As the NFL begins to evaluate the current concussion protocol after Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion last Thursday, Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady was asked his thoughts on the matter.
Brady is in his 23rd year in the league, so he’s had his fair share of experiencing concussions either personally or through his teammates suffering concussions during games.
The 45-year-old spoke about the ongoing concussion controversy in his Let’s Go! podcast with Jim Gray on Monday.
Brady believes that concussions, like other injuries, are part of playing a sport like football or wrestling at the professional level, for example. He goes on to explain that the league needs to better prepare its players for the effects of a concussion instead of trying to eliminate the medical issue completely, because that seems impossible at this point.
“Well, I think those [the protocols] are all being evaluated, no doubt,” Brady said. “But, at the same time, I think that, again, I think so much is focused kind of on the aftermath of that. I think what can we do in advance in order to help us athletes be in a position where we can deal with the physical elements of sport? Because you’re not gonna be able to take them out of sports. You know, that’s just not the reality. If you want to play two-hand touch football, there’s not gonna be a lot of people that tune in.”
The seven-time Super Bowl champion then brings up other injuries that athletes can suffer in any given game.
“Concussions, knees, I’d say most athletes would probably rather deal with a concussion than deal with a knee injury, you know?” Brady said. “So there’s gonna be knee injuries, there’s gonna be ankle injuries, there’s gonna be concussions, there’s gonna be shoulder injuries. I think that we all kind of jump to these thoughts and conclusions in a short period of time. But at the same time this is just what sports are. And I think you’ve got to take the good with the bad. And I think that no one ever wants to see anyone get hurt.”
Overall, it sounds like Brady believes the NFL should have better practices in terms of preventing concussions and also with recovering from concussions.
“I think, how do we deal with them in the best possible way?” Brady said. “What are the best practices associated with prevention of them, as well as if you do get them, how do you recover as quickly as possible? So I think that should be really a focus as well. How do you implement those protocols for athletes? And it’s something that we should all think about so we can do a better job of in the future.”
The NFL Players Association launched an investigation last week to see if there was any “potential protocol violation” involved in the handling of Tagovailoa’s concussion protocol. So far, the NFLPA reportedly fired an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant who was involved in the quarterback’s concussion check.
The controversy surrounding the young quarterback’s situation began on Sunday, Sept. 25 after Tagovailoa cleared concussion protocol and returned to play vs. the Bills even though he stumbled off the field following a major hit.
There has since been questioning surrounding his evaluation, with many questioning the decision to allow him back in the game. After the game, Tagovailoa said he suffered a back injury.
Tagovailoa then suffered a concussion on Thursday night against the Bengals, and he has now been ruled out for this Sunday’s matchup vs. the Jets. It’s unknown at this time when he’ll be able to return.
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