The early returns for Thursday Night Football streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime haven’t been positive but the NFL entered crisis mode following Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Josh Tupou hit that injured Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
A few days earlier, Tagovailoa had taken a hit from Buffalo Bills linebacker Matthew Milano where he had landed on his head exiting the game for backup Teddy Bridgewater.
Between that Sunday afternoon and the Thursday night games, he got medically cleared, something we now collectively look back and go he shouldn’t have been. The fallout from the Tagovailoa medical malpractice is the doctor who cleared him has been terminated, and the NFL is looking for stricter medical clearing practices.
“We insisted on these rules to avoid exactly this scenario,” DeMaurice Smith NFL Players Association executive director wrote, per Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk. “We will pursue every legal option, including making referrals against the doctors to licensing agencies and the team that is obligated to keep our players safe.”
With the fallout from the Tagovailoa injury far from over, let’s examine how it will impact college football.
One of the first higher profile cases of college football’s concussion protocol is how Oklahoma would handle starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel‘s concussion, which he suffered in the first half of 55-24 rout by TCU Horned Frogs.
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Throughout the week leading up to the Red River Rivalry showdown with Texas, Gabriel’s status was deemed a game-time decision by most in the press. Prior to kickoff, Gabriel was seen warming up in the Cotton Bowl but he was without pads indicating he would not be available against Texas.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables was asked during postgame about Gabriel’s status,
“Well, the concussion protocol, obviously, that’s up to our team doctors and evaluated throughout the course of the week and they get to some points where they make decisions, good or bad, or they just continue to evaluate them. Somewhere in the mid-week we realized he probably wasn’t going to be the guy. And certainly the health and safety of our players is first and foremost with that. There was somebody who got a concussion this week, had a moped accident. He was a guy at Boston College. So, there’s nothing anymore important than being mindful of our players’ heart. But he actually felt great. I don’t need to get into all the weeds of it. He’s frustrated by it. It just is what it is. And for all the obvious reasons we’ve got to be incredibly cautious and careful. But starting on Sunday, Monday he really felt much better. And I don’t think he had, to my knowledge, any setbacks during the course of week. So, we’ll see. We’ll continue to evaluate him.” – Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables
In Louisville, senior quarterback Malik Cunningham left the game early against Boston College due to concussion symptoms. Cunningham, much like Gabriel, was a game-time decision, and on Saturday SI’s Pat Forde reported that Cunningham wouldn’t make the trip to Charlottesville to take on Virginia snapping a streak of 40 consecutive starts by Cunningham.
Louisville QB Malik Cunningham didn’t make the trip to Virginia due to concussion-like symptoms, per sources, snapping a streak of 40 straight games played as a Cardinal. He’s accounted for 66 percent of their total yards this season. Kickoff at noon in Charlottesville.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) October 8, 2022
If you begin to take notice at the coach speak about concussions, it is going to get a lot more tight-lipped and filled with buzz words of concussion protocol and doctors clearing.
On Monday, the NCAA will be involved in pre-trial proceedings will begin in Los Angeles Superior Court for the case Alana Gee v. NCAA. Alana Gee is the widow of Matthew Gee, a former Southern California linebacker from 1988 to 1992 who was part of two Rose Bowl teams.
Gee is also one of five linebackers that was on the 1989 Southern California Trojans depth chart who have died before the age of 50. The other four include Pro Football Hall of Famer Junior Seau, Scott Ross, David Webb, and Alan Wilson. Gee died in 2018 and was posthumously diagnosed with Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
In the lawsuit filed by Gee’s widow Alana, she alleges wrongful death and negligence, stating the NCAA failed to educate Matthew Gee on the dangers and long-term effects of concussions. Alana Gee was part of a 2020 Sports Illustrated feature that detailed the five fallen linebackers from that 1989 Trojans team that Matthew was beginning to experience severe mood swings.
He began to combat his issues with alcohol and developed a severe substance abuse issue. Gee would be in and out of treatment. Alana stuck with him through all of it and began to realize there was something much worse behind the alcoholism and that the substance abuse was masking the CTE. Gee would spend as much as 150 days a year in the hospital to deal with his issues.
As the news of CTE being more prevalent in the news in 2018, Gee thought he may have been battling it and began to educate himself on the subject. He would have his upswings and downswings.
Over Christmas, he seemed to be on an upswing and Alana took her son skiing but while they were away, Gee had a severe downswing where he lost his sobriety. When his daughter found him in a distressed state, she reached out to Alana for guidance, she said she would come home to help her husband. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to make it home in time to save her husband, Matthew Gee died on December 31, 2018, the coroner found three times the legal alcohol limit in Matthew’s blood.
Gee was also suffering from hypertension, ascites, cardiovascular disease, anomalous small coronary arteries, complications of hepatic cirrhosis and obstructive sleep apnea, and later CTE. When Gee died, he had the paperwork on his desk for a concussion lawsuit against the NCAA.
Alana would receive a report from Boston University on Matthew’s brain, the results:
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy: Stage II/IV.
Overall, his low stage CTE is consistent with his history of repetitive head impacts through football play. Both CTE and his multiple infarcts likely contributed to his mood, behavioral and cognitive dysfunction.
Conclusion
Many legal experts are interested in the Gee case because it might set legal precedence that could make the NCAA and its schools liable for hundreds of millions of dollars. It all relates to what happened to Tagovailoa on Thursday Night Football, and the dangers of concussions.
In a 2015 survey, it was asked what was the pressure to clear athletes prematurely to return to play, 64.4% of athletes pressured trainers and 53.3% of coaches pressured medical staff to clear athletes so they can compete.
It is understandable for both players and coaches, for the players it is the opportunity to play and potentially compete professionally, for coaches it is their job to win and be a program that is a revenue generator for the school. With schools now seeing the public climate sympathize more for the athlete afflicted with issues you are going to see more pressure on the athletic staff to adhere to the highest concussion protocols and player safety.
This means you might not see a star athlete participate in a big game.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno once said, “Losing a game is heartbreaking. Losing your sense of excellence or worth is a tragedy.”
In this new world, maybe fans, players, and coaches have to learn that losing a game might be heartbreaking, but not living a full life with your friends, family, and community is a bigger tragedy.
If you don’t believe me, ask the 1989 Southern California Trojans linebacker room and the families of the fallen five how much they would give to have their teammates, husbands, friends, and fathers back to have a conversation, say I love you, or just be there with.
