The Tua Tagovailoa injury was very frightening because he was temporarily paralyzed. The doctor that discovered CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy) a brain disease said Tua should never play again. The best-case scenario is long-term damage.

The week before Tua got hit it concussed him which might have led to temporary paralysis. The controversy is that Tua re-entered the game after being concussed. On a play, Tua got sacked and his head made contact with the ground. That sent him into a paralyzed state. Dr. Omalu, the doctor who discovered CTE, said he should have refused to play.

Dr. Bennet Omalu is a world-renowned doctor that studies the brain. Dr. Omalu told NBC Sports,“your life is worth more than $10 billion dollars”. In Dr. Omalu’s opinion, the NFL should assign unbiased doctors to each game.

The NFLPA is looking to put more strict rules to the concussion protocol regarding the Tua Situation. The NFLPA has fired the Dolphin’s doctor that was supposed to clear Tua. The NFL is now going to change the protocol from a “check the box” to a more personal evaluation.

There is a big argument about the injury being that Tua could have refused to go back into the game, but he was called to play and answered the call. His next contract will probably be heavily affected by the number of games he played, so he probably did that for the money.

Even though the injury was very frightening, he has said he is feeling better (according to his Twitter account). The injury was a shock to everyone, but this should be a big wake-up call to brain health and should bring more awareness.

Works Cited

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/09/28/bennet-omalu-faults-tua-tagovailoa-for-staying-in-the-game/