Why Anquan Boldin Never Should Have Gotten Hurt

Football is America's favorite sport for only one reason: action.

It is a game constantly in movement and jam-packed with brutal hits, amazing plays, and moments that will make sports history. It is also this reason exactly why so many players suffer from injuries.

What the media, and fans like us, need to realize is that it is never going to change. There is no way to slow down the players, to make the hits less brutal, or overall protect the health of these athletes.

I was recently asked why NASCAR could come up with a device to protect the head and neck of its daredevils, and why the NFL couldn't do the same. It took me some time, but the answer was simple all along. It's about choice.

The drivers technically never had the right to employ their own methods of safety, and you had what the car gave you. It took an extremely talented and loved driver to lose his life before the HANS device was invented and used in race cars.

I believe in the NFL it is vastly different. Some of the game's best players wore extra neck padding to protect themselves, and many of today's running backs and wide receivers wear protective visors.

Could a brace be utilized by some of the game's competitors to wear while on the field to give them a better chance of getting through the game without harm? I am almost positive the answer is yes, but the NFL is home to some of the toughest, strongest, and most determined sports athletes around and I don't believe many would make the CHOICE to wear one.

Next, the NFL took it a step further by drastically increasing the fines for a helmet-to-helmet hit, one of the league's biggest concerns. Let's look at it realistically, though, for a second. Let's all stop trying to be a good Samaritan and really look at what we are dealing with.

In fact, let's just come right out and say it. Would it surprise anyone if within the next five years we saw a man lose his life on the gridiron? I don't know about you, but my answer is no, I really wouldn't be all that shocked.

Does that make me sad? Scared? Yes it does. But again, what is there that we can do about it? The options are very limited, and when it gets down to what the players would want, I think that they want to play the game to the best of their ability, and wearing a brace would hinder them. In the long run, I don't see many players utilizing a brace of any kind, even though it would make for a much safer game.

Now to the point of the article. Arizona receiver Anquan Boldin never should have gotten hurt. No questions asked. No debate.

The Cardinals were losing to the New York Jets with 27 seconds left in the game, and defeat was almost 100 percent certain. Don't follow me? Let me rephrase it this way: What happens more often in today's NFL—a team coming back from a near impossible margin to win a game with less than two minutes left, or a player being carted off the field for any type of injury?

I hope that reading it that way raised some eyebrows. While there is virtually next to nothing that we can do to protect the lives of our role models and entertainers, there is one thing that coaches can do.

When the game is out of reach, when you know that it is impossible to walk off the field that day with a win in your pocket, then you play it safe. The Cardinals should have taken a knee and ended it that way.

Just so we are clear, I do not think the fun should be taken out of the game. I know a comeback is almost always possible...to some extent. There comes a time, however, when it just isn't worth it anymore. There comes a time when it's best just to admit defeat. At least you retain your pride, dignity, and all your players will still have the ability to walk off the field under their own power.

Written by, Edited by, and Developed by Travis Rand, Bleacher Reporter, NFL