Former lieutenant Josh McNary appreciates his new NFL career

Thursday's health and safety news from the world of football:

• The Indianapolis Colts website featured linebacker Josh McNary, who left the Army a year ago with a dream of playing in the NFL.

• The Denver Broncos website profiled guard Javier Vasquez, who talked to more than 200 at-risk youths Wednesday night about making the right choices in life.

• CSN Baltimore reported on Baltimore Ravens players who volunteered to help build homes for Habitat for Humanity.

• The Washington Post reported on a study by the Indiana University School of Medicine that said some people may be genetically predisposed to more easily suffer concussions.

• The Virginia Gazette reported that the Virginia High School League announced it will limit full-contact practices for high school football in the state to 90 minutes a week.

• The former vice president at the National Center for Drug Free Sport has claimed in a lawsuit that she was fired after blowing the whistle about a mishandled NFL player's drug test, the Kansas City Business Journal reported.

• Connecticut lawmakers sent a bill that requires coaches to undergo concussion awareness training to the governor  after it was passed by the Senate, 35-0, The Associated Press reported.

• The Idaho Press-Tribune looked at how kids are turning to an NFL-sponsored flag football league in Nampa, Idaho.

-- Bill Bradley, contributing editor