Darren Sproles has taken a lot of hits over his career, but he took an exceptionally hard one Sunday.

The diminutive Philadelphia Eagles’ running back not only makes plays on rushes and receptions at age of 33, but also returns punts. However, his most recent return attempt may have him pondering if this is all worth it.

Deshazor Everett of the Washington Redskins came down the field like a bat out of hell and obliterated Sproles during the return. Sproles didn’t have the ball and Everett took a blatant head shot on him. Here’s another look at it:

This was one of several cheap shots we saw Sunday, and just like the Harry Douglas hit on Chris Davis Jr. in the Titans-Broncos game, the aftermath naturally included a big fight amongst the teams. It turned ugly quickly:

With the increased focus on player safety, the NFL may want to take a page out of the NHL’s book and develop a player safety board to review these hits. If the players aren’t going to respect the rules of the game, an advisory board might have to do so.

Sproles was defenseless on this hit and couldn’t have reacted in time. The NFL and others need to do better by him.

About Sam Blazer

Sam is a self proclaimed chess prodigy. He once placed seventh in the state of Ohio in Chess when he was in kindergarten. He will rarely if ever mention though that only eight people were entered in this tournament. Contact him at sblaze17@gmail.com