It looks like some NFL teams will do anything to keep a player on the field — including apparently not being forthcoming about whether a player sustained a concussion.
The New York Giants organization should be a bit ashamed about their comments — and lack of transparency — last year about tight end Kevin Boss, when it denied that he had sustained a concussion.
The issue came up this week because Boss sustained a concussion playing Sunday against the Panthers, when he was hit as he jumped up to catch a pass. He said he never lost consciousness, but was “woozy for a second.”
http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2010/09/william_beatty_requires_foot_s.html
In the story, there was “a Giants’ clarification” regarding Boss’ concussion history with the team. It was a clarification of misinformation, by omisson, from the team itself.
On Monday Giants Coach Tom Coughlin ‘fessed up, admitting that Boss had gotten a concussion last season. Yet Boss, who also had a concussion in 2008, “endured multiple hard hits to the head last year but never missed a game because of a concussion,” according to The Ledger.
Last year, “The team was adamant Boss did not suffer a concussion after getting hit hard (and illegally) in games against Arizona and San Diego. In fact, the Giants’ communications staff released a statement about Boss’ lack of concussion after those hits following a Daily News article in December suggested the Giants weren’t handling Boss with utmost care,” The Ledger reported Monday.
The Giants Monday finally came forth and “clarified” that Boss did in fact sustain a concussion last season, in a Thanksgiving game against the Broncos. Boss continued to play in that game, and was only diagnosed with a concussion after it was over, the Giants claim.
“By the time the Giants returned to practice the following week, Boss had been cleared to participate and was therefore not listed in the team’s injury report,” The Ledger reported.
And I guess it would have been asking too much for the Giants to have made Boss’ concussion public back then.
And what was he doing playing again last season, after getting a concussion, when he’d sustained a concussion in 2008? The impact of concussions is cumulative. The Giants should have been extra careful about his safety last year, especially after the National Football League has come under fire last fall during congressional hearings on football and concussions.
And now that the Giants have finally gone public about the truth about Boss’ concussion history, that admission “could complicate Boss’ return to the field,” The Ledger said.
It should.
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