SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: A major football star suffers yet another concussion, and a Minor League cheating scandal. ESPN's Michele Steele joins us. Thanks for being with us again.
MICHELE STEELE: You bet.
SIMON: Michele, just a terrible scene out of Miami on Thursday. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered his third career concussion, ran into Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin late in the game. What do we know about his condition?
STEELE: What a scary moment, Scott. If you're a football fan and you were watching that game - it was a national game Thursday night. This happened when the Dolphins were getting blown out by the Bills. Tua wanted to pick up extra yards. He led with his head and ran for those extra yards and collided with, as you said, Damar Hamlin, of all people...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Tua hitting the back of his head against the turf. He could be seen with his hands sort of contracting by his head. And we know from watching Tua's string of repeated concussions in 2022, that's a sign of a serious brain injury. His coach gave him a kiss on the side of his head and told him to be the starting quarterback of his family, Scott. He's going to go through the NFL concussion protocol. He's in it right now. And at some point, Scott, he will likely be cleared to return to football. But, boy, are we in uneasy territory here.
SIMON: Because, of course, he has had previous concussions. Here's a clip from the Raiders' head coach, Antonio Pierce, who played as a linebacker for nine seasons in the NFL.
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ANTONIO PIERCE: I'll be honest, I'd be telling him to retire. It's not worth it. I haven't witnessed anything like I've seen that's happened to him three times. Scary. You can see right away the players' faces on the field. You can see the sense of urgency from everybody to get - to help. I just think at some point, you know, he's going to live longer than he's going to play football. Take care of your family.
SIMON: Yeah. This could - maybe this should be - the end of his football career.
STEELE: That was one of my takeaways this week, Scott. I have never seen or heard a chorus of veteran players, like Antonio Pierce, say this week, essentially in one voice, Tua needs to leave the game for the sake of his life, the quality of his life. Now, he's only 26-years-old. But, Scott, you know what? You can replace a knee.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: You can fix your ankle. You can't replace your brain. He's got a big contract. He signed it in the offseason. He's got plenty of money. That shouldn't be a factor. Three documented concussions. There's experts who say he's likely had more, and we're getting to the point where this volume of trauma to the brain can impact your life long term.
SIMON: Yeah. Michele, this has got to be a sobering moment for the whole NFL about concussions, doesn't it? - I mean, to lose a major stride this way
STEELE: Yes and no. You know, the NFL reported 219 concussions last season. So that's about a dozen a week, if you do the math there, so it's not so uncommon in a sport that's as violent as football. There are players who will be on the field Sunday - right? - who have had more concussions than Tua.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: But there isn't, like, a magic number of concussions you have, and then, you know, you're automatically retired. It's very much up to the player and their discretion once they're cleared. But a high-profile quarterback like him - he led the league in passing last season - you know, if he does decide to leave the game, it would be a little bit of an Andrew Luck moment, when he left in his prime in 2019. But the game, I think, Scott, will go on. It moved on from Andrew Luck, and it'll move on from Tua, if he decides that.
SIMON: I just want to point out he led with his head, so no matter what they do with helmets, that -it weaponizes the head. Let's move to a scandal in Minor League Baseball. I don't get to say that much, the Minnesota Twins...
STEELE: Yeah.
SIMON: ...Released Derek Bender, a catcher for it's Minor League team - I love this name - the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Apparently, he was tipping opposing hitters on what pitches they'd get.
STEELE: Yeah. Yeah. Completely unheard of, Scott. And this was a game that had playoff implications. And according to ESPN, the reason that Bender was tipping pitches to the other team is that he told teammates he just wanted the season to be over.
SIMON: (Laughter).
STEELE: I mean, isn't that why guys - you know, they'll spit sunflower seeds in the dugout? They'll do all sorts of things to kind of cope with the boredom.
SIMON: Right.
STEELE: I get it. But he had just been drafted. You know, then he goes and throws a game 'cause he just wanted to go home. Well, guess what? The Twins just made it very easy for him. He's going home.
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: He'll probably be there for a while.
SIMON: Future in sports gambling, too. Michele Steele of ESPN. Thanks so much.
STEELE: Sure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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