think the results are due to the concussions I suffered," he said. "I have good days where I'm up and witty and other days where I'm very sluggish. I learned to deal with it. It's a trade-off."
But Carson would not trade in his Super Bowl ring or blame anyone for his medical problems.
"What you do is so special you pay the price. I can't think of many players that would say it wasn't worth it," he said. "It's not the trainers' or the coaches' fault ... concussions are the bad guy."
Carson said his playing days (1976-1988) were still the dark ages of understanding concussions. "They'd ask you what day it was," he said. "That's no true measure of what damage had been done.
"For the most part, it was my decision to go back in the game. It was a different era, there was not a whole lot of research. I don't think anybody knew how serious it was at the time.
"When Steve Young and Troy Aikman, high-profile players, got dinged, then people started to take notice. I can't talk about brain damage down the road."
Carson attended the funeral of Pittsburgh Hall of Fame center Mike Webster last September. Webster was diagnosed in 1999 with brain damage caused by multiple concussions, which set off a myriad of problems leading to his death from congestive heart failure.
"What can be done? Nothing," Carson said. "It's the nature of the game. It's a contact sport. How is technology going to stop that?
"It could be the sudden stopping of the body and the brain continues to go. Especially around the head. I don't care how much equipment you have.
"It's frustrating. But you see more and more players keeling over, and not of Alzheimer's. You can't really worry about it. The best thing you can do is live."
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