With the NFL season in full swing, we have already seen a multitude of injuries sideline star players. Some of the more notable injuries include Christian McCaffrey, star running back for the San Francisco 49ers, and Tua Tagovailoa[1], starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, with the third concussion of his career. Less notable, but still a concern, was the injury to Kyle Van Noy, a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens. Van Noy injured his eye in the first game of season against the Kanas City Chiefs.[2] Van Noy stated he “was ‘disappointed’ about how long it took Chiefs doctors to see him in the locker room after leaving the field.”[3] According to Van Noy, the Chiefs medical team took an entire quarter to meet him the locker room to assess his injuries.[4]
NFL training staff and medical doctors have been under the microscope the past few years due to a variety of injuries that have plagued the league. In 2020, former Bills OB Tyrod Taylor’s lung was punctured by the Los Angelos Chargers team doctor just prior to kickoff.[5] In the moment, Taylor did not fault the doctor for his mistake, saying that “it happens” and the doctor “just made a mistake.”[6] However, Taylor sued the team doctor in 2022 for $5 million damages due to lost earnings from that 2020 season.[7] Taylor’s damages were increased by the fact that he could have made more money during the free agency period if it weren’t for the injury the team doctor’s negligent act caused.[8]
After Taylor’s injury, the NFL faced backlash once again due to a severe concussion Tagovailoa endured in 2022. His first apparent head injury came in a game against the Buffalo Bills, when Tagovailoa hit his head on the ground, got up, and stumbled to the ground before exiting the game.[9] He was out for only one day, when he cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and was checked out by an independent neurologist. The Dolphins had initially listed Tagovailoa’s injury as a head injury, but it was later changed to a back injury when he “cleared” protocol.[10] A few games later, Tagovailoa suffered another concussion when he slammed his head into the turf, his fingers frozen in the air. He only missed two weeks after this injury against the Cincinnati Bengals.[11] After this injury, the doctor who initially cleared Tagovailoa to play was removed by the NFLPA because he violated NFL concussion protocol when clearing him to play so quickly. The NFL stated this independent neurologist was not affiliated with the team, but he was approved by the NFL.[12] Even if Tagovailoa was cleared by this independent doctor, shouldn’t the training staff and team doctors be held to the same standards for missing the initial signs of his concussions? Sadly, this was not his last head injury of the 2022 season, or of his career.
Player safety is evaluated by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), which ranks each team’s training staff and gives them an annual report card.[13] Out of the 32 teams in the NFL, most training staff teams are ranked between an A- and a B-. However, there are seven teams in the NFL, that fall below this, which causes some concern in the realm of players’ safety. In 2024, out of those seven teams, the Kanas City Chiefs and the Washington Commanders received F grades for their training staff.[14] Circling back to the injury to Van Noy, he makes an interesting point, suggesting that he does not believe the delay in his care was because he was a visiting player, but that he “doesn’t feel confident in the organization’s ability to provide medical care to players in general.”[15] Since the Chiefs are one of the most successful on field organizations in the NFL, how much confidence does this give players coming into the facility and using their staff members? This is only the most recent criticism of training staff and team doctors in the NFL.
Thankfully, Van Noy’s injury was not made worse because of the training staff’s delayed response. However, like the injuries to Tagovailoa and Taylor, that is not always the case. Should these report cards be taken more seriously, especially when a team’s staff receives an F grade? Will the noise Van Noy has created regarding the training staff affect how the Miami Dolphins handle Tagoviola’s most recent concussion? Thankfully, Tagovailoa has been placed on injured reserve while he heals and can calculate his next step forward. But will these two instances require the NFL to increase training staff response time and review concussion protocols once again? The answer we have now is “it depends”.
[1] David Reinharz, Tua Should Take a Permanent Timeout, UB Sports & Entertainment Forum, (Sept. 18, 2024), https://ublawsportsforum.com/2024/09/18/tagovailoa-should-take-a-permanent-timeout/.
[2] Ravens’ Kyle Van Noy criticizes Chiefs medical staff for slowness in caring for eye injury, FOX Sports, (Sept. 11, 2024), https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/ravens-kyle-van-noy-criticizes-chiefs-medical-staff-slowness-caring-eye-injury.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Adam Schefter, Chargers QB Tyrod Taylor’s lung punctured by team doctor before Chiefs game, ESPN, (Sept. 23, 2020), https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29952469/chargers-qb-tyrod-taylor-lung-punctured-team-doc-sources-say.
[6] Id.
[7] Tyrod Taylor sues Chargers doctor for injection that caused punctured lung, NBC Sports, (Sept. 18, 2022), https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29952469/chargers-qb-tyrod-taylor-lung-punctured-team-doc-sources-say.
[8] Id.
[9] To see more on the NFL’s concussion protocol and Tua’s recent concussion, check out David Reinharz, Tua Should Take a Permanent Timeout, UB Sports & Entertainment Forum, (Sept. 18, 2024), https://ublawsportsforum.com/2024/09/18/tagovailoa-should-take-a-permanent-timeout/.
[10] Dan Rorabaugh, Tua Tagovailoa injury update: How is he after hit, concussion? Will he retire?, USA TODAY NETWORK, (Sept. 13, 2024), https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/nfl/dolphins/2024/09/13/tua-tagovailoa-concussion-injury-updates/75206183007/.
[11] Id.
[12] Ken Belson et. al., Doctor Who Examined Tagovailoa Is Dismissed; N.F.L. Assessing Concussion Rules, The New York Times, (Oct. 1, 2022) https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/sports/football/tua-tagovailoa-doctor-fired.html.
[13] NFL Player Team Report Cards 2024, NFLPA, https://nflpa.com/nfl-player-team-report-cards-2024.
[14] Id.
[15] Matt Hladik, Injured NFL Player Calls Out ‘Unprofessional’ training Staff, The Sun, (Sept. 11, 2024), https://thespun.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/injured-nfl-player-calls-out-unacceptable-training-staff.
Alex Brockhuizen (’25) is pursuing her JD at the University at Buffalo School of Law, with a concentration in Sports Law. After graduation, she will be working at Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC. At UB, Alex is co-director of the Labor and Employment Law Society and Treasurer of the Buffalo Sports Law and Entertainment Law Society. She is also Business Editor of the Buffalo Law Review, where she was deemed a finalist of the Note and Comment Competition her 2L year. Alex is also a former two-sport athlete at Elmira College.
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