The concussion thing is of a different kind entirely than Robert Griffin's leg. What happens if RG ruins his leg and can't play football? He can't play football and can go on to live a normal life albeit with a limp, at worst. If someone is being pressured to play with a concussion and are re-concussed (and re-re-) then they could be looking at a lifetime of depression, unemployability, bad life decisions and suicide.
Pretty much right, I think, though being overtly "pressured to play" when one has a career-threatening injury would be inexcusable. It doesn't sound like that's what happened here, however, except in the sense that Griffin had internalized all of the pressure native to the situation he and his team were in, and chose to hope he might be bulletproof.
(Memo to Twenty-Somethings Everywhere: In case you haven't figured this out yet, you're not bulletproof.)
In hindsight I'm certain the Redskins organization could have done more to shield him or help him make a more informed or conservative decision. I'm not certain they should be called out for failing to do so, though if the injury limits Griffin's career in any way it will be an endless regret that might even motivate tighter procedures in the future.
Here's hoping the long-term consequences for RGIII are minimal.
I understand the NFL culture would lead a player to insist on playing and a coach leaning toward letting him. Even as a Seahawk fan, it was obvious that RG3 was no longer able to perform at any decent level sometime after the first quarter. At that point Shanahan was not only risking "the franchise," he was also making it harder for his team to win. In addition, even though RG3 was limping between plays, they kept calling plays that required him to run to the edge. I think both Mike Tanier on Sports on Earth and BIl Barnwell at Grantland pointed out that Shanahan made decisions that damaged the Redskins both in the game and for the future.
The concussion thing is of a different kind entirely than Robert Griffin's leg. What happens if RG ruins his leg and can't play football? He can't play football and can go on to live a normal life albeit with a limp, at worst. If someone is being pressured to play with a concussion and are re-concussed (and re-re-) then they could be looking at a lifetime of depression, unemployability, bad life decisions and suicide.
ReplyDeletePretty much right, I think, though being overtly "pressured to play" when one has a career-threatening injury would be inexcusable. It doesn't sound like that's what happened here, however, except in the sense that Griffin had internalized all of the pressure native to the situation he and his team were in, and chose to hope he might be bulletproof.
ReplyDelete(Memo to Twenty-Somethings Everywhere: In case you haven't figured this out yet, you're not bulletproof.)
In hindsight I'm certain the Redskins organization could have done more to shield him or help him make a more informed or conservative decision. I'm not certain they should be called out for failing to do so, though if the injury limits Griffin's career in any way it will be an endless regret that might even motivate tighter procedures in the future.
Here's hoping the long-term consequences for RGIII are minimal.
"Tape an aspirin to it"??? Everybody knows you're supposed to rub dirt on it.
ReplyDeleteAspirin and knees are birth control, duh.
I understand the NFL culture would lead a player to insist on playing and a coach leaning toward letting him. Even as a Seahawk fan, it was obvious that RG3 was no longer able to perform at any decent level sometime after the first quarter. At that point Shanahan was not only risking "the franchise," he was also making it harder for his team to win. In addition, even though RG3 was limping between plays, they kept calling plays that required him to run to the edge. I think both Mike Tanier on Sports on Earth and BIl Barnwell at Grantland pointed out that Shanahan made decisions that damaged the Redskins both in the game and for the future.
ReplyDelete