Is Thursday night NFL Football hurting Players?

[Averageman]

I have no interest in NFL Football anymore, but having suffered a dozen or so concussions I was intrested in how the NFL is handling concussions.
Well aparently not too well, they've had two players in two weeks taken off the field due to head trauma's.
Now in this politically correct day and age, with all the helmet redesigns, these guys are still going out feet first from the field. Ironically these two cases both happened on a Thursday night game.
I don't know if I am correct but here's my theory. Please chime in Medical Guys
Having looked at studies concerning concussions, my conclusion is the effects of head trauma "stack". If you're playing on Sunday and take a couple good hits those hits stack, then you play 96 hours later your more suseptable to concuss.
Now if you've had several consussions, again your more likely to concuss.
So taking a beating on Sunday and playing again on Sunday, seems to be having a much bigger difference from taking a beating on Sunday and taking another one on Thursday.

Now when you look at recent Veterans who been exposed to IED's, these guys are suffering remarkablly similar effrects.

[TBAR_94]

I think everyone knows that Thursday games, and even Monday night games to some extent, are a compromise in player safety. Not just for the concussion risk, but in general there is no way to properly recover from Sunday to Thursday and there's injury risk for everything from soft tissue to concussions, and everything in between. Most teams don't even really do a full practice when they're playing Thursday night, they do a walkthrough on Wednesday--that does help guys recover, but it also means there's more chances for sloppy play which can lead to injuries. But they are great for league revenue, which is good for owners, and in some ways good for players since it helps the cap. Thursday games are all division games, which means that some teams that won't rate a Sunday night or a Monday night game get the coverage, and it gives guys an opportunity to stand out in prime time and help build their reputation.

As to Tua/Hines/Hoyer injuries, I'm not so sure concussions would have all the attention they have right now if it was guys you'd never heard of playing special teams. But because it's QBs and running backs, and the Tua and Hines injuries had lots of cameras on them, people are talking. I've seen a 3rd string safety take the same hit as Tua and the TV coverage goes to commercial and that's it--no replay and not the top topic on Sportscenter for the rest of the week.

I love football, and overall I think the league is doing a pretty good job to make the game safer. Compared to what I grew up watching in the 90s there is way more emphasis on player safety. But at the end of the day the guys in the NFL are grown men making a lot of money to be out there--it's a risk they all knowingly take to play.

[Waylander]

I don’t watch NFL but did see the Tua situation. I like him so don’t get me wrong. The problem with him is he’s always been injury prone or maybe the unluckiest guy out there. In all his injuries I’ve seen in college and NFL, it looks to me like he falls wrong. In the two recent sacks, he fell straight on his back and slammed his head. Why not minimize the damage before or when he takes a sack?

That being said, there’s no way I’d have let him play after he could barely stand after the sack on Sunday.

[Averageman]

I don’t watch NFL but did see the Tua situation. I like him so don’t get me wrong. The problem with him is he’s always been injury prone or maybe the unluckiest guy out there. In all his injuries I’ve seen in college and NFL, it looks to me like he falls wrong. In the two recent sacks, he fell straight on his back and slammed his head. Why not minimize the damage before or when he takes a sack?

That being said, there’s no way I’d have let him play after he could barely stand after the sack on Sunday.

He shouldn't have been out there and his being out there may end up costing the NFL tens of millions of dollars.
That just shows you that in the first game, you can be concussed and continue to fight. Had they not walked him off, he well may have tried to continue.
Prone to injury? It like comparing thoroughbreds to draft horses.

[Waylander]

He shouldn't have been out there and his being out there may end up costing the NFL tens of millions of dollars.
That just shows you that in the first game, you can be concussed and continue to fight. Had they not walked him off, he well may have tried to continue.
Prone to injury? It like comparing thoroughbreds to draft horses.

I’ve just never seen a college player have two bad injuries like he had regardless of the recent stuff. Maybe it isn’t related but just speaks to the team not making him sit it out as a precaution. They’re saying he passed all the concussion tests from Sunday to Thursday and we’ll likely never know unless somebody comes forward.

[ggammell]

I think it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing CTE injuries in the general populace (read vets). Getting blown up and getting smoked by a middle line backer have same effect on the brain. It’s already starting to be addressed in the scientific studies. TBI from battle can easily be replicated every Sunday (or whatever day) from September to February.

[henri]

Everything has a degree of risk, for the multi million dollar salary these 'professional athletes' earn, they all believe it's worth the risk. The average firefighter, police officer, soldier, construction worker, commercial fisherman, all have a much greater degree of risk in their occupations than the grossly overpaid 'athletes' playing a stupid game.

[kirkland]

I don’t watch NFL but did see the Tua situation. I like him so don’t get me wrong. The problem with him is he’s always been injury prone or maybe the unluckiest guy out there. In all his injuries I’ve seen in college and NFL, it looks to me like he falls wrong. In the two recent sacks, he fell straight on his back and slammed his head. Why not minimize the damage before or when he takes a sack?

That being said, there’s no way I’d have let him play after he could barely stand after the sack on Sunday.

I could agree with you on the first hit, where he fell down backwards and smacked his head, seems like he could've fallen better. But He didn't have any say on how he landed on that sack against the Bengals, he was just flung down hard right on his shoulder and his head, that was nasty. They said his fingers locking in that weird position was a neurological reaction to head trauma.

I think they really messed up when they let him back in the game on Sunday after he was involuntarily stumbling and showing lack of gross motor control after hitting his head. Then there was the sack on Thursday and hitting his head again even harder. Yikes.

[Waylander]

I could agree with you on the first hit, where he fell down backwards and smacked his head, seems like he could've fallen better. But He didn't have any say on how he landed on that sack against the Bengals, he was just flung down hard right on his shoulder and his head, that was nasty. They said his fingers locking in that weird position was a neurological reaction to head trauma.

I think they really messed up when they let him back in the game on Sunday after he was involuntarily stumbling and showing lack of gross motor control after hitting his head. Then there was the sack on Thursday and hitting his head again even harder. Yikes.

The hand fencing thing gave me the CHILLS. I’ve had a concussion and it will F you up in weird ways. I was in a similar situation when I was playing JV football except I was defense and the RB had me by 50 pounds and a 20 yard full head of steam.

They’re claiming the medical staff tested him all week. That may be true but like I said earlier they should’ve taken the precaution and not let him play after he staggered around after the first hit. I could make more accusations against the NFL but I won’t until I know more.

[Averageman]

You know every time I've been hurt, like everytime, I always try and walk it off. I'm 61 and it's getting a little harder to walk it off now and the damage has stacked a little bit.
I know if I was a Football player I would Bull Sh*t you all week so I wouldn't miss a game. Hell, during Desert Storm I was let out of the Hospital after a two weeks stay and walked 15 miles back to the Field Trains in the dark so I could ride in the the Company Area with breakfast.
I don't even know why Doctors ask you how you feel, everyones going to BS you for pain meds or BS you so they can go back to work.