Steelers’ Cameron Heyward: Players need protection from themselves regarding concussions

In watching the Tua Tagovailoa head-injury saga play out this week, Cameron Heyward couldn’t help but think back to when some observers believed he’d suffered a concussion during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“But I had no symptoms or anything; I just got the wind knocked out of me,” Heyward said Friday. “So I understand the frustration when people think our (injuries) are concussions when they’re not.”

Still, that doesn’t mean that Heyward, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ star defensive lineman, doesn’t want all involved to err on the side of caution.

“Concussions are not a thing you really want to mess around with,” said Heyward, the Steelers’ player union representative.

“It’s just, who’s protecting the player from themselves?”

Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback, was taken off the Paycor Stadium field on a stretcher and briefly hospitalized as the result of his head slamming off the turf after he’d been thrown to the ground on a tackle.

“(Prayers) for Tua. May god be with you and hopefully okay. The staff in UC hospital do a great job with care. You’re in great hands,” Ryan Shazier wrote after watching Tua Tagovailoa leave Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on a stretcher.https://t.co/tnX89stv3X

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 30, 2022

“I don’t really like to see that,” another Steelers co-captain, Miles Killebrew, said of watching the scene involving Tagovailoa. “I am not one of those people who can even watch a replay of an injury, especially something to the head or knee specifically. I just stay away from that. I wish him well, I am praying for him and hope for a speedy recovery.”

Tagovailoa was released from the hospital and flew back with the team after the game. But because the situation occurred four days after Tagovailoa was allowed to stay in a home game against the Buffalo Bills despite what appeared to be signs of wooziness and loss of balance, the situation has shed light on the NFL’s concussion protocol and its effectiveness in preventing repeated head trauma.

Between spotters and an independent neurologist on site at every game in addition to team-specific medical staff, many are wondering how Tagovailoa wasn’t removed from Sunday’s game or cleared to play Thursday. The Dolphins said the symptoms he showed Sunday were the result of back and ankle injuries.

A leader on a then-undefeated team, it’s not realistic to expect Tagovailoa to overrule the medical personnel and ask to leave a game.

“Of course, whether it’s the pressure from another player, or a teammate, or a coach, or your fans, you don’t want to let them down,” said Heyward, a 12-year NFL veteran. “But who is protecting us from us? Because, you know, there’s a difference between playing hurt and playing injured. An injury, that is something I don’t play around with. If my son was out there I would have been heartbroken. Because that’s just not just a normal play-through-pain situation.”

While Heyward acknowledges head injuries are an entirely different discussion than any other part of the body, he can relate to the tough decisions athletes sometimes have to make. After finishing his career at Ohio State and with the 2011 NFL draft three months away, Heyward — expected to be a first-round pick, with the accompanying millions of dollars on the line as such — underwent elbow surgery.

“My mom made a decision for me,” Heyward said. “She said, ‘You’re getting surgery, no matter what. I want you to one day be able to hold your kids rather than your arm falling off.’

“I couldn’t (have come to) that decision myself, because I was too connected to (the pressure to be available to perform). And so you hope on the other side of things, there are people who do look out for you. Like, it’s hard to think there wasn’t a concussion (with Tagovailoa) before.

“I think too many times we dedicate so much to (a chosen sport) and we feel like we have to play through it. But I’m sorry, I have to be selfish in that approach (when it comes to concussions).”

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