Chargers, NFL blew it with Addae
This looks bad.
Chargers safety Jahleel Addae suffered a concussion on Thursday that millions of people analyzed immediately but wasn’t officially diagnosed until Friday.
This accentuates the need for more vigilance, and it comes close to screaming negligence.
That Addae’s concussion was not diagnosed until the next day is not reason enough to be livid with Chargers medical personnel. A delayed onset of symptoms – and, thus, diagnosis -- is not uncommon.
That Addae was allowed to continue playing after being so clearly staggered, though, is evidence that intolerable holes exist in in-game procedures.
Mistakes happen. A football game is chaotic. I don’t believe Mike McCoy or Tom Telesco or anyone else in the organization acted maliciously on Thursday.
But for the organization that endured the Kris Dielman nightmare – the 2011 incident that changed how the league addresses possible in-game head injuries – this is unfathomable.
Now, while our indignation is justified, let’s not allow it to be fueled by ignorant arrogance. Let’s at least acknowledge there is only so much we can know watching from the sideline, the press box or the couch.
What looks absolutely clear may, in fact, be murky.
“Sometimes it seems like something is very, very obvious,” Dr. Vernon Williams, a neurologist and medical director of the Kerlan-Jobe Center for Sports Neurology in Los Angeles, said Friday. “But that’s not always how it pans out when the player is evaluated.”
That said, the Chargers and the NFL blew it.
And their blunder is a reminder that as far as the NFL has come in its efforts to identify concussions, we must remain watchful over the players and those charged with maintaining their safety.
In response to a request for comment, the NFL Players Association provided this statement from assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah: “We are looking into this, as we do with all player health and safety matters.”
As it should be. The Chargers and/or those working for the NFL could have done more to assess Addae during the game.
Addae twice on Thursday exhibited body language that suggested a severe injury, going limp after a hit on the game’s first play from scrimmage and staggering for several seconds after a helmet-to-helmet collision in the third quarter.
He did not leave the field after either play and participated in 54 of the Chargers’ 71 snaps.
That, Williams said after watching video replays the two plays, was “concerning.” He noted the presence of team medical personnel, game officials and independent medical observers on the sideline and in the press box.
“At some point,” Williams said, “you would have expected someone to say, ‘Wait a minute. We need to look at that guy.’ “
Addae said after the game that he was fine. A team source said that Addae was also evaluated to some extent after the game. However, observers in the locker room Thursday night said Addae seemed to not recall the moments after a helmet-to-helmet collision on the final play of the third quarter.
While Addae did fall facemask first to the turf after colliding with Emmanuel Sanders on Thursday’s first play from scrimmage, he and Sanders did not hit helmets. Also, it appears that Addae’s left arm gave out as he tried to catch himself during the fall, which would be consistent with a stinger, a nerve injury that results in a burning sensation from the neck down the arm and is often accompanied by weakness or numbness.
Addae finished that series, but did not play the first five plays of the next series as the Chargers were in their base defense. It was in that interim, a team source said, that Addae was evaluated for a concussion, diagnosed with a stinger and cleared to continue playing. Addae played almost the entirety of the rest of the game, including 10 of the first 11 plays of the fourth quarter.
It was on the final play of the third quarter that Addae raced up and collided helmet-to-helmet with Broncos ball carrier Juwan Thompson. Immediately, Addae staggered back, wobbly. For at least four seconds, he appeared disoriented.
It was eerily reminiscent of Dielman being dazed on the ground after a play against the New York Jets in 2011. Dielman finished the game, was not diagnosed with a concussion and then suffered a seizure on the flight back to San Diego. It would be his final game in the NFL, as he retired out of fear of further brain injury if he continued playing.
It is not certain that no doctor or athletic trainer talked to Addae after that play, but there was not enough time between then and the first play of the fourth quarter to conduct a thorough examination.
We can place some of this on Addae, perhaps. But Williams, the neurologist, explained that players sometimes aren’t aware they are concussed.
As for the idea that Addae purposely hid symptoms, it should be noted that two sources on Friday said Addae alerted medical personnel to Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers not being OK after he was allowed back in last Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs following a concussion examination. Flowers was pulled from the game and did not play Thursday due to his concussion. Addae’s behavior in that situation at least demonstrated his awareness.
This is on those paid to watch games for just this sort of incident.
If someone with the Chargers or NFL saw Addae reeling, he should have been taken out of the game. If someone didn’t see him – not any of the four athletic trainers, four doctors or independent neurologist on the sideline, seven game officials or independent athletic trainer monitoring the game broadcast – there is a different kind of problem.
America’s favorite game is ruthlessly dangerous and comes closer to being an actual matter of life and death than we often realize or acknowledge.
I don’t believe the Chargers turned a blind eye for a competitive advantage, but the team and the league messed up.
However accidental this may have been, it indicates a lack of diligence by a league that would have us believe player safety is paramount.
We must let them know this is unacceptable. We can’t keep watching this.
