Anyone doubt that tough SOB had a concussion. He was certainly not the same player today when it comes to catching the ball. I have had experience with concussions myself. After physical exertion you feel like your head is spinning. While I admire his toughness, the NFL is pathetic when it comes to protecting players with head injuries. Anyway, just curious if anyone felt the same thing watching today's game.
I have been thinking about this. It may be a little bit of a stretch but watching him the season I thought he might even have better hands than chrebet. He has been really off the last few weeks in terms of his hands.
Yea, see, I think he just dropped those passes. Ugly, ugly drops. If he was still feeling it from the concussion, he wouldn't have played.
You Jets fans have lots of knowledge...this is another player question (although not L. Coles) Wanting to learn more about a Jets QB I heard about on NFL Network. Played in the 70's (I think), wore #9, had some kind of nickname like "King". Seems like a pretty animated and out there guy, anyone know who this QB was?
James (King) Corcoran. He backed up Namath at one time but never got into a regular season game with the Jets. He did play in two games for Boston in 1968. He started one of them. Was 3 of 7 for 33 yards with 2 interceptions. Went to school at Maryland. Was born in Jersey City. Played minor league football for the Pottstown Firebirds. Crazy playboy. http://www.helmethut.com/WFL/bell.html
Aside from turnging the league into a flag football league, I am not sure how much more you expect in terms of protection. The guy got fined for the hit that gave him the concussion, but it is still a contact sport and QB's and WR are already treated like endangered species.
Hey look up because something went over your head. 1,) Never ever did I advocate flag football 2.) If you look at my previous posts I thought Z. Thomas hit was legit. 3.) I was referring to when the player already has the head injury. I have played high level contact sports (not football) so please dispense with wanting flag football pussificatin of sports bs. 4.) The NFL does an absolute horrible job protecting players that are already injured.
Not sure about number 4 Miamipuck. Concussions and the guys that repeat them over and over, you are correct. Usually, thats the decision of the player though. You cant get inside a guys head to see if hes better or not. You cant ask a guy like Wayne Chrebet to retire or not play. He has the right to take the risk to make a living. I wouldnt do it..but I have never been offered 7 million a year. Players do feel pressure to play when injured. Its still up to the player..most do..and John Abraham doesnt. When you read the injury report during the week..most teams wouldnt be able to field a team if every guy didnt play. Its part of the game. I do totally agree with you though. Coles probably has a concussion. Showing him on the sidelines...and his play, something wasnt right. His team needed a win to get to the playoffs. He is the team MVP. He decided to play.
Jay, I am saying this from the angle that in Hockey if a player has a head injury they are now required to see a neuro specialist. In Football that is not the case or if it is it is a league hired hack. I understand that in some measure it is the player that wants to play and the decision is basically thrown in their lap. I think that is admirable. I especially admire the toughness of L. Coles. No way I could not. I just think he was not right. Luckily he has another week to clear the fog. I do not think he took a big hit this week. The problem with concussions though is if you have one that is not healed properly, they get progressively easier to get and more severe in nature. I know from you posts you know the myriad of players that had to retire because of this fact. I probably should have just kept this thread to.... did he or did he not have a concussion. I think I got too complicated...........lol I guess I got hit in the head too much.
No, I totally follow your point. I do believe he has a concussion. I do believe you are correct, the NFL does look the other way in situations like this. Its just the nature of the beast. You would know better than I if what you state about the NHL is true. It does surprise me a bit. The NHL lets players beat the hell out of each other with their bare fists..lol. I think your general question is right on the money and a good one about Coles.
I never said you were advocating flag football. I simply said if it were going to become any safer for them it would have to become flag football. L2R. :up: And WTF is your #4 "The NFL does an absolute horrible job protecting players that are already injured." If a player is injured he shouldn't play. That isn't on the NFL to dictate whether he should play or not. That is on the player and possibly the organization, but a player first is responsible for their own health and well being. Blaming the league seems rather silly.
Sorry but you are wrong. In fact I do not know how much more wrong you can be if at all possible. Serious look up Mike Webster and his case. The league got lambasted in that case and nothing has changed.
This guy played during a time when the rules and the equipment were much different than they are using today. Result of league changes to the game to make it safer. Ok, I am wrong as far as the league having a responsibility to create a safe environment. This is true going forward in terms of rules and such. However, the game is still a highly violent contact sport. People are going to get hit and unless you change that nothing is going to change. Injuries, including concussions are going to occur. Concussions are nothing new to the NFL. They have been around for years and have ended a lot of careers and made life worse for those who have had to live with them. The fact doesn't change that the #1 person responsible for the health of the player - IS THE PLAYER. They have doctors... they have the means to get 2nd opinions. They have the right to not play if they are endangering themselves. To blame the league because Coles decides he wants to go out there on the field with his bell still half rung is as you said admirable, but it is on him. It is his risk to take. Considering he had Chrebet for a teammate for years and saw how he left the game, I'd say the risk is not beyond Cole's grasp.
Cool some real discussion ok. I was wrong with what I said to Jay. First I want to state that I am talking Head injuries only. To be honest I totally agree with it is up to the player to play if he thinks his <insert joint or appendage here> is good to go or vice versa. Yes this might seem like talking out both sides. I just think there is a distinction. Second, I just brought up the Mike Webster thing as some proof that there is documentation of how poorly the league handles head injuries. I do realize he played in a different era. I fully realize that the players of his era are on a whole other plane as far as toughness and craziness. I used to play hockey with old pro's from that era. Trust me they are crazier than shithouse rats. Their equipment stunk (I do not mean the smell either) and their idea of weight training was lifting 12oz. at a time....... but that is another discussion. Personally, I think the league does a shit job protecting head injury players......... again after they are injured. There have been a couple of real good studies on this. In fact Perelman (sp) the Jets team Dr. (that falsified his background ) led the league's head injury policy. The policy basically sucks. (please take my word on this I do not want a thesis paper) Some of it might be conjecture on my part. However, there are a lot smarter Neuro surgeons that are of the same opinion, albeit they say it with much more conviction. I think there is a huge ESPN article that states this point. Basically what my long-windedness leads to is this: I do think in some instances the NFL should do as do some other leagues do and take it out of the players hands. You never know had this been the case Chrebet might still be playing. I am willing to take two weeks to save 2-3-4 years any day of the week. Now should L. Coles have played. Seriously, I have no idea other than to say he did not look right. Anyway thanks for the debate it was fun.
I went into your original post with the idea you were talking about protecting players from getting injuries and who were also playing with them. There can be a distinction made between injuries and head injuries. I really don't know what is the deal with the NFL after they have already sustained them down the road and what they can or should do after the fact. In Webster's case from what I saw online was they sued the NFL for disability income, and not so much for the injuries he sustained because of play. Certainly the league can afford to do something for guys that become disabled playing the sport, providing players are not going out there against medical advice. Something probably should be in place to protect both the players and the league in these cases. I am not certain that I believe the league should have the ability to hold a player out of a game due to injury though. I would have some big question marks about this sort of thing being done consistently for the good of the player. You would have to find people that are completely unbiased to make these decisions and maybe have a panel of people that would agree or disagree. I am just too cynical to believe it would be 100% fair. Likewise, I have little faith in the team being 100% honest in dealing with injuries with players as well. I think the idea of having an independent group of head docs that players can consult would be a good idea for these sort of injuries.
Especially sfter the drops, I was surprised he was still in the game. Not that any of us knows for sure, but between plays he was walking slowly, almost wobbly, at times. Anyone else notice a difference in his overall demeaner yesterday? The drops were just so out of character, as well.
