The Pittsburgh Steelers showed a lack of care for their players well being in their playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night. In turn, NFL officials and broadcaster NBC Sports didn't do a good enough job addressing the situation.
The Steelers played the last five minutes of the game with two offensive players having a head or neck injury of some sort. Ben Roesthlisberger, the Pittsburgh quarterback was wrapped up by two Baltimore pass rushers on a pass attempt. Roesthlisberger was then taken down to the ground, mostly on his back and sides. Upon impact, his head was still upright.
However, as his body landed, his head hit the ground and bounced up quickly. Within a one second span, the same thing happened due to the impact. Roesthlisberger stayed on the ground, laying down, for a few moments. The Steelers were forced to use a timeout because the clock was running. Then, Roesthlisberger was forced to leave the game due to specific rules. There was a timeout during non-stop play. The game clock was stopped because he was too slow, and with very good reason, to line up for the next offensive play. Also, he appeared to have an injury to the head/neck area. For safety reasons, players are forced to stop playing and go under physical/mental tests to make certain they are healthy.
Bruce Gradkowski replaced Roesthlisberger and completed his first pass, a 20 yard pass on 3rd and 21, to tight end Heath Miller. Miller caught a short pass, started running, and then was hit in the helmet by a Baltimore defender using their helmet. Miller stopped one yard short of the first down. He could barely stand upright when he rose up from the ground. Miller looked completely out of it. His eyes were looking one way while his head was turned the other way. Game officials waved Miller off the field toward the Pittsburgh sideline for further examination. Pittsburgh with their season on the line, needing two touchdowns, was now playing with two backup players on offense.
Nonetheless, the Steelers got a first down on 4th and 1 thanks to Gradkowski's passing. On first down, he nearly threw a touchdown pass except for a great knock away by a Baltimore defender in the end zone. Gradkowski was performing well in a pressure situation. Unbelievably, Roesthlisberger came back onto the field and replaced Gradkowski. On his first play back after the head injury, Roesthlisberger made a poor mental decision by throwing a pass where there was only one of his receivers versus two Ravens defenders. Baltimore easily intercepted the pass. On that same play, Miller reentered the game as well. On their next offensive possession, Roesthlisberger threw a pass to Miller who caught it but fumbled it away even though he wasn't hit particularly hard. The Ravens recovered the loose ball, and won 30-17.
It was idiotic coaching by the Pittsburgh coaching staff led by head coach Mike Tomlin. It was the football malpractice by the Pittsburgh medical staff to not examine Roesthlisberger and Miller more closely. They were more concerned about the short-term effect of losing one game compared to the long-term effect of people's well-being. Roesthlisberger and Miller should have been taken to the nearest hospital for X-rays and further testing. It was gutless, spineless, and heartless. The players are not at fault. They want to be successful for their employer like anyone working a 9 to 5 job every Monday through
Friday. What's different is football players put their lives at risk for entertainment value. At the end of the day, it's a game, not the end if the world.
The National Football League showed great restraint, concern for others, respect, and integrity. Five minutes later, they did the opposite. It's unclear if there was poor communication between the NFL and the Steelers. It's also unsure if it was complete incompetence. Was is favoritism toward the Steelers, one of the most popular teams? Did the NFL want Pittsburgh to score more points to at least keep watching even if they didn't care who won? Baltimore led Pittsburgh by a score of 30-15, at the time of the injuries. That's two touchdowns of six points each with one kicked PAT for one point and one run/pass from the opponents 2-yard line for 2 points. In other words, a lot.
Finally, game broadcaster NBC deserves criticism for not addressing the hypocritical behavior. Cris Collinsworth did a great job explaining why the Steelers needed to call timeout and replace Roesthlisberger with Gradkowski even though Roesthlisberger is the better quarterback due to the injury rules. Then, Collinsworth correctly explained what happened to Miller. For some strange reason, defenders CAN HIT OFFENSIVE PLAYERS BY HELMET TO HELMET IF THE PLAYER IS RUNNING. Defenders CAN NOT HIT RECEIVERS BY HELMET TO HELMET. However, runners are different.
When he ran after catching the ball, he became a runner and legal to hit in the helmet. However, Collinsworth waffled on giving any insights or opinions when both players were allowed to return after minimal examination. Michele Tafoya reported from the Pittsburgh sideline that Roesthlisberger talked briefly to one of the trainers who massaged his neck. Yes, let's worry about the neck even though the head was bouncing up and down on the ground.
Furthermore, he didn't even seek medical approval to re-enter. There was nothing from Collinsworth, the color analyst, and Al Michaels, the play-by-play announcer. What was the problem? Did they not want the Steelers team and fans mad at them for accusing the team of not playing by the rules? Did they not want to criticize the game officials assigned by the NFL which NBC has a contract with?
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