Indianapolis Colts' Austin Collie concussed
The NFL is a league that thrives on contact and bone jarring hits, but any time a player goes down with an injury, it’s scary stuff. Furthermore, when one of these individuals of supreme athletic prowess gets knocked unconscious after a helmet-to-helmet
collision, it solicits a call to action.
As of 17 October, the league has been dishing out hefty fines after altering its stance on unnecessary helmet-to-helmet contact. They will undoubtedly be reviewing a hit by Philadelphia Eagles safety Kurt Coleman, who administered a devastating jolt to the
head of Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie on Sunday 7 November. The collision, which resulted in a concussion for Collie, occurred during the second quarter of the team’s match-up, which Philadelphia eventually won, 26-24.
Although Colts head coach Jim Caldwell acknowledged that Collie was “awake and alert in the [locker] room” during a post-game press conference, he asserted that Collie “was out, unconscious for a period of time,” according to The Associated Press (AP).
On the play in question, Collie was hit by the Eagles’ Coleman and his team-mate, safety Quintin Mikell, causing him to drop the pass attempt. The second-year receiver out of Brigham Young then remained motionless on the ground for several minutes before he
was taken off the field on a stretcher. Although replays show that Coleman provided the majority of the head-to-head contact, it was Mikell who was subsequently penalized for making unnecessary contact with a defenceless receiver.
Although the damage has been done, both Philly safeties assert that they were just playing the game. “Well, it’s unfortunate because to me it was a football play,” said Mikell, according to the AP. “It wasn’t malicious. Neither one of us were leading with our
head. But the ref made the call and we had to go with it.”
Likewise, Coleman insists that he was just doing his job. “What do you do? It’s football,” he said. “That’s what they pay us to do, make plays, especially on deep plays like that. He’s protecting himself, we’re trying to get him down and it’s just a bang-bang
play.”
It remains to be seen whether or not the league, who has begun cracking down on violent hits to the head, will fine either defenders.
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