It’s unimaginable for many of us to know the singular focus and peerless competitiveness {of professional} athletes. An timeless willingness to place profitable and private objectives above all else, even when which means self-sacrifice.
That mentioned, it doesn’t take an NFL resume to acknowledge when a participant is on a collision course with catastrophe, and tragically Tua Tagovailoa appears destined to do exactly that. Tagovailoa must be protected. Not from hits, or soccer, however himself.
Tagovailoa will try to move the league’s concussion protocol Wednesday with the purpose of returning to the sphere on Sunday. It should mark the third concussion in two years he’s returned from, with the danger not being missed video games or a misplaced season, however devastating traumatic mind damage that can outline the rest of Tua’s life. We’re left with a 26-year-old, caught within the current, tunnel visioned on his profession, tragically incapable of understanding that the dangers he’s taking now will echo for the following 50-plus years of his life.
We all know this due to how the quarterback spoke on Monday. Unrelenting loyalty to soccer, unwilling to alter — an edifice of old-school, hard-nosed soccer sensibilities devoid of recent science or logic.
“I really like this sport, and I adore it to the dying of me,” Tagovailoa alarmingly instructed reporters. A cliche usually couched in hyperbole, for Tua the selections he’s making proper now might very properly be to the dying of him. Terrifyingly it looks like no person is ready to get via to him concerning the dangers he’s taking.
A part of that is nonetheless as a result of a lot is unknown concerning the onset of CTE. We now have ample examples of athletes who’ve sustained life-altering traumatic mind damage, however the majority performed lengthy sufficient in the past that concussion figures weren’t adequately tracked, or ignored all collectively. The dying of Junior Seau, Stephen Davis experiencing reminiscence loss 4 years after his retirement, Gale Sayers, Frank Wycheck — the checklist goes on.
Within the final decade we’ve seen two of the brightest younger stars within the NFL retire far earlier than their time over damage considerations. Luke Kuechly retired from the Panthers at age 28 over concussion considerations. On the trajectory to be the best linebacker in historical past, Kuechly sustained three concussions in three consecutive seasons, inflicting him to make the troublesome determination to stroll away from the sport he cherished each bit as a lot as Tua does now, understanding the danger to his future.
Equally, quarterback Andrew Luck additionally retired on the high of his sport at age 29. Quite a lot of accidents compounded to guide Luck to his determination, however he cited worries of post-concussion trauma as properly.
For Tagovailoa it’s seemingly unimaginable for him to go away the sport. An habit he’s incapable of shaking. We are able to have final sympathy for the issue of change whenever you’ve been locked into the world of soccer your total grownup life, whereas additionally scrutinizing component of this alternative, like not even entertaining the thought of carrying a Guardian Cap on his return, which has been confirmed to scale back the danger of concussion.
When requested Monday why he received’t put on the concussion-reducing helmet cowl Tua curtly answered “private alternative,” and wouldn’t expound additional. Whereas some gamers have mentioned they don’t like the texture of the extra cap, it looks like an apparent alternative whenever you’ve sustained a number of concussions with extra doubtlessly leading to your life being altered ceaselessly.
The first problem within the NFL proper now on the subject of concussions is that the onus is being positioned on the participant. The league has made great strides in guaranteeing groups aren’t placing gamers again in hurt’s approach instantly, however by placing a lot on gamers to make their very own choices about their well being it opens the door for poisonous tradition and misplaced macho bravado to strain guys getting back from mind accidents far sooner than they need to.
Tua Tagovailoa must be shielded from himself, as a result of whereas it’s actually honest to say that athletes ought to be allowed to make their very own selections, there additionally must be intervention when aggressive athletes of their 20s are incapable of being forward-thinking sufficient to think about their lives of their 40s and past on account of the selections they make now.
No one desires to see Tagovailoa ripped from the sport he loves earlier than he’s prepared, however tragically his damage historical past has introduced him to this crossroad. Somebody wants to tug him apart and inform him that selecting to go away soccer over concussions isn’t an indication of weak spot, however slightly considered one of energy. Sacrificing your private objectives and goals to make sure a greater life in your kids and household is the last word act of being a husband, a father, and a person.
