Good Friday to you Steelers fans.
The National Football League has a major public relations nightmare on its hands. This past Sunday, Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa took a hard hit against Buffalo. He got up, staggered, started a light jog and started staggering again before trainers got to him. He was allegedly put into concussion protocol and returned to the game with what Miami called “a back injury.” Fast forward to last night in Cincinnati. Tagovailoa is whipped to the ground and slams his head on the turf. His hands immediately lock up in what is called “fencing response.” This happens when there has been trauma to the brain. The bottom line here is that the Dolphins failed this young man. He should have never been playing last night (nor should anyone else if it were up to me because I hate these TNF games) but he did and now the NFL is in crisis mode. For the last 15 years, they’ve constantly told us that they’ve had to change the game in order to make it “safer.” What happened with Tagovailoa now makes many of us realize what we knew all along. The “concern” over head trauma was to stem the tide of a lawsuit coming from former players. Apparently, the NFL feels like they’ve done enough and now we are back to no longer being worried about “player safety.” This is a big problem and it isn’t going to go away either.
The Podcast
Episode 287 of the SCB Steelers Podcast presented by DEK Roofing Inc is available for your enjoyment. I’ll have the video version available later today. Great Steelers talk as always!
Tweet of the Day… This.
There has been an ongoing investigation, yet he played as it was going on. https://t.co/UXRG2iGhIU
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) September 30, 2022
Heyward
No one has suffered more from the absence of T.J. Watt than Cam Heyward. Opponents have clearly made the decision to shift their focus to Heyward when it comes to the double-teams, chip blocks and overall game-planning. His numbers have declined as a result. What it means is that Alex Highsmith has to take it up a notch as do the other guys around Heyward. Easier said than done I know.
Ingram
Former Steeler Melvin Ingram was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month this week which has of course led many in Steelers Nation to be pissed off. My question is why? Ingram felt he was better than Alex Highsmith. Mike Tomlin and his staff felt otherwise. Ingram claimed he was hurt, the Steelers disagreed and traded him away to KC. Now with Miami, he’s having a nice season. In my opinion, it is what it is. I’m not losing sleep over this.
Practice Report From Thursday
At this time I do not see Ahkello Witherspoon playing on Sunday. I have to assume we’ll see more Tre Norwood and some changes to specific nickel and dime packages. Everyone else should be good to go.
Steelers History
Gordon features Franco Harris in this week’s edition Steelers History. Check it out!
FOCO
We’ve got some awesome new stuff from our friends at FOCO! Check out the latest Hoodeez, as well as new FOCO Sweatshirts, Jackets, Leggings, Joggers, and MORE for MLB, NFL, and even NCAA.
Our Online Store
Please visit our online store! We have been so fortunate to work with DC4L Custom Tees! They are wonderful to work with and are willing to work with you on just about any design you can come up with! Check out our latest T.J. Watt inspired t-shirt/hoodie.
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