Quick Take: Concussions Give NFL Headaches of Their Own

The Pittsburgh Steelers coaching and training staff made a bold move last week when they decided to pull wide receiver Hines Ward from the game. According to the Steelers’ staff, Ward took a shot (tackle) and didn’t appear to get up as quick as usual. Taking precaution and likely having the receiver’s best interest at heart, the team decided to rest Ward for the remainder of the game. Ward, whose honorable receiving streak of at least one catch in 186 consecutive games ended, was extremely upset with the team’s call.

“I think we’re all pretty familiar with the climate that we’re in, in regards to concussions,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Sometimes, you’ve got to protect the extreme competitors from themselves, and Hines is that. We love and respect him for that, but we had to act in his best interests.”

“It’s football. You get your bell rung,” Ward said. ”It’s my body. I feel like if I want to go back out there, I feel like I should have the right.

ESPN then issued a poll question to the effect of, “Should the NFL allow players to determine their own game-status after suffering a concussion?”

Here’s my two cents…

The National Football League must uphold their current concussion policy, at the very least. In fact, I wouldn’t be against the NFL making their current policy even stricter than it already is.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a maniac, football fanatical, barbarian just like the other guys, but we’re talking about the well-being of a human, his life and his family.

If the NFL allows players to determine their own status, then we will rarely see a player leave the game with concussion-like symptoms and NOT return to action. Perhaps the player gets a little woozy but still feels he can play, but it’s the long-term effects that are the most important.

Football players are tough guys. They’re freakish physical specimens with elite athletic ability. But along with that, they are very self-conscious people. Players make their living from football, and they make their living from holding a reputation. Although they may not want to care about the way they are perceived, football players are concerned. They want to be liked, they want to be respected and they want to be tough.

Given the choice of whether to return to a game in progress or rest for the remainder, 99 percent of NFL players will choose to return to the game. It’s not because they’ve only thrown up a little bit or that their vision is suddenly coming back into focus, it’s because they’re multimillionaires that don’t want to be labeled as soft, babyish or scumbags looking only to collect a paycheck. 

There is a reason that a team employs both team doctors and team players—they're two different positions with their own responsibilities. A football player is in no way an acceptable spokesperson for their own health or medical clearance. As odd as that may sound, it's because of the expectations placed on football players that makes them believe they're invincible. 

For the sake of players past, present and future, the NFL must continue to stand tall on the serious issue ofconcussions. In a league that is dominated with an aura of toughness and combativeness, it's the NFL itself that has to be the toughest man on the field. Concussions are dangerous, and the NFL should treat them that way.