Last Sunday, Miami Dolphins Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion. I'm not a neurologist; I wasn't there; I saw it on television after the fact. But that was a concussion. He hit his head. Stood up and shook the "cobwebs" out of his head, took a few steps and stumbled forward. Looking at that, it was plainly obvious that he had a concussion.
The Dolphins medical staff let him back in the game after passing a concussion protocol.
Then, four days later, he suffered another concussion in a Thursday night game that was so severe he entered "fencer's pose" where his fingers curled up and his arms went rigid. It was scary and disturbing to see. After going to the hospital, he was released and flew back to Miami with his team.
The NFL Players Association is furious, as are outside watchers. What we know about concussions has exploded in the past few years. We know how dangerous accumulated concussions can be. We know how repeated concussions - especially those close together - can create long lasting cognitive and psychological issues. Junior Seau killed himself because of brain damage he received playing football.
The defense of "he passed the protocols" isn't a defense; it's an indictment of the protocols.
The NFL better get its shit together before someone dies on the field.
No comments:
Post a Comment