The only thing more troubling than the hit Calvin Johnson took against the Minnesota Vikings on September 30th, is what happened on the sideline shortly after. The Detroit stud receiver had jumped to catch a pass thrown by Matt Stafford, but the pass was sailed to high, just missing Johnson's enormous wingspan. Johnson was still airborne when Chad Greenway of the Vikings hit in the face mask with the crown of his helmet; Ford Field went silent. When he returned to the sideline, he immediately fell to his knees and grabbed his head in obvious pain. Everybody and their mother in the stadium knew he was concussed and should stop playing, except the team trainers.
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| Calvin Johnson after the hit on September 30th |
Calvin Johnson returned to play just a short 12 minutes later being down by 14 points against a divisional rival. He later stated to a local radio station, “It’s a part of football... You get concussed, you gotta keep on playing.” This mind state is something that we have to nip in the bud in not only professional sports, but college, high school, and your local youth team. Adults and kids alike think it is part of being tough to play with a concussion, this is the biggest taboo that needs to be eliminated. Being a football player, your always going to have to play hurt at one time or another, but it is a different situation to play injured. Sure your going to be hurting every game, everything from hands, arms, ribs, back, legs, and everything in between. But you only have one head with one brain; you do not ever want to play around with the limits of your brain. One more big hit on Calvin Johnson from that game and he could have been eating his meals through a tube for the rest of his life.
http://www.wired.com/playbook/2012/12/nfl-sideline-concussion-testing/
