By: Chloe Xiao
Tua Tagovailoa, an NFL Quarterback has had his fair share of injuries, even receiving a head injury earlier sometime before , but none have hurt him as hard as this one. A strong hit from Bengals defensive tackle Josh Tupou completely knocked him oyt
Tagovailoa later needed to be shown off in a stretcher and later put in a hospital and soon after released to be with his team. Due to NFL policy, he still watched by doctors to determine when he would be allowed back on the field- or even at all.
Many people, especially those who have campaigned strongly for stricter rules on concussions are angry and making it known. A great number of people have also been talking about how while the reported number of concussions has seemed to go down from 275 in 2015 to 187 in 2022 but with some seemingly unreported. However, for people like Tagovailoa, their injury might have been marked off as something completely different or ignored. Tagovailoa had been displaying neurological trauma but had been diagnosed with back pain and was let back on the field once more.
The NFL's stance on this particular subject has always been more relaxed, only adding in new regulations such as the $1 billion fund for all of the NFL’s family or players who suffered from neurological issues from playing the game. Other parts of their protocols show that if a player is confirmed to have a concussion, they have a doctor part of the NFL and also an independent neurologist to evaluate the player
However, the doctor has the final say, and while this would typically be alright, sometimes doctors are able to say that a patient is well despite other signs leading to even worse consequences down the road.
The NFL doctors sometimes appear to not be doing a spectacular job of diagnosing injuries, with some players having their injuries completely ignored and pushed back onto the field. Most of the changes are only occurring due to heavier public pressure about the health and safety of its players.
Brad Sohn, a famous lawyer who has represented and sued NFL on behalf of current and former players multiple times talks a bit about how many of his clients like the Hernandez family has been ripped apart by this with player Aaron Hernandez committing a number of crimes and then committing suicide in jail. Sohn adds in saying that the loopholes in the system are “big enough to drive a truck through.”
Link to Article https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/sports/tua-tagavailoa-nfl-concussion-protocol.html