Two points! Football safety in question after mainstream injuries

By Sean Campbell,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Recent major mainstream football injuries have called into question the safety of contact based sports for athletes at Davis High.

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagavailoa’s repeated head injuries and the NFL’s handling of the situation has come under recent scrutiny. Tagavailoa has experienced three major blows to the head already this season including two concussions. 

“The idea that he (Tagavailoa) was able to play in the next game after getting his second concussion of the season is a complete failure of the NFL, that claims to put player safety first,” sophomore football player Jadyn Higgins said.

However, Higgins believes that the protocols are handled much better at DHS. “When I got a concussion the training team made 110% sure that I was ready to return, to minimize the chance of getting injured again,” Higgins said. “I’m glad the trainers take their job so seriously.”

“Our physical training team is always on us about our protocols, and always make sure we are fully healed before putting us back on the field,” senior football player Dominick Jackson said.

After an injury there are a lot of potential internal problems like stabalization, pain, and strength that could all limit recovery and increase the risk of reinjury according to Mat Moore, the owner and head physical therapist of Physical Edge physical therapy in Davis. “We want you back to 100% or back to fall, which means we don’t want any deficits on one side or area, before we allow athletes to go back to full activity,” Moore said.

Moore had to go through extensive certification including a masters degree and an orthopedic clinical specialist exam. Despite this, Moore is  always   prepared to adjust to new understandings. “I think the sports medicine area is doing everything it can to get better and better, and even though I’ve been in the profession for a long time I try to soak up as much as I can to provide the best possible service to my clients,” Moore said.

Moore says that the major cause for high  school injuries is compensations, which are when “you favor one side or area of your body following an injury to the other part,” Moore said. “Compensation problems are why we not only want to treat the area that’s involved, but we want to treat the whole chain.”

Moore knows the risks of contact sports but recognizes there is risk in everything. “There is some risk to any type of contact sports just like there’s risk for non-contact sports like soccer or baseball,” Moore said. “There’s risks to getting in the car and driving too.”

Jackson started playing football when he was 6 and has accrued many injuries over time. “I have had three concussions and broken multiple bones over my 12 years of playing,” Jackson said. “I think it’s a really dangerous sport but it’s also a fun sport to play.”

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest during a regular season game on Jan. 2 left him hospitalized for nine days and in critical condition for much of that time. 

“It was most definitely a shocking thing to see, but I think  with sports you always have to go in with an open mind, because that injury is very rare to see and there’s always a risk for something like that to happen,” Jackson said.

Throughout his time playing football, Jackson has encountered many people who told him not to play such a dangerous sport. While those numbers have increased due to the recent high publicity injuries, Jackson never wavered in his commitment, “I always trusted my gear, and the people around me.”

Higgins’ decision to play football split his family. “My mom did not like the idea of me playing football but my dad and grandpa managed to convince her,” Higgins said.

Higgins believes that the benefits of football outweigh the potential safety problems. “You can meet new brothers, stay active and the game can act as therapy,” Higgins said. “More than a few of us use the game as an outlet of all our bad energy.”