Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered the third concussion of his career in Week 2 of the 2024 NFL season.
The media was quick to remember Tagovailoa’s tumultuous 2022 season when he sustained concussions in both Week 4 and Week 11, in addition to a questionable hit in Week 3 that quite possibly could have been his first concussion of the year.
With another concussion now recorded, some are calling for Tagovailoa to retire and protect his health. Is it really fair to ask a 26-year-old, talented athlete with his whole career ahead of him to give up his dream over the fear that he may not be so lucky the next time he takes a hit?
In Week 5 of this season, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen was evaluated for a concussion during the fourth quarter vs. the Houston Texans. The hit Allen took left him lying motionless before he was rolled over by his teammates. Allen was cleared and allowed to return to the game.
Neuroscientist Chris Nowinski, a key player in the research of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is challenging the NFL to investigate Allen’s clearance after watching the film. Nowinski believes Allen may have even been unconscious for those motionless few seconds.
These recent incidents are a solemn reminder that although the NFL has made advances in player safety, the system is far from perfect and concussions are still a problem in the league.
Of course, concussions have come to be expected in such a rough-and-tough contact sport like football, and the NFL has implemented rules to help protect the safety of players. Gone are the days when athletes would lead with their head, ramming into opponents helmet-first.
Here’s what we know about the effects of concussions in football: each concussion a player suffers makes it more likely they will sustain another, hence where we find Tagovailoa.
Additionally, repeated concussions and head trauma related to football have been known to cause the buildup of a protein in the brain called tau, found in cases of CTE.
When there is a buildup of tau tangles, the tangles slowly strangle the neurons of the brain, causing symptoms including cognitive impairment, mood swings, and memory loss as the brain deteriorates.
It wasn’t even that long ago that the NFL denied the connection between the degenerative brain disease and professional football altogether. However, research has pointed to the devastating effects of concussions and their ties to football since the early 2000s.
The first time the link was officially acknowledged by the league came through then-NFL Senior Vice President of Health Jeff Miller during a round table in front of a U.S. House of Representatives committee in 2016.
Hall of Fame center Mike Webster, a staple for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their 1970s Super Bowl championships, took full advantage of his head. In his era, players were practically taught to smash their opponents in the face. Webster utilized his head so often that a thick layer of scar tissue developed on his forehead.
After his retirement from football, Webster’s quality of life greatly declined. Once set up well for the future, his money seemed to disappear. His once-happy family was separated by divorce. He was erratic and volatile, experiencing large mood swings.
At the end of Webster’s life, he was homeless off-and-on, sleeping in bus stations. He could not remember basic information, like the way to the grocery store. He would write incoherent letters full of delusional ramblings. He was 50 when he died of a heart attack.
Webster’s brain was the first of an NFL player to be analyzed by Dr. Bennet Omalu, the neuropathologist who ultimately discovered the presence of CTE in football players and brought it to the forefront of concussion research using the Webster case.
The story of Mike Webster, a once beloved football hero who was barely coherent by the end of his life, reminds us of the price that contact sports, especially the NFL, can cost players more than the blood, sweat and tears they leave on the field.
Luckily, the game is played and coached far differently than it used to be. To those who remember the ‘good old days’ of the NFL and make comments like “Let them play! They don’t even play the game of football anymore,” to take a step back and reflect on the life-altering health risks these players are exposed to daily.
We should all root for a league that is as safe and ethically sound as possible while still promoting the game we know and love.
Tagovailoa and Allen’s recent spotlights are a reminder that the concussion breakthrough in the NFL is recent, and we still don’t have all the answers or protocols figured out.
The delicateness of the human brain is worth continually discussing, grappling with, and making changes for as new information surfaces.
If the NFL continues to make the best decisions it can with the information it has, it will be headed toward a better future for everyone involved in contact sports.
