League must tweak concussion procedures, now

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on September 15, 2010, 12:50 PM EDT

Lost in the brouhaha regarding Calvin Johnson rule was the case of Stewart Bradley.  Despite suffering an obvious concussion, Bradley returned (albeit briefly) to Sunday’s game against the Eagles.

We’ve devoted today’s edition of PFT Daily to a rant on the subject.

And we’ll be writing about this one and talking about this one until the league makes what we consider to be a simple and commonsensical change to the current rules.

 

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26 responses to “League must tweak concussion procedures, now”

  1. There is absolutely no defense for Reid and the Eagles here. Putting Bradley back on to the field at that point was criminal.
    Kolb makes some sort of sense because it appeared his jaw was hurt and that’s the main thing the coaches were looking at, so they overlooked the concussion at first.
    Bradley collapsed on live television. Everyone watching KNEW it was a concussion. No excuse.

  2. Kudos to the Bears for recognizing Hunter Hillenmeyer’s lingering effects of a concussion and taking the proper steps. The Eagles should be ashamed risking Bradley’s health.

  3. I couldn’t believe Bradley came back in. I thought the rule was that if you have a concussion, you have to sit out the rest of the game and then pass an evaluation.
    The guy fell over on the field. I am shocked that the Eagles coaches and trainers let him go back out there. So what if he answered a couple questions right, THE GUY GOT KNOCKED OUT, GOT UP AND FELL OVER AGAIN. Yeah, sure, their #1 responsibility is the safety of their players. My ass. Reid and the trainers should be fined. It shouldnt even be an option to send the guys back out there.

  4. I’m sure the league is so scared that mike florios website will have videos about it nooooooooo!!! Get a clue florio your life/job is meaningless, a monkey could search the web for articles and post them on this website.

  6. The NFL needs to stop worrying about pregame tweets and focus on what happened in Philadelphia on Sunday.
    Former Eagles safety Andre Waters. Committed suicide in his 40’s. His brain was the equivelant of a 90 year old with dimentia.

  7. Bradley returned to Sundays game against the Eagirls?
    Must of had a serious head injury to play against his own team.

  9. This one was pretty ridiculous. When a guy gets the spaghetti-legs, and falls back down after getting up, there is a concussion 100% of the time. You don’t need tests to determine anything.

  10. You’ve done it now, league!
    A blogger who appears at halftime of Notre Dame games no one watches is PO’d! Feel the wrath of Florio’s angry posts and low-budget video segments! Quake before his ever powerful tweets! No one will be spared the awesome power that is Michael Lorenzo Florio–our generation’s William Randolph Hearst!

  11. I was wondering what the heck is that guy doing back in there. I think someone from the NFL offices called the Eagles and told them to take him out.

  12. Set aside the health issue for a second ..
    Hey, League Office, assign someone who is already watching the games on TV to call the GM/contact on the field/whoever when something like this happens and say, if we see Wobbly Player X on the field again today, you get fined $500k.
    20X million people watching at home could tell what’s going on. What happened to your PR machine, League office? Too busy waging propaganda wars with the players?

  13. I’m sure the league is so scared that mike florios website will have videos about it nooooooooo!!! Get a clue florio your life/job is meaningless, a monkey could search the web for articles and post them on this website.

  14. If the concussion is so obvious then my question is what tests NFL teams perform to determine it. Regardless of it being a concussion or not a player who gets up after a long rest and immediately tumbles should not be allowed to play until it’s determined what caused it. I’m glad neither player suffered any more injuries.

  15. “thejetsman says:
    September 15, 2010 1:37 PM
    I’m sure the league is so scared that mike florios website will have videos about it nooooooooo!!! Get a clue florio your life/job is meaningless, a monkey could search the web for articles and post them on this website. ”
    Could said monkey get you to register and post at his website also?

  16. @ roboninja says:
    “This one was pretty ridiculous. When a guy gets the spaghetti-legs, and falls back down after getting up, there is a concussion 100% of the time. You don’t need tests to determine anything.”
    ____________________________________________
    That is completely ignorant. It is not 100% of the time, never has been and never will be. Clearly, you’ve never had your bell rung.
    @ Florio: Do you have a concussion today? You state that Bradley returned to the game VS. THE EAGLES, maybe someone should take you out of the game for today and evaluate you. Plus, the comment that “guys w/the orange sticks” having authority to hold a guy out is just silly.
    Eagles’ trainer is one of the most outspoken and qualified individuals when it comes to this topic. I’ll take their expertise over your ramblings any day of the week. However, I do understand why you want to have someone boost you onto your pedestal: drama and driving eyeballs.

