In a Thursday night showdown NFL star Tua Tagovailoa suffered yet another concussion. The injury happened after the Dolphins quarterback was trying to convert a fourth down against the Buffalo Bills while down 31-10. Tua ended up getting the yards, yet he collided with Bills safety Damar Hamlin in the process. Ironically, it was Hamlin’s life that millions of Americans were praying for when he went into cardiac arrest on the field in 2022, but this Thursday he had to deal with the guilt of being on the other side of a similar exchange. After the hit Tagovailoa’s hands appeared to seize up and his whole body stiffened, and although I don’t have a medical degree I could easily tell that he suffered from a traumatic brain injury.
Any avid Football fan knows about the young athlete’s medical history. Two years ago he suffered from three brain injuries, with many even calling for his retirement then. On one of those occasions, Tagovailoa attempted to walk in a straight line after being hit, but instead stumbled over and had to be helped off the field by medical personnel. The most infuriating part of this was that he was medically cleared to finish that game and he ended up leading a comeback win against the Bills. Former NFL stars Dez Bryant, Shannon Sharpe, Brett Favre and countless others made their opinions known and almost unanimously called for the young man to hang up his cleats.
One opinion that stood out was from Manti T’eo, a legendary college football player who is a close friend of Tagovailoa. He remarked, “I want (Tagovailoa) to walk his daughter down the aisle, that’s true joy,” adding that football is “just a game”.
Tagovailoa obviously isn’t the first NFL star to suffer from a concussion, and the impact of repeated head trauma has become a widespread issue in the NFL. If the league was honest, then it would be transparent that all players receive concussions on the weekly which doesn’t seem that harmful. However it is important to realize that dizziness, headaches, and a lack of balance (symptoms of concussions) can turn into confusion, mood swings and memory loss if proper care isn’t provided (symptoms of CTE) . Stars like Aaron Hernandez and Junior Seau both suffered from repeated concussions which developed into CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy). Both later became shadows of their former lively and exuberant selves and ultimately committed suicide.
While on the Megyn Kelly show, Brett Favre said, “If there was one person where I would have said- that person will live forever and will love every day of it that would have been Junior Seau and then boom…he kills himself.”
You may think its a stretch to compare Tagovailoa to a retired NFL star who committed suicide, but if you do I would I assume you haven’t seen all of the concussions the Dolphins quarterback suffered. Tua Tagvailoa has had a great career. He is a Heisman trophy winner, a national champion, and was picked number five overall in the 2018 draft. It shouldn’t matter that his NFL career didn’t pan out. If his family, coach, and teammates love him then they should never let him take the field again. Tragically, he announced on Sunday that he has no plans of retiring, but let’s hope he changes his mind.
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