NFL

Colt McCoy’s Dad Said His Son Didn’t Remember Playing Football Last Night

Browns quarterback Colt McCoy got hit really hard by Steelers linebacker James Harrison last night. He got hit so hard, in fact, that he left the game for two plays before quickly going back in and playing for the remainder of the contest. But should he have? McCoy’s father Brad doesn’t think so. Brad McCoy spoke about the hit’s effects on his son today, and the picture he paints is unsettling:

“I talked to Colt this morning and he said, ‘dad, I don’t know what happened, but I know I lost the game. I know I let the team down. What happened?

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“He never should’ve gone back in the game. He was basically out (cold) after the hit. You could tell by the ridigity of his body as he was laying there. There were a lot of easy symptoms that should’ve told them he had a concussion. He was nauseated and he didn’t know who he was. From what I could see, they didn’t test him for a concussion on the sidelines. They looked at his (left) hand.”

This sounds bad. The helmet-to-helmet nature of the hit makes it plausible that it would cause a concussion, and given the NFL’s emphasis on preventing head injuries, could make the Browns look really bad. Browns coach Pat Shurmur, though, has a different story:

Browns head coach Pat Shurmur said the Browns medical staff followed protocol and examined Colt McCoy on the sidelines for a concussion and that he showed no symptoms before he sent him back n the game.

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Shurmur said, “I can assure everyone that we followed protocol.”

So who’s right? Brad McCoy’s testimony sounded damning, but it’s worth pointing out that concussion symptoms don’t necessarily show up immediately. It’s possible that Colt McCoy’s memory loss and apparent sensitivity to light after the game didn’t register right off the bat.

This, though, would bring up another question: if concussion symptoms don’t show up right away, how effectively can the NFL govern how teams deal with them at all? Is there anything to do about delayed-onset cases except throw up your hands and say, “That’s football”? Just one more tough question about head injuries for a league that has to face a lot of them already…and in the end, can’t do very much at all, because it’s a violent game. That’s football.

[SB Nation]

Getty photo, by Jared Wickerham