During yesterday’s Thursday Night showdown between the Miami Dolphins and the Cinncinati Bengals that was shown live on Amazon Prime, a very scary scene happened. The young and talented quarterback for the Dolphins, Tua Tagovailoas, had to be removed from the game after being slammed hard into the ground, suffering from a possible concussion. This was only shortly after last Sunday’s game where after getting knocked down, he lost his balance and fell down, also giving potential signs of a concussion. Despite that, he still continued to play in last Sunday’s game and was clear from concussion protocols for last night’s game. But was he really ready to go back out there after getting hit and knocked down hard? Well, why don’t you just watch him trying to get back up last Sunday and see for yourself.
*Fair warning to readers! I will show the incidents from last Sunday and yesterday of with Tagovailoas. If you find that disturbing, then you might want to click off the rest of this article. I apologize in advance but my point has to get across about how much of a serious matter a player’s health and safety is and that NFL needs to place more accountability on that front for the sake of the sport. Again, you have been warned!*
Once again, that was last Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, less than four days away from the next game against the Bengals. Despite him stumbling to the ground and having a hard time getting backed up, he was allowed to play the next game. Despite having potential signs of a severe concussion, he was allowed to play the next game. Despite the fact that Tua is a young kid with superstar potential and a more severe injury like that could permanently damaged his career, he was allowed to play the next game.
So, what exactly happened to him in the very next game, you may ask? Well, again, see for yourself!
*Again, fair warning of potential graphic content!*
That’s right! The worst possible thing that could have happen to poor Tua the very next game did in fact happen! It’s been reported that he suffered from severe head and neck injuries, even demonstrating a fencing response (go look that up if you don’t know what that means), and have to be taking off the field on a stretcher. With those reports, you would think that he would have to miss some time on the field and spend some time on a hospital bed undergoing treatment, right? Well, you would be wrong!
Just mere hours after being checked in at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Tagovailoa was discharged and was given the complete clearance to fly home to Miami and starting preparing for the team’s next game against the New York Jets.
Despite suffering from a possible concussion not once but TWICE in the same week, he is still considered good enough to keep playing. Something about that just seems so off and I imagine a lot of people agree with me.
How in the world can he be given the clearance to keep going after going through those injuries? How could they think he would be okay to go the next game right after having to be taking off the field on a STRETCHER that he is good to go? I may not be a doctor but I’m pretty sure a simple eye test from the last two games shows that he is clearly not ready to go.
Of course, this is clearly not the first time something like this happened in football where big players are forced to play through injuries in the hopes that they don’t get so bad and can just wait until the offseason to deal with it. However, the matters are made worse when it involves young players like Tua Tagovailoa. A 24-year old with a good heart and sportsmanship with the potential of a superstar level career.
Imagine if this could continue to get worse. Imagine if next week that something even worse happens to him that it not only hurts the rest of the season for him but the rest of his career. All of it tarnished because the medical staff didn’t bother to be more careful and give him the rest and treatment he needs that will benefit him in the long run.
Football is already a hard enough sport to stay healthy in with how tough and aggressive the whole thing is. Every single game involves players getting shoved, tackled, and sacked with tons of bodies flying to the ground in the hopes that they don’t hit it hard with their head, neck, or back. Those that are able to push through those games are brave and noble athletes. However, it is not worth jeopardizing the life of a single player by allowing them to play games they shouldn’t be. I get teams don’t want to lose their star players but if they are not on top form, then that won’t help them much either. That and everything involved with Tua Tagovailoa this week is why NFL needs to look deeper into the player and safety protocols and start holding those who aren’t doing a good enough job accountable. Thankfully, they might just be doing that according to latest reports!
NFL is in complete hot water right now! And that will continue until this investigation is complete and consequences start coming to those involved who gave the okay for the young quarterback to keep playing through his injuries. I predict to see people fired, lawsuits filed, and the league being sued for this disgusting matter! It’s only when accountability comes for endangering the players where the NFL will win back their respect to the fans and public.
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