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The NFL has taken a number of steps to promote player safety and reduce the risk of injury that comes with playing such a brutal sport but there’s only so much the league can do to prevent its athletes from getting obliterated by large men running at high speeds.
On Sunday, Mason Rudolph found himself on the receiving end of a helmet-to-helmet hit from one of the large men in question in the form of Earl Thomas, who managed to knock the Steelers quarterback out cold and scare the hell out of JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Mason Rudolph knocked out on this hit. No flag. pic.twitter.com/zjs92AI904
— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) October 6, 2019
JuJu Smith-Schuster looks like he almost faints when seeing Mason Rudolph down. pic.twitter.com/4LeCpwSdPq
— Mike Cole (@MikeColeNESN) October 6, 2019
Thomas was immediately ejected for targeting and—oh, wait. Just kidding. The refs apparently didn’t give a shit and the safety was allowed to remain in the game with no repercussions aside from a flag.
Rudolph, on the other hand, remained motionless on the ground for an uncomfortable amount of time and a medical cart was almost immediately brought out onto the field in order to transport him off of it.
Unfortunately, the QB was eventually forced to walk off the gridiron with the help of a couple of people after the cart in question decided to stop working.
https://twitter.com/Supreme_gifs/status/1180928014705577984
Plenty of people were quick to question why there seemed to be no contingency plan after the cart malfunctioned. However, according to Pro Football Talk, the NFL claims there was an alternate form of transportation that somehow went unharnessed:
“A cart was brought on the field in the event it was needed.
After evaluating the player, medical staff determined a cart was not necessary in this instance. Had one been needed, there was a backup cart on the other sideline which was immediately available.
He received appropriate medical care per gameday protocols, and is now in the concussion protocol.”
Thankfully, Rudolph wasn’t forced to walk to the hospital he was eventually sent to and we got some good news on Sunday night when we learned he’d already been discharged.
Steelers QB Mason Rudolph is home from a Pittsburgh-area hospital and doing well, according to a source. Good sign after suffering a concussion on the Earl Thomas hit.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) October 6, 2019
I’d say I hope the NFL uses this as a learning experience, but based on their response to the incident, I’m not super optimistic.