NFL contracts Russell Gage, Damar Hamlin MNF injuries


Image for article titled Injuries to Russell Gage, Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football are why the NFL needs guaranteed contracts

Picture: Getty Photographs

When Tampa Bay extensive receiver Russell Gage went down late within the fourth quarter of the Buccaneers’ Wild Card matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, everyone within the stadium and everybody watching on tv held their breaths — once more. For the second consecutive broadcast, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman have been calling a Monday Evening Soccer sport wherein a participant needed to be taken off the sector — reminding us, as soon as once more, simply how harmful soccer has all the time been, and can all the time be.

Fourteen days after tens of millions watched Damar Hamlin depart the turf at Paycor Stadium, they got here again to the identical broadcast to observe Gage be strapped on a stretcher. That is solely an American story.

As an alternative, persons are speaking about Tom Brady and Brett Maher

Tuesday morning and afternoon sports activities reveals, on-line sports activities publications, and newspapers throughout the nation shall be stuffed with tales about Brett Maher making historical past after lacking 4 PATs, how horrible the Bucs’ protection performed, how spectacular Dak Prescott regarded, and whether or not or not we simply noticed Tom Brady play his final sport for Tampa — or in his profession. However for the individuals who aren’t obsessive about fantasy soccer or what the over/beneath was on the ultimate rating, the story of the night time was Gage’s damage.

The instantaneous concern and fear, the ideas of “oh no, not once more,” and the quick “prayer tweets” that hit Twitter’s timeline have been typical for followers that had simply watched the unthinkable occur simply two weeks earlier. “I known as certainly one of my colleagues and mentioned ‘did we watch any individual die?” Bomani Jones advised CNN when discussing the incident. However but, we’re in the identical place, hoping that the end result shall be much less extreme.

“After struggling a neck damage and concussion in the course of the fourth quarter of final night time’s sport, Russell was taken to an area hospital the place he remained in a single day for added testing and commentary. Russell has had motion in all extremities and can proceed to bear further testing in the present day. We are going to present further info because it turns into accessible,” the crew launched in an announcement on Tuesday morning.

Hopefully, Gage shall be OK, as Hamlin cheered his teammates on from residence as he continues to recuperate after the Payments defeated the Miami Dolphins 34-31 on Sunday. However, what isn’t OK is that we wanted incidents like these on consecutive broadcasts of Monday Evening Soccer to remind us simply how insane it’s that NFL contracts aren’t absolutely assured.

When do salaries develop into assured?

“ what the NFL will inform you? Effectively, you recognize what, ‘we’ll look out for the individuals like him.’ No, you gained’t… The Payments proprietor Terry Pegula [is] value $6.7 billion,” mentioned Garrett Bush from The Final Cleveland Sports activities Present a couple of weeks in the past. “My query to you is, ‘NFL, when do salaries develop into assured, if you recognize these younger males are going on the market, and so they might die on that soccer discipline?”

Earlier this month, we discovered that NFL video games accounted for 82 of the 100 most-watched U.S. broadcasts in 2022 — which was seven greater than the 2021 mark that was 75 out of 100. Individuals have confirmed that it doesn’t matter what atrocities happen on a soccer discipline, they’re nonetheless going to tune in. In March 2030, the NFL’s collective bargaining settlement will expire. That signifies that gamers and their counsel have seven years to unify and give you a plan to drive house owners to agree on assured contracts.

It must be identified that every time the gamers and the house owners battle/negotiate over labor points, the house owners usually get what they need — regardless of the gamers having all the ability. In seven years we’ll know if what occurred to Damar Hamlin and Russell Gage helped save, and alter, the NFL. However, if it doesn’t, then all of these “ideas and prayers” have been only a waste of God’s time.