The NFL has received a lot of criticism this week for how they handled Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s situation, and some of that criticism has come from players in the league like Los Angeles Rams star cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
Tagovailoa suffered what appeared to be a head injury in the Dolphins’ Week 3 win over the Buffalo Bills. He would eventually return to the game and then was allowed to play the following Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. The young quarterback was slammed to the ground in the second quarter and was forced to be carted off with another head injury that looked incredibly scary when it happened.
Luckily, Tagovailoa was released from the hospital later that night and is believed to be OK, although that has not stopped the NFL from being dragged for letting him play in the first place.
The NFL is extremely strict when it comes to some things, but Ramsey feels their focus is in the wrong place.
Ramsey himself has been fined multiple times this season for uniform violations like sock length and color. After Friday’s practice, Ramsey went on a 15-minute soliloquy criticizing the league for continuously fining him and other players for uniform violations while not putting enough focus on player safety, via Sarah Bishop of ESPN:
“Player safety should be one of the most important things to talk about,” Ramsey said. “It should probably be talked about more. And then s— like getting fined for socks … or s— like getting fined for tights or B.S. or anything like that. … That needs to not be talked about as much.”
Ramsey said he has been fined every week of the 2022 season for uniform violations even though he has gone out of his way to check with NFL officials ahead of time to see if his attire was acceptable.
The 27-year-old doesn’t plan to change anything as he feels he plays the game with integrity on the field, which is ultimately what matters most.
“I’m going to continue to get fined because I’m going to be swaggy out there,” Ramsey said. “I’m going to wear the same thing this week too, so I’m ready for the fine. Come on with it, right?
“But I play the game with integrity, right? I play the game the right way. I try to make sure people are safe. Like obviously I want to go out there and hurt my opponents and strike fear and all that. But I don’t want to injure nobody. But that’s what the game is about. It’s not about the other B.S. I just wish maybe I could start the conversation right now. …
“If we want to go out there and look good and it ain’t hurting the integrity of the game, why are y’all fining me $10,000 for my socks? That don’t make no sense.”
It is clear that Ramsey put a lot of thought into this rant, and it’s hard to disagree with anything he said.
The NFL has constantly focused on small, inconsequential stuff like uniform violations, celebrations and taunting. Meanwhile, they continue to screw up how to handle players that suffer head injuries, which can literally affect their livelihood.
Now that the league is under a microscope after this Tagovailoa situation, it will be interesting to see if they make changes and start to focus on the things that matter as Ramsey suggested.
