The NFL found itself in the middle of the storm early in the season regarding the players safety. That time had the episode of Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa as the protagonist. Now, the NFLPA president JC Tretter wrote a strong letter demanding immediate changes to one aspect that has been discussed for years.
In that week 4 Thursday Night Football between the Dolphins and the Cincinnati Bengals shifted all the attention to the league procedures. Tagovailoa had a hard hit on his head four days before when his team beat the Buffalo Bills at home. He presented a lot of problems to get back on his feet, so he was forced out of the match. However, he was later allowed to go back into the field.
In a short week Tua was able to pass the concussion protocol in order to play. The problem was that he got hit yet again and it left a very concerning image. That’s when the NFL decided to get stricter with the concussion protocol, but now they are receiving more demands from the NFLPA president about players health.
What is the NFLPA president demanding to the NFL?
Football is a very physical sport that has injuries as an everyday situation. However, those are not always related to direct hits. There are contact injuries, of course, based on the nature of the game. But the non-contact ones are also very severe and, according to the NFLPA president JC Tretter, they could be reduced.
What Tretter is demanding is for the NFL to ban a certain type of turf. “The slit film playing surface has statistically higher in-game injury rates compared to all other surfaces. The NFL has not only refused to mandate this change immediately, but they have also refused to commit to mandating a change away from slit film in the future at all”, said the NFLPA president.
There are currently seven teams playing under that condition: New York Giants, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, and Cincinnati Bengals. Some high-profile players such as Saquon Barkley or Nick Bosa had knee season-ending injuries in the past, so it’s not a surprise that this has been a topic of discussion for a while. The final sentence of the open letter was definitely the strongest one.
“As players, we have a simple message for the league: stop with the lip service, stop with the media spin, stop pretending you care. And if you actually do care, take the actionable steps to fix the problems our union has identified, especially those issues you actually agree with”.
