NFL and Dolphins need to ensure Tagovailoa doesn’t sustain another concussion in 2024

MIAMI — Tua Tagovailoa being placed on the Miami Dolphins’ injured reserve list wasn’t just the smart thing for the franchise to do.

If we’re being honest, it was probably the easiest decision for everyone involved to protect themselves, and to protect Tagovailoa the father, son and husband from Tagovailoa the football player.

“We play a dangerous game, man,” receiver Jaylen Waddle said Monday with a shoulder shrug response when asked about what Tagovailoa, whom he has been friends with since their University of Alabama days together, was going through. “I think that the whole world gets to see how dangerous this game is, and how everybody puts their body on the line week in and week out.”

The NFL can’t afford to see another fencing hand response from its Pro Bowl quarterback, two years after he collapsed from his feet following a hit from the Buffalo Bills, in a September 2022 game. He returned to finish, then had the nation witness him get carted off the field after he was allowed to skirt the rules — claiming it was a back injury — so he could play in a Thursday night game against Cincinnati four days later.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was in attendance for Thursday night’s embarrassing loss to the Bills, so like the millions watching on TV, he witnessed Tagovailoa crumble to the field after colliding with Damar Hamlin, who coincidentally had to be resuscitated on the field two years ago after he stopped breathing during a game after making a tackle.

The NFL’s job is to protect the game, ensuring it has a healthy future, and that means this gladiator sport, which has a 100 percent injury rate, needs an ample workforce.

Hard to convince a 10-year-old’s mother that little Johnny should be playing tackle football if mom knows the brutal science and injury rate of the sport. These young mothers might become more traumatized if the league allowed players to rush themselves back into action weeks after having their brain reset in front of the world.

The NFL Player’s Association’s job is to protect the players from themselves, and from the teams that grins and bears guaranteeing their contracts. That means they must do everything in their power to make the workforce as safe as possible.

Gently nudging the Dolphins to place Tagovailoa on injured reserve, giving his brain bruise all of five weeks — counting the bye — to heal might be one of the few things the league and its workforce agreed on.

It’s in the best interest of the game, and everyone because the worst-case scenario is to have what happened last Thursday night happen again. Just imagine if Tagovailoa scrambles out the pocket a month or three from now, collides with another player and goes to sleep again.

Then what?

Repeated concussions can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disorder that can only be diagnosed after death, the Mayo Clinic explains. CTE can cause many problems, from cognitive issues like memory loss and trouble thinking to behavioral problems, including impulsive behavior and aggression.

It has also been linked to depression and suicide. In 2021, the family of former NFL player Vincent Jackson, who died by suicide, announced that it was discovered that he had CTE.

Junior Seau, who like Tagovailoa is one of the Polynesian football legends, also committed suicide and CTE was said to be found in his brain.

Nobody can force Tagovailoa to retire.

It’s his life.

His health.

His choice.

But the league, the team, and Player’s Association should do everything in its power to ensure that when he does return there’s a relatively good chance he won’t be put to sleep again. And it shouldn’t just stop with Tagovailoa being placed on injured reserve, sidelined until Week 8.

Someone, anyone who Tagovailoa listens to, needs to encourage him to wear the new concussion-resistant helmet that’s only available for quarterbacks, the same one he refused to wear last season when the league approved it, primarily because of him.

Someone, anyone who Tagovailoa trusts needs to encourage the 26-year-old to wear the guardian cap on his helmet that just about every player wears during practice, but only five — Steelers offensive guard James Daniels, Colts safety Rodney Thomas, Colts tight end Kylen Granson, Titans tight end Josh Whyle and Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers – wears during games because they don’t like the optics of being on the field with a padded helmet.

Is this about fashion, or their health?

“The second people are telling me directly how much this, that or the other would benefit a particular individual; when that particular conversation comes up, I’ll absolutely do whatever I can to follow up,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said while shaking his head “YES” when asked if he’ll encourage Tagovailoa to wear a guardian cap last Friday.

However, McDaniel admits the conversation hasn’t come up, but considering how close Tagovailoa and McDaniel are, it’s clear his safety is McDaniel’s top priority.

“This being the first year that they’re able to wear them, but I’m open-minded to absolutely everything to help players,” McDaniel said of the guardian caps.

Tagovailoa should be a guardian cap pioneer. Imagine him becoming the sixth NFL player wearing a guardian cap on his helmet in an NFL game, and it contributes to him having a productive 10-15 year career.

He would be a trendsetter then instead of the cautionary tale of why tackle football isn’t a safe sport for anyone, much less children.

At one point society thought wearing seat belts were dumb, but history shows us that they save lives.

Maybe five years from now everyone will be wearing these guardian caps and Tagovailoa, the most marquee player to sport one, will be the quarterback who made them cool.