Former WWE Star Lashes out at Miami Dolphins After Tua Tagovailoa's Scary Injury
A former WWE superstar is calling out the Miami Dolphins for how they have handled Tua Tagovailoa's injury during Thursday Night Football. Chris Nowinski, who is now one of the top experts when it comes to brain injuries, went to social media and spoke to TMZ Sports about how the 24-year-old-quarterback should never play for the Maimi Dolphins again. He also that Tagovailoa shouldn't play for the remainder of the season because he suffered two apparent head injuries in a four-day span.
"The Dolphins did not take care of you," Nowinski told TMZ Sports. "The fact they put you out there, frankly, If I were [Tua], I would not go back and play for the Dolphins, because this was not just a failure of the medical team, this was a failure of the coaching staff, and failure of ownership."
Mike McDaniel said it's good Tua "doesn't have anything more serious than a #concussion."
— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) September 30, 2022
I don't think this guy gets it. A concussion is a traumatic brain injury & posturing suggests brain stem injury. It's pretty high on the list of serious medical consequences of football. https://t.co/ZGF2LWERak
Nowinski also told TMZ Sports that Tagovailoa playing again this season would not be a great decision because it could lead to more damage. "My advice would be, having been through it and knowing so many dead athlete stories where there was suicide or some aspect of CTE or some traumatic brain injury, do not go back this season," he said.
I'm calling bull$hit on the "back tweak theory". Watch the vid. Tua shakes his head multiple times to "clear the cobwebs", which is a specific sign of vision impairment after #concussion. He also wobbles getting up before falling. His return is a fail @NFL pic.twitter.com/oLUNiGsc2A https://t.co/zDauYxvuLc
— Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. (@ChrisNowinski1) September 25, 2022
On Sunday, Tagovailoa suffered an apparent head injury against the Buffalo Bills, but the Dolphins said it was a back injury after evaluating him for a concussion. In the game, the Alabama alum hit his head on the turf and was then seen stumbling while going back to the huddle. He returned to the game and lead the Dolphins to their third win of the season. On Thursday night when the Dolphins were facing the Cincinnati Bengals, Tagovailoa was slammed to the ground and lost consciousness. He was on the ground for about 10 minutes before being sent to a hospital in the Cincinnati area.
Nowinski, 44, competed in WWE from 2002-2003. He suffered a head injury during the 2003 Royal Rumble match that caused him to have post-concussion syndrome and was forced to retire from professional wrestling. Since then, Nowinski has co-founded the Concussion Legacy Foundation and is the co-founder of the Boston University CTE Center. He also wrote the book Head Games: Football's Concussion Crisis in 2006.