Early in the Minnesota Vikings-Baltimore Ravens game on Sunday, Ravens receiver Mike Wallace caught a pass across the middle of the field. Vikings corner Xavier Rhodes was trying to strip the ball while tackling him. At the same time Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo came "torpedoing" in, as he's known to do on occasion, to insure the stop. His target was likely Wallace's chest but ended up being closer to his head upon impact. It should be noted that Sendejo led with his shoulder rather than his helmet. Wallace went straight back, his head smacked the turf, and his helmet came off. Wallace left the game with a suspected concussion and never returned to the game. The never returned part probably confirms the concussion part. On Monday, the league handed Sendejo a one-game suspension. I believe that Sendejo was about a hit away from a suspension due to his frequent "torpedoing" but this hit alone didn't warrant it. Wallace's concussion looked like it was due more to the contact with the turf than with Sendejo. But this isn't about the suspension, the hit, or even the concussion. It's really about Wallace's actions following the decision to keep him from returning to the game. He was visibly hot about it on the sideline. He spent quite a bit of time pleading his case on the sideline. We know that because the CBS broadcast team spent quite a bit of time covering it.
Throughout the head trauma-CTE debate the NFL has been painted as the bad guy and that the players are simply innocent victims. There are no innocent victims. The players have to accept some of the blame for the issues that they may deal with later in life. A lot of them are dealing with these issues pretty early in life. Football players have been playing with concussions since they started receiving them. No one forced them to stay in the game. No one forced them to play when they couldn't see straight or remember plays or even where they were. For the majority of the game's history no one really knew about the long-term ramifications of repeated blows to the head. Someone should've given it a thought. It was pretty clear that the game took a toll on limbs and joints why wouldn't the same be true of the brain? Fast forward to today and we know a lot more. Despite knowing a lot more Wallace still wanted to get back in that game. He's not alone. Many football players at all levels of the sport will try to stay on the field after getting their "bell rung." They'll try to hide their daze from coaches, teammates, trainers, themselves. Hell, there was an occasion in which I had my "bell rung" during a coed softball game. It was a game in one of the least competitive leagues I've ever seen. I just wanted to play. It's that "are you injured or are you hurt" debate. A concussion doesn't feel like an injury because you can still move. As long as you are pointed in the right direction. Players are often their own worst enemies when it comes to blows to the head.
There are no innocent parties when it comes to football-related head trauma. Everyone that's part of the game has played a role in the crisis. The NFL, NCAA, high schools, pee-wee leagues, players and coaches at all levels, even parents. How often have you heard a parent at a high school game yell out "shake it off?" In the heat of a game no one really cares about the potential build up of tau protein in the brain. That's a distant possibility for another day. How do we make the game safer? It starts with awareness and there's never been greater awareness than right now. We don't have to legislate physical play out of football but we do have to coach and practice safer and more technically sound tackling into it. Every single kid interested in playing football should have to sit down and watch tape of Antoine Winfield playing football. Ever since they discovered that the helmet could be used as a weapon players have been flying around headfirst and out of control in search of a big hit. Those hits make the highlights and every player wants to make the highlights. Torpedo runs at ball carriers, like Sendejo often does, have to stop. It's not good for the hitter, hittee, or the game. Players also have to be their own best friend and realize and accept when they shouldn't be on the field. If it was up to him, Mike Wallace would've stayed in that game. It was the big, bad NFL's protocols that kept him out of it.
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