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With the injuries to the likes of Tua Tagovailoa, Damar Hamlin, and countless more, the 2022 NFL season was one of the most injured-riddled in recent memory, particularly when considering how drastic some of the injuries were.
Despite the fact that the NFL has been making a legitimate effort to fight back against concussions for over half a decade now, the league saw an 18% increase in concussions this year compared to last.
League commish Roger Goodell, however, had an incredible spin on that fact, saying that it’s because the league’s testing has improved.
“I think that’s a reason why concussions went up this year, because we had a broader definition,” Goodell said. “If you have more evaluations you’re going to have more concussions.”
Goodell’s comments are obviously eyebrow-raising given the extremely public way in which the Miami Dolphins mishandled the concussion Tua suffered against the Buffalo Bills, which led to further concussions against the Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers.
The 63-year-old, who has been NFL commissioner since 2006, also discussed how the league plans to address concussions next season:
“Any time we can change the protocols to make it safer for our players, we’re going to do that,” Goodell said.
“You want to take the head out of the game,” Goodell said. “You’re always going to have contacts that are not intended, so that’s why we have protections, but ultimately you want to have rules that are avoiding the techniques that lead to these kinds of injuries.”
The NFL will certainly be hoping that there aren’t any significant head injuries during this weekend’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, as virtually the entire sports world will be watching.
Super Bowl LVII between the Chiefs and Eagles will kick off on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. EST.