The NFL on Friday morning claimed its concussion protocols "worked as they should" during Thursday's Panthers-Broncos season opener despite Panthers QB Cam Newton not leaving the game after taking "multiple hard hits to the head," according to Michael David Smith of PRO FOOTBALL TALK. The league noted that there were "multiple members of the medical staff observing Newton, seeing no indication that he had suffered a concussion, and therefore allowing him to keep playing." The NFLPA has "criticized the league for failing to do enough to protect players from brain injuries." Smith: "When the NFL’s reigning MVP gets hits in the head during the marquee Week One opener, it’s bound to draw more criticism" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 9/9). ESPN's Sal Paolantonio reports it was the "determination of the spotter and the independent neurotrauma consultant on the sideline with the Carolina Panthers that there was no evidence of a concussion." He said, "It was important to have the independent spotter up in the booth and the two neurotrauma consultants on both sidelines involved in this play to make sure the right thing was done, especially since Ron Rivera does not want to take him out of the game" ("SportsCenter,” ESPN, 9/9). ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert notes Newton "absorbed upward of five helmet-to-helmet hits," and it is "possible that Newton was tested between series, but he appeared to exhibit a classic concussion symptom" after being hit by Broncos S Darian Stewart in the last minute of the game. When viewed as a whole, what happened Thursday night "ran counter to everything the NFL is attempting to achieve on player health and safety" (ESPN.com, 9/9).
USE YOUR ILLUSION: CBS SPORTS' Bill Reiter writes, "If I told you I understood [the new concussion protocol] after watching Newton stay in that game I would be lying or delusional." Time and again, Newton "took shots to his helmet that were not called." It was "hard not to wonder what, exactly, the point of a concussion policy is if the game's most important player finds no protection in either the officiating or the protocol that should have pulled him" (CBSSPORTS.com, 9/9). ESPN's Mike Greenberg asked, "How is it that Cam gets obliterated ... is rolling around on the ground in pain and they don't take him out of the game for some sort of concussion-related observation? How is that possible?" He added, "Do you not want to do that in critical moments of the game or do we really think the most important thing here is player safety and head injury?” ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 9/9). In Charlotte, Scott Fowler writes what happened to Newton "was an absolute travesty." Officials who allowed Broncos defenders to "repeatedly target Newton's head ... proved to be as weak as a kitten." Newton was "somewhat unclear afterward about whether he had actually been placed in the concussion protocol." Fowler: "I wouldn't be terribly surprised, in fact, if he is determined to have a concussion and misses the Panthers' next game" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 9/9).
TAKING HOUSE CALLS: In Pittsburgh, Mamula & Bloom note Allegheny General Hospital doctors will "be on the sidelines of Steelers home games to aid players." AGH's Allegheny Health Network "got word" from the NFL about three weeks ago that it "had been chosen to serve as so-called 'unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants' during home games." Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center doctors will "continue to treat Steelers players as they have" since '97 (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/9).
