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Glass Jaw October 8,
2022
I can remember a time when I thought that a Glass Jaw was a myth. After
all, I had watched Frazier, Ali, Quarry & Foreman
take shot after shot until one or the other could take no more ... but a Glass
Jaw ... that was a myth. This is until I had seen a Glass Jaw first
hand. You see, I was with my father when we saw one of his closest friends
take a waning glance upon his jaw only to see him go immediately ... do not pass
GO ... to the ground TKO. It
wasn't like a championship fight ... it was surreal ... touch ... TKO. You
see, it was just a simple father protecting his brood from an oppressive
neighbor that had a history of being completely out of control. He
reacted ... tap ... Over!
Back in the day, our Irish Catholic prep school had a yearly tournament called the
Mission Bouts which was a boxing tournament available to anyone that attended
our high school with the ultimate prize of being labeled MISSION BOUT CHAMPION
for all time. That's how it would be framed in the yearbook. Back in 1945, my father had seen his closest friend in that
boxing ring, only to relive that same event all those many years later. The
only words he uttered on that day with me was ... GLASS JAW! Of course I tried to
question what I was seeing but the response was only a look away stare and the
words, "That's just the way it is Son".
Many year later, in the movie "Billion Dollar Babies" I heard Morgan
Freeman narrate a portion of that film where he states, "Obviously you
don't know what you're doing ... I'll take it from here!" Which was
in reference to an in-built automatic mechanism, of having your jaw tapped, where that mechanism
automatically takes over ... like your breathing mechanism or your heart beat
... where your body just shuts down, on your way to the canvas. Obviously,
he was talking about a Glass Jaw, it was in reference to the brain and all of it's acute mechanisms that are way beyond the control of us idiots.
Now maybe you are unaware of this fact but it without question that every
concussion sustained in ones life has a permanent effect. It just doesn't
simply disappear. What changes in time is the overlapping effects of that
or those concussions. Apparently, the brain also has a mechanism to
reroute the effects of a concussion, but it's still there. It is as if the
brain becomes rewired. However, stacking concussions upon each other over
the years has a cumulative effect or in other words it can build upon
itself. In time, there will be a mechanism to counteract these
effects however as of today this is simply not apart of the AMA where the brain
& spinal fluids find a balance to relieve these symptoms.
Which brings me to John Stein beck's masterpiece "Cannery Row".
As the story evolves, we get to learn that the main character Doc was a pitcher
where, as it turns out, one of the bum-like characters was actually a very good
baseball player too. Unfortunately Doc beamed this guy in the head, where he
was never the same only to find out that Doc became his overseer on Cannery
Row. In other words, in one way or another we are all eventually
responsible for our actions and, as it turns out ... for our unfortunate mistakes
too.
So, you might be asking, where is this all leading (with intrigue)? Well
Tua Tagovailoa has been ruled out for playing in week 5 versus the New York Jets
after suffering two successive concussions versus the Buffalo Bills on September
25th in week 3 followed by the Bengals 4 days later on September 29th in week
4. After an impressive 3-0 start to this season, there is going to be a
rather large clamoring for Tua to return where my fear is that the NFL's
protocol will push for his return in week 6 versus the Vikings on October
16th. Now absolutely everyone is leery at this very thought but what
exactly is in place to stop it from happening. Nothing! Why?
Because over the years there have been a host full of other players that have
returned to play without mishap but this is entirely different.
My fear is from the injuries that I've observed first hand that were identical
to Tua's head injury where Tua has sustained
successive injuries in the same part of his brain. Its cumulative effect leaves him with something very similar to
that glass jaw syndrome. Only in this case, it's not someone taping his
jaw ... it's the turf finding the back of his head. I've seen this
injury repeat itself in football & I've seen it with bikers falling to chafe
only to hit the back of their head onto the pavement. The helmet may only
have a small scratch but the egg itself became scrambled on it way to omelet-ville.
Tua is going to want to get back onto that field and realistically that should never happen
ever again. What needs to be said ... THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM ... is that
Tua sustained a career ending injury on September 29th. Before Tua ever
steps on that field again, he should submit to a rather simple test. A controlled recreation of hitting his head on the
turf before he ever sets foot on the field again. If he suffers no
ill effects he should be allowed to return to the field. On the other
hand, if he does experience any unusual symptoms from this test, he should be
pre-disclosed into retirement. If he shows trepidation whatsoever in any
way shape or form to this test ... he should clearly understand the
implications. The NFL is an uncontrolled environment and we simply don't
need any more Doc's paying a lifetime of regret for a stupid decision to put
someone that's disadvantaged unnecessarily into harms way.
In any case, if he were to consider taking on this controlled experiment, he
would do so having known that he gave his brain a sufficient amount of time to
potentially heal, which for him might be IR for the remainder of the 2022
season.
Which begs the question, would this Vikings franchise consider an unprecedented
move, under the NFL's present concussion protocol, in the event that Tua is
allowed to play in that Vikings contest ... by considering a forfeit to save a
mans life? Would Vikings players refuse to play in that game?
The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: October 8, 2022
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