Someone needs to save the NFL from itself, because the league sure as hell isn’t going to do it.

Sunday, the Carolina Panthers made a mockery of the concussion protocol — yes, that newly toughened concussion protocol that was rolled out less than a month ago following the last incident to expose it as a farce, I might add.

After being sacked with 9:12 left in an NFC wild-card game, Cam Newton was hit hard in the head by New Orleans Saints defensive tackle David Onyemata. Newton was slow to get up and then, as he jogged off the field, stopped and dropped to his knees.

He was examined on the sideline, and it was announced he was being evaluated for a concussion. But, lo and behold, four minutes later, Newton was back in the game after missing one play.

The Panthers claimed afterward that their former MVP hadn’t actually had a head injury, but that his helmet had slipped forward and pressed into his eye.

“My helmet had came down low enough over my eyelid and it got pressed into the player’s stomach, I believe,” Newton said. “I thought maybe somebody stuck his finger in my eye.”

Aside from that being about as believable as “the dog ate my homework” — “Didn’t he look a little dazed? A little fazed? He definitely wasn’t unfazed,” Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan said — it didn’t matter. Once Newton dropped to his knee, he had to be taken to the locker room, according to a new provision in the concussion protocol.

Here’s the exact language: “Require a locker room concussion evaluation for all players demonstrating gross or sustained vertical instability (e.g., stumbling or falling to the ground when trying to stand).”

What part of this is so hard to understand? I get that “sustained vertical instability” is a mouthful, but “stumbling or falling to the ground” ought to clear that up. Better yet, use your eyes. Anyone who watched the play and its aftermath could see that Newton wasn’t right.

But it’s obvious the NFL doesn’t care.

Oh, it’ll talk a good game when put on the spot. Like the toughened protocol it implemented following the travesty with Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage, who was allowed to re-enter a Dec. 10 game despite exhibiting the “fencing position,” an established reaction to a brain injury, at the feet of an official.

Until the NFL starts following its own rules and cracking down on teams who flout them, it’s all lip service.

If the NFL is sincere about protecting the long-term health and safety of its players — or even just wants the appearance of it — it needs to dock the Panthers a draft pick. Send a message to them and every other team that keeping a player’s brain intact matters more than anything.

Yes, even during a playoff game.

Better yet, put all this in the hands of someone else. Outsource medical decisions during games to athletic trainers and physicians who are not beholden to the league or any of its teams. The spotters in the booth, the neurotrauma consultants, the physicians on the sidelines — all of them should come from an independent group with full, unassailable authority to make decisions on player health and safety.

Cam Newton was hardly the first player failed by the NFL. What’s worse is that he won’t be the last.

By Nancy Armour

This article was republished with permission from the original author and 2015 Ronald Reagan Media Award recipient, Nancy Armour, and the original publisher, USA Today. Follow columnist Nancy Armour on Twitter @nrarmour.

Let me start by saying I am NOT a Kansas City Chiefs fan. In fact, as a New England Patriots fan, it is a good thing that the Chiefs lost to the Titans. That does not change the fact that the Chiefs got screwed by the officials last Saturday. In what was certainly one of the worst calls in NFL history, Jeff Triplette ruled that Marcus Mariota’s forward progress was stopped when he got sacked and the ball came out on contact. The Chiefs recovered the obvious fumble but Triplette made his absurd ruling, which by the way is “not reviewable.”

How bad was the call? Former head of NFL Officials Mike Pereira (who almost always sticks up for the officials on Fox) tweeted, “Horrible way to start the playoffs. I hate to say it but this was not a good performance by the crew. Teams and fans deserve better” (Frank, 2018). You think?

Here is the part that the NFL needs to explain – why in the world was Triplette officiating a playoff game? In an article on Sportsnaut, sportswriter Vincent Frank made the following statement, “Triplette has a reputation around the NFL as being one of the worst officials” (Frank, 2018). The NFL only needs four crews for the playoffs, why would “one of the worst officials” be assigned a playoff game? I guess the NFL chooses to award mediocrity in their officials just like they do with head coaches.

The other thing that really bothers me is the statement, “that is not reviewable.” Why in the world would anything not be reviewable? Does the NFL only want to get some of the calls correct? The words “not reviewable” should be eliminated from the vocabulary of NFL officials.

Whether the team we are rooting for wins or loses should be decided by the players not by incompetent officiating. I realize that “incompetent officiating” is redundant. Incompetent officiating seems to be the only officiating we have in the NFL in 2018. They need to have full time officials who are not eligible for social security for starters. We should never see a graphic that so and so has been an NFL referee for 30 years – they cannot keep up with the speed of the game.

Full time officials is the long term solution, for the short term, the NFL could start with two simple steps. First, everything should be reviewable. Second, someone with the “reputation around the NFL as being one of the worst officials” should NEVER be involved in a playoff game. There were four games last week, four this week, two next week, and the Super Bowl. That means they only need a total of four crews for the entire playoffs. Certainly, the NFL can find four competent referees – on second thought . . .

Reference

Frank, V. (2018). Maligned NFL official Jeff Triplette to reportedly retire. Sportnaut.

By Dr. Stephen Butler

Stephen L. Butler, Ed.D., is the Dean of Academic Affairs at the United States Sports Academy, and can be reached at sbutler@ussa.edu.