  19. Opie says: September 15, 2010 2:01 PM
    @ roboninja says:
    “This one was pretty ridiculous. When a guy gets the spaghetti-legs, and falls back down after getting up, there is a concussion 100% of the time. You don’t need tests to determine anything.”
    ____________________ ____________________ ____
    That is completely ignorant. It is not 100% of the time, never has been and never will be. Clearly, you’ve never had your bell rung.
    —————————————————-
    This is one of the dumbest thing’s I’ve ever read, and I read this website regularly. “Getting your bell rung” is what leads to concussions and permanent brain injury. Getting hit in the head so hard you can’t stand up is never good and should never be acceptable in any sport. There is no such thing as a minor head injury.

  20. Opie gets it.
    You can get knocked silly, be wobbly and fall over and not suffer a concussion. You can also get a mild bump, and have that result in a concussion. And the crux of this problem is, you can get hit in the head, and feel fine for a while before the concussion sets in. Just because you get knocked silly doesn’t mean you have a concussion, and there are too many idiots here claiming that is the case.
    I think more should be done about concussions, certainly. I say this as someone who almost had his life ruined because of concussions. But I also know you can’t automatically throw the Eagles under the bus on this. Bradley could have passed his initial concussion test on the sideline. And his wobblyness could have been the result of his inner ear taking a spin…that is not a concussion, it is just temporary. The trainer can’t tell, and if the concussion test passes, how do you keep a guy out of a game? It’s a tough issue, just stop railing the Eagles because it IS a gray area.

  21. @Opie – If the Eagles’ trainer is in fact one of the most outspoken and qualified individuals on the concision topic how did not one but two Eagles player re-enter Sundays games with concussions? If he wasn’t confident that neither had sustained a concision they should have gone further evaluation at half time and then made a decision on if they would play in the second half or not, instead they were apparently cleared to re-enter the game and then both had to be removed at half time.

  22. bradley reminded me of our dog after he had surgery and was still high as a kite from the anestezia. he couldn’t really walk. we had to set him infront of his bowl of water because he kept falling over.
    I was shocked when the eagles put him back on the field, but at the same time was frustrated with the packers for even snapping the ball with him out there. I didn’t expect them not to play, i just felt they should have had the decency to correct a horrible and possible career/life threatening choice by the eagles to put him back out there. I’d like to think a coach like dungy would have had the refs stop play until he was removed from the field.
    bottom line, the eagles should be ashamed of themselves for showing no common sense and if the shoe were on the other foot, i would be ashamed of my packers for it.

  23. “Eagles fans seem to really love typos”
    ——————————————–
    Hmm, let’s see, life is so mundane and boring, that you actually read a blog with comments, and then comment on the typos of the people who comment. Quite the existence you have carved out for yourself, sallly….

  25. MNRunLeft: please read the post immediately above your post for an explanation. Their trainer is extremely well qualified on the topic.
    __________________________________
    @ stemrod says: “This is one of the dumbest thing’s I’ve ever read, and I read this website regularly. “Getting your bell rung” is what leads to concussions and permanent brain injury. Getting hit in the head so hard you can’t stand up is never good and should never be acceptable in any sport. There is no such thing as a minor head injury.”
    __________________________________
    Ignorance is bliss, I guess. There are plenty of minor head injuries.
    Getting your bell rung does need lead to a concussion nor does it lead to permanent brain injury. It certainly can lead to a concussion, but as ‘madmike’ says, sometimes the concussion doesn’t set in until later and sometimes not at all because you don’t have a concussion.
    I’d hate to be playing pick up hoops with you and you get a ball off the head. I imagine the game would have to stop so you could go to the hospital to be evaluated….
    I hope you continue to ‘rock’ your bike helmet everywhere you go…..

  26. Wow, this author is really trying to be valid in the world of the NFL. He has power he thinks, beware.

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