By Jacob Swan Over the course of the 2023 National Football League (NFL) season, the NFL has experienced more injuries than usual. Along with the number of injuries, the severity of each injury has also been a huge concern. We saw many players experience injuries that were hard to look at such as those of Damar Hamilin and Tua Tagovailoa. The NFL struggled when trying to figure out what to do and made poor choices. If the NFL wants to maintain a happy and healthy environment, then they must make good decisions. Tua Tagovailoa, in his third season with the Dolphins, suffered an injury in a Monday night game against the Bills earlier in the season. He left the game with what the Dolphins described as neck and back spasms. The Dolphins were then scheduled for a thrilling Thursday night header against the Bengals in which the Dolphins trainer, against popular opinion, decided to clear Tua for the game. In this game Tagovailoa suffered another nasty hit, this one being ruled a concussion knocking him out for a couple weeks. Yet once Tagovailoa had recovered and his symptoms had gone away, the Dolphins again cleared him from concussion protocol, and, after a couple games played, he was again hit and ruled out with a concussion. With the Playoffs approaching and the Dolphins claiming the seventh seed, there were reports of Tagovailoa coming back to play, but hasn't he suffered enough? The NFL is ruining this man's life, and for what? A couple of dollars. With our lack of medical knowledge of the brain and its functions, for all we know Tua could be losing his memory or worse his mind altogether. Unlike Tagovailoa ’s injury, Bill’s safety Damar Hamilin suffered an injury recently that was one of the most severe injuries the NFL has ever seen. After tackling a Bengal’s receiver, Damar suffered blunt force trauma to his chest, and, after standing in a hurry, collapsed on the ground unconscious. He then went into cardiac arrest. He received CPR and his heart was resuscitated on the field and transported via ambulance to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. This injury spooked the entire league. Announcers, players, coaches, and fans all united together in fear and hope for this poor player's health. While everyone was left speechless, the NFL commissioning group told the teams they had 5 minutes to warm up and then they’d have to continue to play. Players were crying in fear and sadness about what would happen to their teammate. The coaches then consulted and took their teams into the locker room before agreeing to cancel the game. It seemed as though everyone wanted to cancel the game except the actual NFL. The NFL made misinformed decisions and were insanely ignorant in their choices. Former NFL player Trey Johnson said it best “Life is bigger than football.” It seemed everyone realized that, except the NFL. With the NFL having more than 130 concussions and many other non-related head injuries that they have never seen before, they’ll have to think fast on what their precautions should be for the future. The NFL, an organization made of money, has made poor decisions again and again. They need to take leadership and prove that they can take care of their players. If they fail to do so then player safety may get worse. As stated before “Life is bigger than football!”
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