Where have I recently heard the term, “Best news that we could get”? Oh right, Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel used it when referring to his player, Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion! He casually brushes a brain injury off as merely just a concussion.

Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel on Tua Tagovailoa’s injury pic.twitter.com/ct7Mn1zjVm

— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) September 30, 2022

I cannot believe this guy is a leader of men. “Best news that we could get is that everything checked out. That he didn’t have anything more serious than a concussion.” He is so uneducated that he is brushing off a brain injury. We need players, coaches, and staff to be more educated about concussions.

Tua suffered a very obvious concussion on September 25th and then again on September 29th. The first concussion was disguised (you weren’t fooling anyone McDaniel) as a back injury and Tua was allowed to finish the football game. Does Mike think we are idiots? Yes, he does. He then put his player in harm’s way a second time in 4 days and the scary incident occurred again.

High-level athletes want to be in the game. They will, and do, put themselves in harm’s way because their competitive nature overtakes their rational thoughts. We need to save players from themselves sometimes and here is another ugly, unfortunate, and avoidable instance of such things.

It is clear Mike McDaniel doesn’t understand the severity of concussions and needs to be educated if he is going to be a leader of athletes, so he can protect his players when they cannot.

Thinking about how the Dolphins handled Tua over the past week. Compare that to Mike Tomlin, who held Ryan Clark out of the Denver game due to his sickle cell – despite him being medically cleared – in case something happened.

"I got an obligation to safeguard him." pic.twitter.com/grU7sdrpMj

— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) September 30, 2022

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin discussed with former player, Ryan Clark, the responsibility a coach has to his players. Even though Clark was “cleared” to play, Tomlin did not let Clark play a game in Denver because he believes he has an obligation to safeguard him. This is what leaders do! They care about the people they lead!