I knew that Deion Sanders was versatile. He played three sports in college. He played professional baseball. He plays several positions in professional football.
But I did not know he was a doctor.Dr. Sanders, who moonlights as a cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, diagnosed himself after receiving a concussion Sunday. He left a game against the Washington Redskins in the first quarter after making helmet-to-helmet contact with a man who outweighed him by 100 pounds but returned in the third quarter against doctors orders. He trotted straight out of the tunnel and right onto the field without telling anyone, and the Cowboys let him play. No one ever evaluated him again, but it turns out it wasn't necessary anyway, because Sanders had already evaluated himself and pronounced himself fit.
"An athlete of his stature and experience, someone of his instincts about his physical condition, probably knows better how far to extend himself than the average football player," said team owner Jerry Jones. "That probably, subconsciously, was on everybody's mind."
What probably, consciously, was on everyone's mind was winning the game, which they did. Sanders was allowed to, of all things, return a punt. Why don't they just drop him out of an airplane? Fortunately for Sanders, the Redskins never touched him, and he ran 70 yards for a touchdown.
Jones noted that Sanders decided when to return from his toe injury, so he must be qualified to know when to return from a head injury, too -- the head and toe being so much alike and all.
Just one question: Has Steve Young, who is conducting a national tour of the nation's doctors while seeking "second" opinions (translation: a different opinion), consulted with Dr. Sanders?
Note to Jerry: Good idea -- have the athletes diagnose themselves. Think of the money you'll save on doctors. Maybe cornerbacks can even perform knee surgery on themselves.
Dallas coach Chan Gailey said he didn't know that doctors hadn't cleared Sanders until after the punt return, but he thought his star's decision to play anyway was just fine. "I'm going to always be cautious, but at the same time I'm going to allow guys to play if they feel well enough to play," Gailey said. "People are the best judge of their own bodies and know how to handle things."
Right. Have these guys been paying attention lately? Do they have newspapers in Dallas? Have they been following the Young saga? If Young was allowed to judge himself, he'd still be playing for the 49ers. Players might be able to judge the condition of a sprained ankle or a turf toe, but how do they know what's going on in their brain boxes? Doctors can't even tell with great certainty what damage has been done to the brain where concussions are concerned; they only know the warning signs and what the damage looks like when it manifests itself, which could be years later.
Do you know what they do at the University of Utah when a football player gets a concussion and still wants to play? They hide his helmet. And just to prevent him from borrowing a teammate's helmet, they assign a guy to follow him around and make sure he doesn't.
Athletes can't decide when they're fit to play after a concussion. Think about it. The very thing an athlete uses to make a decision about whether he should play, is the very thing that was injured -- his brain. Does this make sense?
Who knows what Sanders' real incentive was in returning? Maybe it was the $1.5 million bonus he will receive if he plays 70 percent of Dallas' defensive snaps and makes the Pro Bowl. Maybe it was trying to send a message to two rivals on the Redskin defense who had said they weren't afraid of him. Any way you look at it, Sanders was in no position to judge his readiness to return to the field. Even he admitted he had trouble remembering faces, and no one could tell if he was joking.
"There was no question in anybody's mind that he was thinking very clearly," Jones said. "He was thinking very clearly to everyone he was talking to at halftime."
Great, now everybody's a doctor. Just because a guy can string together sentences, doesn't mean all is well. The lights could be on, but he might not be home. There are other tests he must pass. Tests given by doctors. The doctors who didn't clear Sanders to play.
Two years ago Young said he was fine, too, after incurring his third concussion in 11 months, and he talked his way back into a game. Look where he is now. Merril Hoge, the former Steeler fullback, said he was fine after he suffered his first concussion a few years ago and six days later he was allowed to return to action, subjecting himself to further blows in practice. Five weeks later he suffered another concussion and was forced to retire at 30.
No matter what a player is saying, the one thing his brain needs after a concussion is rest or it will be significantly more susceptible to another concussion and brain damage. Hoge says, "Had I been evaluated properly and sat out the four to six weeks to rest, I'd still be playing today. A bruise to the brain takes significantly longer to heal (than other injuries). When you know your name and where you are, they think you're OK to go. It's dead wrong. This is what I try to press on players. I had amnesia for an hour, then gaps of it on and off for three hours. That alone tells you there's been a significant hit to the brain even though I'll say I'm better. I was telling them I feel better, I feel fine. If I knew then what I knew now . . . "