During the Monday night game between the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals, Patriots wide receiver DeVante Parker took a nasty fall on his head while being tackled and appeared to many to be concussed, though it appeared that no referees or league officials noticed, and play continued. Tuesday, Parker made his feelings on the matter known.
Not only was Parker’s injury completely unnoticed, but the game was also only stopped on the next play due to a challenge by Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury for an unrelated issue.
Troy Aikman and Nelson Agholor knew that something was wrong with DeVante Parker, even if the officials and concussion spotter didn't seem to.
"They're going to be watching him… somebody upstairs should be. He looked a little wobbly coming up…"- Aikman pic.twitter.com/SkmUioWDpF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 13, 2022
Fellow Patriots wide receiver Nelson Agholor also noticed Parker seemed wobbly and gestured at the sidelines to call a timeout. The entire situation caused a lot of people watching at home to wonder whether or not the NFL was being serious about monitoring the game for concussions and potential injuries.
On Tuesday, Parker took to IG and lashed out at the NFL over their lack of care for him when he was clearly dealing with concussion-like symptoms on the field.
“Get on yalls f***in job [NFL],” wrote Parker in an Instagram Story. “Thankful my brother was aware of the situation [Nelson Agholor].
Meanwhile, the NFL Players Association has initiated an inquiry into why the game wasn’t stopped when Parker showed concussion symptoms, according to ESPN.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.