Quoting posts from the prior thread...
On the media not wanting to tarnish the NFL shield:
I’m really curious to see if there will be any big time national NFL reporters or networks that will come out tonight or tomorrow morning and openly criticize the NFL or Dolphins. I know Twitter is a buzz about it and it is being condemned but I haven’t seen a major name (to me and I also don’t follow them all) do it. I really want to see it done on air or in an actual article though. I doubt it’ll happen tho. And I know for sure Rapoport won’t after his farce of a tweet last week.
The ex-NFL player panel on ESPN / Greenberg Get Up this AM were
quite vocal.
On the speculation Tua claimed he was fine, or that a player's opinion matters:
I've seen a few people bring up the lawsuit thing.
No chance, unless Tua had expressed hesitence to go back into the game last week. All accounts were he wanted to play. Obviously the league (and teams) need to do a better job of protecting players from themselves, and there should be whatever punishment is possible to the team for skirting the protocol, but a lawsuit isn't happening. Basically, Tua himself was complicit in skirting the protocol. (And again, teams need to protect players from themselves, and the Dolphins didn't do it here and absolutely need to have the book thrown at them to whatever extent possible by the league)
(and)
Part of the problem is we don't know what was said by Tua to the team doctor and independent neurologist. He may have known he had head trauma but said it was his back since he had tweaked it prior and was hopeful he could get away with it. Maybe he said it was his back but only said that because he was concussed and not thinking about his well being and simply wanted to play however had he been in a proper state of mind he would have admitted to the head trauma. I don't know. They are professional athletes however that doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't protect them from themselves. Hope he makes a full recover and is able to continue his career. Other players have had the same fencing response and returned to play the same season so it's probably not career threatening simply because it looked scary however everyone's brain reacts differently and what his road to recovery may entail is to be determined.
(and)
I haven't seen the game yet.
I can understand why they threw Tua back out against the Bills last weekend. You don't have time to make a full diagnosis, it's heat of the moment, Tua reportedly insisted he was fine & wanted to get back out there. Weather you agree with it or not - it's a tough call either way.
But to put him out there last night after you have had a number of days to perform tests & make a full diagnosis? That is definitely inexcusable...
(and)
You're missing my point.
Yes it looked like a possible concussion or some type of head injury when he stumbled - but you don't have the time or the evidence to prove that or certainly the full extent of it in the heat of the moment. So when a guy is saying he is fine & wants to play - it's understandable why they would let him go back out there. Even if that turns out to be the wrong decision.
But after a number of days to perform tests & a full diagnosis - there is absolutely no excuse for having him out there.
I am being critical of the Miami organisation here. Nothing else.
You folks are missing the point (said politely). If there's an incident where a player enters the protocol, the player cannot attest they are fine and have that considered with any weight. That's why they have the protocol. It's analogous to my workplace, and hopefully your workplace / any workplace. If I have an incident, in particular one where I collapse, and especially one with apparent cause, and it's noticed by my colleagues, there is an obligation to remove me from work for evaluation by plant nurse / first responders, (and most likely transported off site for professional evaluation, but in the Tua instance those professionals are on site at the stadium). I cannot assert I am fine and return to work. One can argue it's an employer liability thing just as much as it is a benevolent desire for the medical health of the employee - which is fine to argue - but it doesn't change the substance nor the validity of the protocol.
And as for lawsuit, your take is likely incorrect. If Tua claimed (Sunday) he was okay, that does not remove the obligation from the other party (team, doctors, 3rd party spotters and doctors) to prevent him from doing more damage to himself. To my point in paragraph above, the same is true. Even if my colleagues believe me, the standard they are required to hold is to err on side of caution and not allow me to return to my job that shift.
"Not enough time for proper evaluation" & "heat of the moment" doesn't fly either. You either take the time for a proper evaluation, or you don't let him play until a proper evaluation is done. Once entering the protocol, the error must always be Alpha risk (refusing to let a healthy player play) vs. Beta risk (unknowingly letting an injured player play).
Same with claiming "back injury". If he entered the concussion protocol, even if he claims it was his back - and even if it WAS his back - the stance must be to
definitively rule out his head. There is a logical difference / nuance.
Exactly. The system can’t be to rely on the opinion of the tough guy player. His is an unreliable narrative. That’s literally the point of spotters. To take that choice out of the players’ hands.
exactly
Also, as much as I doubt the NFL will change anything, maybe Tua's injury forces them to pass more stringent concussion protocols to prevent something like this from happening to someone else? One can hope
As with most outrage over "bad things that happen" in life, the issue is rarely to pass more stringent protocols / laws and rather to properly enforce the ones that exist. (Mine is a philosophical position on all facets of life. I'm not supporting the NFL, Dolphins, etc. I'm fine with more stringent protocols / laws, but only if it is irrefutably clear the existing were correctly enforced, which we will likely either never know in the Tua case, or we won't know the truth.)