You’d certainly think it’d be a wise choice for him to make, but from what I’ve been able to find, only a handful of players are wearing them in games at this point.
A Guardian Cap wouldn’t have helped much here. They’re designed to help with more with repeated smaller impacts. This was a concussion because of a sudden stop and the head/neck twisting.
While I disagree that it was “incredibly mild,” it might not have caused a concussion if the player in question hadn’t already suffered, what, four(?) prior ones.
Yeah, the more you get them, the easier it is to get them. Eventually even a routine tackle could do it. Tua could end up having 12 concussions like Aikman or 20 like Staubach.
The following quotes are taken from The Athletic, which is paywalled unless you have a subscription.
On the Amazon Prime broadcast after the game, former All-Pros Tony Gonzalez and Richard Sherman both said Tagovailoa should plan for life beyond football.
“If I’m (Tua) at this point, I’m seriously considering retiring from football,” Gonzalez said after the game. “Tua’s future? I’m thinking retirement here.”
Also from the same article, taken from Xitter, which many of you block:
Dez Bryant:
That’s it….
NFL go ahead and do the right thing
Tua has had entirely way too many concussions
He need to retire for his longevity health concerns
Shannon Sharpe:
Really hope Tua is ok, but he’s gotta seriously think about shutting it dwn. I H8 saying this. His concussions are getting worse and worse and he’s a young man with his entire life ahead of him.
Mitchell Schwartz, when asked if Tua should retire:
Personally, yes. It’s easy for me to say but it’s sad to see and you have no idea what the ramifications will be later in life. But it’s clear that his body can’t handle those hits to the head/neck area, with the scary reactions he has. And at some point you got to get hit.
Can’t say I disagree with these guys, who have a lot more knowledge about this than I do. Tua is a heckuva talent, but ISTM that he either quits running the football or quits football altogether.
Because it was Monday Night, it was pretty much impossible to replace him.
If you, as a fantasy owner, found out 90 minutes before game time (which is when the Niners made the announcement), you would still have had time to pick up some running back from the pool of players who were not on a team at that moment. For instance, I doubt that Jordan Mason was on many active rosters.
Most leagues that I’m familiar with have 10-14 teams, which means there are lot of players who aren’t on anybody’s roster during any given week.
EXCEPT many of them had played on Sunday and were thus unavailable on Monday night.
Yeah, that’s something I hadn’t considered. Which is why Jordan Mason would have been a natural pickup.
If a fantasy owner keeps a Monday Night player on their active roster when he’s listed as questionable and doesn’t have another MNF sub ready to swap, they deserve to get bitten, no matter what the team is saying publicly. That’s just stupid.
I’m not sure what to think of the fact that Tua’s injury came in a collision with Damar Hamlin, who died on the field before being resuscitated two years ago. Weird coincidence.
I agree, but the choice not to wear one is baffling. They won’t help every hit, but it seems like a cheap bit of insurance.
Supposedly he’s wearing one of the new highly rated softshell helmets. These softshell helmets are supposedly better than a legacy hard helmet even with a cap, but you’d presume that adding more protection to a modern helmet would be a help.
This is completely off topic, but I’m surprised that there isn’t more discussion around the facemask installation on the helmet. I recall from my playing days that it wasn’t the helmet that did all the damage it was the fucking screws and clips on the forehead and sides that ripped skin and meshed with other helmets. If not for those hard corners, more helmet to helmet collisions would be glancing blows instead of full collisions. I’ve seen a handful of helmets where at least the forehead area envelops the top of the facemask but very few players seem to be wearing them.
It was mind-boggling that Tua chose to lower and go head-first on contact rather than slide with his feet like a QB should. The team was losing by three touchdowns and there was no reason for him to risk anything.
Competitive instinct. Offensive rushers (though not always quarterback) are widely praised for “delivering the blow”, giving the defender as good as they get.
But QBs are supposed to be trained and counseled to protect themselves, simply because they’re usually the single most valuable and irreplaceable piece of the offense on the field.
I can’t explain exactly why Tagovailoa felt the need to dive instead of sliding, but he’s still a relatively young man, and young men are notoriously difficult to make believe in their own mortality.
It was 4th and 4 and he was going for a first down. He may not have gotten it if he slid, which would’ve been the game ender.
I’d bet dollars to donuts that if he slid to protect himself and didn’t make the first down, a ton of the typical talking heads, especially ex-players, would have cried that he’s soft or not committed enough to winning. He can’t win.
From the NFL, regarding McCaffrey’s injury status: “We have found no evidence of a violation of the league’s injury report policy in this matter.”
… Aaaand they put him on IR. McCaffrey out at least four weeks.
The Madden Curse? 
Packers first quarter offense: 22 rushes, 2 passes.
If it wasn’t for Matt Lafleur’s creativity, it’d be like watching the Lombardi Packers. And it’s working.
Well this is funny, Watson playing way better today. Rumors are swirling that new allegations might void his contract. When he thought his scam was secure, he was just gonna half-ass it. Now that his scam is at risk, suddenly he can play again.
And the Packers still find ways to shoot themselves in the foot.