Jalen Ramsey rant nails hypocrisy of NFL safety protocols

Los Angeles Rams All-Pro corner Jalen Ramsey made some eye-opening statements regarding player safety while taking questions during Saturday’s press conference.

“Player safety should be one of the most important things to talk about,” Ramsey said via ESPN. “It should probably be talked about more...like getting fined for socks...or...getting fined for tights or B.S. or anything like that...That needs to not be talked about as much.”

Ramsey addressed that he has been fined in every week this season. This was his most recent infraction against the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday:

The entirety of his rant is worth a listen and it absolutely nails the hypocrisy of safety protocols in the NFL.

The league’s safety protocols have come under intense scrutiny since Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was carted off the field after a brutal sack. Following the sack, Tagovailoa immediately showed signs of neurological impairment but the head trauma was already exposed a week prior against the Bills. This is the Miami QB after taking a hit to the head just FOUR DAYS before the primetime matchup in Cincinnati:

Exactly right, no qualified doctor in their right mind would’ve ever cleared Tua in such a short amount of time, especially when the neurological trauma was evident to anyone watching. While the neurological consultant that evaluated Tagovailoa has since been fired, one glaring issue has been exposed and truthfully, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

The NFL doesn’t care about player safety. If they did, I would’ve just assumed that hell hath frozen over.

Everyone who has closely followed Thursday’s events has their opinions regarding the topic so here’s mine for anybody who’s made it this far. If Jalen can go off on a rant, so can I.

On Saturday night, the NFL and the NFLPA issued a joint statement indicating changes will be made to the league’s concussion protocol. At this time, the types of changes are uncertain but it’s looking very possible that “Gross Motor Instability” will be on the table in the near future.

I understand the NFLPA has an obligation in protecting their players at all costs but why is it that they waited for a near-tragedy to occur to then make the necessary changes? Why should a player like Tua be the reason for something to change when they already should’ve existed to begin with?

If they had put this much effort towards safety than defending a certain Browns quarterback, Tagovailoa might’ve been in a better position...like on the sidelines instead of starting TNF.

It’s unfortunate that Tua had to be the reason for these changes. Truth is, it could’ve happened to any player on any team at any particular time. That’s the unfortunate truth of such a violent sport.

Instead, the league is more bothered by how many times Lions running back Jamaal Williams thrusted his hips. (Never in my life did I expect to write a sentence like that.)

Going back to Ramsey’s uniform violations, the NFL has a right to protect their brand. However, there is nothing more damaging to their brand than negative publicity.

I haven’t seen the NFL feel the effects of all these controversies. They only seem to be getting stronger as indicated by the TV ratings they’ve been raking in to start the season.

Nothing appears to faze these money-grubbers. Instead of cracking under the brightest lights, the NFL views all publicity as good publicity and that’s quite troubling. Look no further than perhaps the most disgraceful period in their history.

How much does the NFL care about player safety? This was a league that in the past, built “race-norming” into their concussion settlements.

The NFL could sleep soundly at night knowing their former players would turn into vegetables because if those players weren’t making money for their product now, they were otherwise invaluable to them.

That is who the NFL is and always will be.

So let’s quit acting like this league will pretend to care now. Much like they “cared” about fighting racism even though they blackballed Colin Kaepernick for standing up for what he believed in. Sorry, I forgot painting “End Racism” in the back of the end zone was the cure. What a genius idea! Why didn’t we think of it sooner?

Or what about how the NFL “cares” about women even though accused predators are rewarded with fully guaranteed contracts and allowed to maintain ownership of their franchise.

This league can’t help themselves. They’re addicted to the money and fame so why should they back out now? In their eyes, everything is justified to them. Everything they do should never be questioned.

They’re the top dog after all. This alpha bows down to no one.

No matter what they say or try to do, it’ll only ever be due to being pressured. They take their sweet time to make the right decisions only after making far too many of the wrong ones.

Maybe they’ll get it right someday, for the sake of Tua and the thousands of players who are playing or will play for them in the future.

In the meantime, they’ll simply be content in making money off the socks of Jalen Ramsey and others.

You can’t expect a greedy leopard to change their spots.