After a preseason in which two games ended prematurely in the fourth quarter following concerning player injuries, the NFL had all of its Week 1 regular-season games finish on schedule.
There were still injuries, of course. Sunday, Houston Texans safety Jalen Pitre went to the hospital after his chest hit the knee of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and he was diagnosed with a bruised lung. Pitre was released the next day. Also Sunday, Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson hit Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers low and hard in the head, leaving Meyers motionless on the ground for a short period before he eventually was helped up. Meyers walked off the field with the help of two members of the Raiders’ medical team before being taken to the locker room and later ruled out with a concussion.
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But there were no life-threatening injuries similar to that of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin in January, nor ones jarring enough for officials to suspend games, as they did in the preseason twice.
New England cornerback Isaiah Bolden was immobilized and taken from the field on a stretcher in an Aug. 19 game against the Green Bay Packers, after a collision with Patriots teammate Calvin Munson. Then, on Aug. 26, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Daewood Davis also left the field immobilized and on a stretcher following a hit by Jaguars linebacker Dequan Jackson as Davis attempted to catch a pass. Bolden and Davis were released from the hospital the next day.
The NFL says those games are the only three it has suspended because of injuries in the league’s modern era.
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With nothing at stake in the preseason exhibitions, the league’s decision to suspend play — supported by the head coaches — was a quick one. But would the NFL be as quick to postpone regular-season games because of a serious injury? Has anything significant changed in how the NFL approaches these decisions since the controversy about the long delay to suspend the Buffalo Bills-Cincinnati Bengals game after Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest on the field?
There’s no hard-and-fast threshold league officials adhere to when determining whether to resume play immediately or postpone to a later date. It’s always the NFL’s goal to see games played to completion. However, according to Rule 17, Article 4, of the league rule book, commissioner Roger Goodell holds the power to decide whether to resume games halted by emergencies.
Rule 17, Article 4 says:
The NFL affirms the position that in most circumstances all regular-season and postseason games should be played to their conclusion. If, in the opinion of appropriate League authorities, it is impossible to begin or continue a game due to an emergency, or a game is deemed to be imminently threatened by any such emergency (e.g., severely inclement weather, lightning, flooding, power failure), the following procedures (Articles 5 through 11) will serve as guidelines for the Commissioner and/or the duly appointed representatives. The Commissioner has the authority to review the circumstances of each emergency and to adjust the following procedures in whatever manner the Commissioner deems appropriate. If, in the Commissioner’s opinion, it is reasonable to project that the resumption of an interrupted game would not change its ultimate result or adversely affect any other inter-team competitive issue, the Commissioner is empowered to terminate the game.
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So, the decision rests with Goodell, but his review of the circumstances could involve consulting with chief medical officials, emergency response teams, NFL Players Association officials and the coaches of each team to determine the best course of action. Each game also includes an NFL football operations representative, whose tasks include serving as a communications liaison with the league about any on-field issues, including game delays.
After Bolden’s injury last month, Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Packers coach Matt LaFleur were quick to confer with officials. All agreed the remainder of the game should be canceled, and the league’s official ruling in favor of the coaches’ decision came shortly after.
“It’s a scary situation and one that you never want to see in the game and I thought it was in the best interest of both teams,” LaFleur told reporters afterward. “Obviously, anytime you see somebody getting carted off like that it’s a tough situation to witness, and we could see the care for that young man by his teammates and the coaches. … We just felt like that was the right thing to do.”
The decision to reschedule the finish to the Jan. 2 Bills-Bengals game was a much slower process. Hamlin collapsed at 8:56 p.m. ET, but the game wasn’t officially suspended until 10:07 p.m. By then, Bills coach Sean McDermott and Bengals coach Zac Taylor had already sent their teams back to the locker room.
Neither coach wanted to continue with the contest, and Taylor said when he first spoke with McDermott after Hamlin’s collapse, McDermott told him: “‘I need to be at the hospital for Damar, and I shouldn’t be coaching this game.’”
“So that, to me, provides all the clarity,” Taylor said.
No one could have foreseen a situation like Hamlin’s, but the NFL — specifically the medical team at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati — was ready that January night.
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The league’s emergency preparedness protocol requires all teams to have Emergency Action Plans in place at every training camp site, practice facility and game day venue. The protocol also requires every stadium to have a designated Level I or Level II trauma center equipped to readily provide the highest level of care to injured patients. Two EMT/paramedic crews must be on site for each game. In all, the league’s emergency response plan requires 30 healthcare providers (team physicians, team athletic trainers, emergency response physicians, airway management physicians, unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants and athletic trainer injury spotters) to work each game.
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“When the Damar Hamlin situation occurred, those of us who have been involved in this work realized this is why we do this training, this is why we have these rehearsals. It’s so that when we get in that situation, there’s a coordinated, prepared and rehearsed response that everyone feels very comfortable with,” said Dr. Allen Sills, the NFL’s chief medical officer, on a recent conference call with reporters.
“And I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to say the positive outcome in that situation was a direct reflection of that preparation. This is something we’ve been doing in the league for almost a decade now. But I think it’s taken on even more importance and more urgency, and we are working to make sure that everyone involved in the emergency response network is involved in these rehearsals. Because again, we don’t ever want to be in a situation on game day that we haven’t gone through and rehearsed for.”
The extraordinary medical care available during games is one reason games can typically resume quickly after a player injury. The course of action for diagnosing and/or treating a player’s injury can vary. The medical team leaders on site are charged with determining the best course of action for the moment at hand.
But the decision to suspend a regular-season game — which is a league call, and not medical — is reserved for the most extreme injuries, as Hamlin’s represented.
(Top photo: Dan Powers / USA Today)
