Philadelphia — I am not a neurologist, nor do I play one in print or on television. But if “the No. 1 thing is Brian’s health,” as Andy Reid said Sunday, then there really is only one thing for Brian Westbrook to do:
Retire. Immediately.
“Obviously we’re going to check with experts and make sure that we listen to them like we did before,” Reid said at his Monday press conference.
Note to staff: Find some other experts.
If the No. 1 thing really is Brian’s health.
Find ones with no links to the NFL, to the Eagles. Ask the ones who have advised Keith Primeau or Eric Lindros, or any of the neurologists and neurosurgeons who have picked up the phone over the last decade to speak to reporters about the possible long-term effects from recurring concussions.
As most of you know, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was called before Congress in October to discuss this subject and what the league was doing about it. Goodell said they were involved in a study. He was asked if he thought there was a link between multiple head injuries and dementia and Alzheimer’s. He said he isn’t a doctor.
Dr. Ira Casson is. He is also co-chair of NFL’s committee on concussions, a paid gig. He did not attend the congressional hearing, but has said in the past that “despite what public perception might be, there is no valid scientific evidence that a career in the NFL, no matter how many concussions, is related to chronic brain damage.”
I asked Reid whether he would like the league to mandate rules about when players are able to play after suffering a concussion, to take it out of the realm of both the club and athlete.
“I’ve lived without those rules throughout my NFL career,” he said, and then expressed faith that the league would do “the right thing for these type of situations.”
Someday, maybe. You hope. Now? Well, it’s hard to see the NFL’s response up to this point as anything short of stalling. There’s a lot of money at stake for them, in potential lawsuits, benefit payouts and lost salaries. After disgruntled NFL retirees induced the last round of congressional hearings in 2007, a 144-page report criticized the league’s disability and retirement plan, run jointly by the league and the union, as deeply flawed.
Westbrook will make a base salary of $5.6 million this season, and is due another $7 to 8 million next year. It’s a lot of money to walk away from, and at age 30, a lot of what-might-have-been to walk away from, too.
Playing again this season, though — or ever again — is walking into a lot of what-might-be, a lot of unneeded and unnerving uncertainty. He’s already given his heart and soul to this team. He should leave, while he can, with the rest of it intact.
And after all the experts have weighed in, Andy should tell him that.
If the No. 1 thing here is Brian’s health.
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