Brett Favre on Patrick Mahomes concussion: “This is a test for the NFL”

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre has some advice for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who suffered a concussion on Sunday.

Pay attention.

Favre realizes that Mahomes will want to play. Favre has spent most of his career in an era before the NFL took concussions seriously. For him, whether or not to play due to a head injury was never a question. Now, Favre is preaching caution to football players.

“I’ve played 321 straight games, it goes against everything I stood for when I played,” Favre told TMZ.com. “But you have to be smart. You have to be smart. I’ve never been faced with the decision he will potentially face this week. And ultimately, the decision may lie with the doctors. And if they choose to not play, then that’s the right move, because of the long term damage.

Basically, the doctors may have to protect Mahomes from himself.

“When you’re in the present moment and you’re young you’re bulletproof, man,” Favre said. “But I’m 51, and I wonder what tomorrow will bring me, because of concussions more than anything.

The focus on concussions has eased in recent years, now that everyone knows the risks – and now that very few professional football players choose not to play professional football due to a concussion. . Either way, the league has specific rules regarding a player’s ability to come back after suffering a concussion. Will Mahomes be able to return after just seven days?

“It’s a test for the NFL, right now,” Favre said. “To see a star player in a crucial and crucial game, what will happen with his decision. . . . The protocol is in place. Let’s see if they follow him.

That wouldn’t have been a problem in Favre’s day. Chiefs coach Andy Reid admitted this on Monday when he discussed the situation with reporters.

“There was a chance when Patrick came back [the game]Said Reid. “You saw him running through the tunnel. By the time he got to this point, he was feeling pretty good. But there is a certain protocol that you have to follow that takes it out of the hand of the coach, the hand of the player, and the hand of the doctor.

But there is always an influence the player can exert on the process.

“Just say he has a headache on Friday, but [the] the last three or four days he’s been fine, ”Favre said of Mahomes. “Is he going to tell them?” I doubt. He wants to play. . . . For years until 10 years ago there was no protocol in place, and once you got better – which could take three or four hours – you got back into the game. to play.

He will definitely want to play. The team will want him to play. That’s why, in 2009, the NFL made the decision out of the hands of the team medics (who were sometimes inclined to allow a player to play in order to continue being the team medecine).

In this specific case, the league will want Mahomes to play. The question is whether this will have any impact on the judgment exercised by the neurologist who is independent of the team but not of the league.