Sunday’s San Francisco 49ers-Los Angeles Rams clash saw one of the hardest NFL hits in a while, one that led to both players involved being evaluated for concussions. Near the end of the second quarter, 49ers’ receiver Marquise Goodwin caught a short pass over the middle from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and took a big hit from Rams’ safety Blake Countess. Goodwin wound up unmoving on the turf:
Here’s a replay of the hit, which led to an unnecessary roughness penalty on Countess:
Goodwin was later carted off, but did give a thumbs-up to fans along the way:
This led to Goodwin, who has a history of concussions, being removed from the game and taken to the hospital as a precaution. Countess was also removed and put in the concussion protocol. Many, including Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith, have suggested that Countess may draw a suspension here, which could keep him out of the Rams’ playoff game next week even if he is healthy.
This is an awful way to end what’s been a brutal year for Goodwin. His infant son passed away the morning before a game last month, and his biological father passed away earlier this month. Despite all that, though, the 27-year-old has made the most out of being a full-time starter for the first time in his career (he previously spent four years as a special teams player and sometimes-starter in Buffalo before joining the 49ers this offseason), making 54 catches for a career-high 934 yards heading into Sunday’s game and becoming one of San Francisco’s top players. But he’s had a lot of concussions recently, ranging from two (his own estimate) to four in the last two years depending on if you count certain instances of concussion symptoms as concussions. And this latest one may bring up some questions about if he’ll keep playing next year. At any rate, it was a terrible way to end this season for him.
