I hate it – and hate is a strong word – when athletes or musicians talk.

Yes, you have a voice, but can it be better than, “Uh, yeah, we gave it 110 per cent out there, just trying to win one for the team.”

In addition to all the pucks I took to the head playing goalie since 1967 (the last time the Leafs won a Cup), I played four years of linebacker, receiver and kickoff/punt returner for my high school team.

I was a grunt.

Go get ‘em, said coach, head first, with shitty helmets.

So my head’s been knocked around a lot in ways it probably wasn’t designed for.

I’m reading Ken Dryden’s book on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and will report on that later.

Still, it’s a little scary, not to know what’s going on all the time, feeling distant and distracted, and knowing there will be no diagnosis until I’m dead.

Whatevs, I got great support.

Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright recovered from a concussion that forced him to miss last week’s game against the Rams, only to get felled by a bout of food poisoning the day before Seattle’s eventual 21-12 win over Dallas.

Wright said he ate some lasagna on the team’s Delta Airlines charter flight from Seattle to Dallas on Friday, and felt ill immediately afterward.

“I think it was the lasagna,” Wright said. “As soon as I had my last bite, about five minutes later, my stomach got tore up, and, uh, it ws all over from there. … It was coming out both ends.”

Food poising usually doesn’t happen within 5 minutes, unless it’s chemical contamination.

Microbes, even the toxin-producing ones, take a few hours.

Wright said he did not leave his hotel room on Saturday, and that the Seahawks’ doctors came in to give him IVs and some nausea medicine.

“He was in bed all day yesterday,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “Those guys played like crazy to hold (Dallas) down.”

Wright said he felt better by Sunday morning and was able to start against Dallas. He came up big for the Seahawks twice, tallying six tackles, picking off Dallas quarterback, Dak Prescott once and recovering two fumbles.

“Shout out to our doctors and trainers,” Wright said. “They’re tremendous and they took good care of me.”

(that’s the equipment I has circa 1972; the puck hurt, a lot, especially on the head)