By FRANK WARD
DailyPhiladelphian.com Editor
Somebody’s head has to roll, pardon the pun. It just has to. No way, no how should Stewart Bradley have been allowed back into the Eagles-Packers game on Sunday.
In the wake of the Eagles pathetic loss to the Packers on Sunday, the concussions of starting quarterback Kevin Kolb and Middle linebacker Bradley is one of the main topics dominating the airwaves, message boards and water coolers. And, it should be.
Both players suffered concussions in the first half and were allowed urn before being sent to the showers for good at halftime. In Kolb’s case, maybe it wasn’t very obvious that he had a concussion. In Bradley’s case, you could tell he had his bell rung from as high as row 29 in Section 203.
Watch it for yourself.
Bradley falls to the ground like vacationers leaving the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City, NJ, at 2 a.m. all summer. Unless Bradley was tanked from the night before, how could you not think “concussion” after seeing him stumble like that.
Andy Reid and the Eagles brass can say all they want that they did the right thing. Clearly, they didn’t. In fact, I’ll argue that they chuckled at the notion of treating concussions seriously. How can you think differently? (Although, apparently, the NFLPA is OK with how the injuries were handled. Sure, they’re doctors and we’re not. Still…)
With all the scrutiny head injuries has received from NFL and football circles in general, how is Bradley back in that game after a couple of plays?
Did the Eagles learn nothing from the Brian Westbrook concussion fiasco a year ago? Did they learn nothing from national studies tying concussions to early dementia (i.e. Andre Waters) and ALS disease (i.e. Kevin Turner)?
The Eagles mishandling of concussions to Kevin Kolb and Stewart Bradley is inexcuseable.
Eagles trainer Rick Burkholder and the doctors on the sideline must be held accountable. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell better have an Amtrak ticket to 30th St. Station with his name on it this week.
Burkholder was praised in a Daily News column just last month for his knowledge of concussions. He was cited as a leader in the field.
The Eagles trainer discussed his plan to handle concussions, which he presented just last summer at a national conference. Clearly, the Eagles did not follow that plan yesterday. Burkholder has a five-step process to clear a player to return to action after a concussion. In theory, it’s good. In reality, I guess if you can’t diagnose a concussion, the plan is meaningless.
Bradley’s future well-being was put in jeopardy yesterday by being sent back on the field. Allowing that to happen without any consequences is redonkulous. Someone needs to be held accountable for that debacle before we end up reading about current Eagles suffering early deaths due to the mishandling of head injuries. Football is a game; we’re crossing over into life.
