It was nasty. It was scary. It was rather unbelievable.
I watched Dunta Robinson’s hit on DeSean Jackson on Sunday live and with the sound all the way up. It was as big a hit as I’ve ever seen and I thought Jackson may never get up. It served as a painful reminder of how violent the game of football can be.
But what does the NFL want Robinson to do in that situation? As I wrote on Sunday following the game, do you want Robinson to lay Jackson down like a baby in a crib? Pull his flag? Two-hand touch him? Ask him politely to fall down in front of the first down marker?
You can see from the video that Robinson was already running to the ball after Kevin Kolb threw it. He was playing zone and once the ball was released, he spotted Jackson and ran to break up the pass. He was two steps too late, however, so he lowered his shoulder to try and separate Jackson from the ball. While others may see it differently, he didn’t stop, position himself and then launch into Jackson like a rocket ship coming off a launch bad. It was all one fluid motion.
Don’t misinterpret my defense of Robinson for not being concerned with Jackson’s (or any other player, for that matter) health. I love football and big hits just as much as anyone, but I too get a tingle up my spine when I see a player lie motionless on the turf.
But again I ask: What does the NFL want Robinson to do? Believe it or not, he led with his shoulder – not with his head. Obviously Jackson’s head caught a lot of the blow because it knocked him out, but Robinson still lead with his shoulder, which is what he’s instructed to do.
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, the concussion that Bears’ quarterback Jay Cutler suffered in Week 4 against the Giants was actually his fifth since college.
A November 13, 2004 article in the Tennessean reported that Culter had suffered three concussions while at Vanderbilt and a fourth occurred on the final game of the ’06 season when he was with the Broncos. If that’s the case, this is certainly something that the Bears will keep a close eye on going forward.
The NFL did a great service to its players by making it tougher to return to games or play the next week if they suffer a head injury. They now have to pass a series of concussion-related tests and if the player is still showing even the slightest signs that the injury is still prevalent, then he can’t play under any circumstance.
Of course, if the league is so stringent about head injuries now, it makes you wonder how many players have played with concussions before. It’s almost sad that it has taken this long for the NFL to recognize that it needs to be stricter when it comes to players’ noggins.
But at least they did figure it out and players like Cutler (who is expected to return to action this week after missing Chicago’s win over the Panthers last Sunday) aren’t putting themselves even further in danger than they already are. After all, football is a contact sport – injuries happen. But if they can be avoided, then the league needs to take the steps necessary in order for that to happen.
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According to a report by ESPN.com, NFL teams now have new, stricter instructions for when players should be allowed to return to games or practices after suffering head injuries.
In the latest step by the league to address a hot-button issue, commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to the 32 clubs Wednesday saying a player who gets a concussion should not return to action on the same day if he shows certain signs or symptoms.
Those include an inability to remember assignments or plays, a gap in memory, persistent dizziness and persistent headaches.
The old standard, established in 2007, said a player should not be allowed to return to the same game if he lost consciousness. Nearly one-fifth of 160 NFL players surveyed by The Associated Press from Nov. 2-15 replied that they have hidden or played down the effects of a concussion.
The new policy states, in part: “Once removed for the duration of a practice or game, the player should not be considered for return-to-football activities until he is fully asymptomatic, both at rest and after exertion, has a normal neurological examination, normal neuropsychological testing and has been cleared to return by both his team physician(s) and the independent neurological consultant.”
Teams were told this month they have to find an outside neurologist who can be consulted on concussions, and NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Wednesday all of those independent doctors have been approved and are in place.
It’s good to see that the league can adjust when a rule or regulation needs to be changed. The NFL has a responsibility to its players to protect them from serious, long-term injuries the best it can.
That said, players also need to admit when they’re suffering from symptoms, which will be hard because most players don’t want to show weakness. Hopefully the league and its players will take a more active role when it comes to head injuries.
It’ll be interesting to see if Big Ben plays this weekend given these new rules. It sounds like he hasn’t suffered from any symptoms lately, but the league is going to start paying extra attention to head injuries and his concussion will become a focus.
