Eric Winston will one day donate his brain to science. (USATSI)

Cincinnati Bengals tackle Eric Winston, who also currently serves as the president of the NFL Players Association, told the Concussion Legacy Foundation on Tuesday that he will donate his brain to concusson research when he passes away as part of the My Legacy campaign. The foundation announced Winston's pledge via its official website.

"Research on this issue is moving at such a fast pace, but each additional piece of scientific data helps inform players about the risks and allows us to make decisions about making the game safer," Winston said. "Ultimately, I want to be a part of that process that helps the next generation of athletes at all levels have a greater understanding of what science says about head trauma and hopefully that will lead to better treatment and prevention."

Winston, who was selected in the third round of the 2006 draft by the Houston Texans, has been the NFLPA president since 2014. During the 2015 season, he openly criticized the St. Louis Rams' handling of quarterback Case Keenum's obvious concussion symptoms, stating that the team should be fined.

An excerpt of Winston's Q&A with the foundation, focusing on players' education on the subject of head trauma, is included here:

How much have players’ perceptions of concussions and head trauma changed since you first entered the league?

I think especially those in my class who were drafted in the mid-2000’s and played for a long time, our careers have run alongside this concussion legacy. When I came in the league, it was still at the point where you might hear, “here’s some smelling salt and get back out there.” There were still lots of big hits over the middle. ESPN was still rolling “Jacked Up” when I was in the league. So a lot of that was still going on. We didn’t understand a lot of it. And in the mid-point of my career, we’ve switched and we’ve changed, and started to understand this whole thing. Even in the last three years it’s evolved. The guys that are coming in the league now, and are two or three years in, are way different than the guys that are 10 and 11 year vets. No one ever wants to leave a game due to injury and risk losing their job to a replacement, but guys these days are willing to risk it in the sense that they know this isn’t a sprained ankle. This isn’t a hurt knee. Their outlook is totally different, and it’s because of this awareness and all the information we’ve been pushing. And that’s a very good thing.

Do you think NFL players are properly informed about the risks of head trauma?

I think we have done a great job of making the information available to players. At the end of the day we want to make sure we are fully transparent about what we know. It is scary to think how fast information on this issue is flowing and often times it is hard to separate the fear from realities of what is out there. When I first got in the league no one was talking about anything. Now, there are movies, documentaries and books coming out, there’s so much information out there and that’s a good thing. Players need to hear from us, namely the NFLPA, about what science says about the risks and then players have a choice to make about what to do. In the long run, we know that embracing, supporting and funding research can help us learn more.