As the NFL continues to navigate uncharted waters in regards to its battle with head injuries, another one of its former players has attributed post-career problems to playing football.

As told to 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, Ohio, and relayed by ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, former Arizona Cardinals running back Chris "Beanie" Wells is now seeking medical treatment for speech and memory issues he believes stem from his days on the gridiron.

A first-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2009, Wells said he recently underwent an MRI after experiencing headaches and struggling to find his words in conversations. The results, he revealed on "The Tim and Beanie Show," his own radio show, indicated that he had suffered "plaque separation" in his brain, meaning he sustained "some sort of traumatic" head injury.

"I'm still not out of the woods yet," Wells said. "But it's coming. I'm hopeful."

The running back initially sought treatment after "about six or seven months" worth of speech and memory slip-ups.

"When you start to feel a little bit indifferent upstairs, it scares you," he said. "So you want to go and get that checked out ... I'm just glad at this point in time I have an answer for it, and I'm addressing getting it squared away."

A three-time Big Ten champion in college, Wells played for the Cardinals from 2009-2012, starting 23 games and rushing for a career-best 1,047 yards in 2011. He worked out for the Baltimore Ravens in 2013 but suffered a torn Achilles before securing a job.