The NFL and Miami Dolphins have been feeling the backlash from the NFL world in direct relation to quarterback Tua Tagovailoa‘s gruesome head injury. On Thursday Night Football against the Bengals, Tua was slammed to the ground by the Bengals defense where he remained for an extended period of time. An audience of millions looked on in horror as one of the more awful concussion injuries in recent memory played out. This was mere days after what many believe to be a similar injury affected Tua received criticism from fans and media.
The Background
Later that night, the world was informed that thankfully Tua was conscious and had all feeling in his extremities. It has probably been the only good news about Tua’s health since Sunday, when all of this started. This past Sunday, Tua received what many believed to be allegedly his first concussion.
Tua was pushed to the ground, and it looked like the back of his head slammed off the grass. His hands immediately go up to his head before he’s able to get up. He attempted to run forward before stumbling and ultimately being held back by his teammates. He went into the locker room for further testing and to the disbelief of many, came back out. The thing was, he looked different in a good way, because he played well. He looked good postgame. The Dolphins won the game. The Dolphins called it a back injury, but a lot of people didn’t buy it.
The NFLPA and NFL called for an investigation into the independent neurologist, one of whom attends every game, and the Dolphins themselves. They wanted to know if/how both parties came to the conclusion that Tua was fine but unfortunately the problem is that conclusion may have been wrong and/or the investigation wasn’t quick enough. As a result, we saw that dreadful image of Tua knocked out at midfield.
Fans, media, and even doctors are letting their opinions be known.
It’s hard to blame them. The optics of this are dreadful. The NFL has been dealing with safety protocols with concussions for years now. To react to something so visceral and abhorrent is understandable, and a lot of these people may be right. It is very easy to condemn all parties involved.
The Other Side
However, you have to look at the other side of it as well. It’s easy to be an armchair doctor or to have hindsight. Concussions are notoriously difficult to diagnose. Tua could’ve passed every concussion protocol, which the Dolphins say they gave him every day up until the game. A lot of people have pointed at the stumble he had Sunday, but he could’ve passed a balance test in the locker room. That does bring up questions about the protocol. Is it good enough? Do changes need to be made to it? It’s hard to say that they don’t need to be reevaluated right now.
It’s also odd how the Dolphins continue to seemingly put their foot in their mouths on this. Head coach Mike McDaniel was quoted as saying it was “just a concussion”. He also went on to talk about how Tua was immediately discharged from the hospital and flew back that night with the team.
There are a few things wrong with that. Phrasing Tua’s head injury like that is jarringly deaf to the tone of the NFL right now. One can assume he meant he was thankful for there being no neck/spinal damage. He went on to talk about that. You then add on the fact he got on a plane so quickly after the fact. Not one person who’s ever flown isn’t going to think about the elevation and pressure changes that do to someone. It seems like at every turn the Dolphins and the NFL show how careless this is being handled.
The Bottom Line
The fact of the matter is no one outside of these organizations knows what procedures took place prior to Thursday’s injury. Only the neurologist, the Dolphins, and Tua know for certain. The NFL is trying to learn as much as it can and will act accordingly. But the optics on this are a health, safety, and PR disaster. It is frustrating because something obviously went terribly wrong despite everyone doing everything right. Or someone cut corners and put a player’s livelihood at risk. Pending the NFL’s investigation, the NFL community will have to take one of these hard-to-swallow pills, and undoubtedly there will be no satisfying short-term outcome.
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