The Doggy Bag: Was 'Shogun' Robbed?

I wanted to point out that the NFL is allowing Brian Westbrook to play this week, despite the fact that he received a concussion in last week’s game. A mixed martial arts fighter would never be allowed to compete a week after being knocked out, at least not in the United States. MMA gets far too much criticism for being savage, and the NFL is held to a much lower standard because it is more popular. This should definitely not be the case.
-- Max Morrisey

Brian Knapp, associate editor: As of publication time, Westbrook remains a game-time decision for the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL does not have a hand in deciding whether or not a player plays due to injury, nor should it. In fact, no professional sports league makes those kinds of judgments for its teams. Such decisions lie with the organizations, the players, the coaches and the doctors. I do not believe a double standard exists for MMA in that regard. To compare team sports with individual sports stretches the bounds of logic.

Besides, concussions are a different animal in mixed martial arts, seeing as though participants can take a hundred blows or more to the head during the course of a fight. An NFL running back may absorb 20-25 hits during a game, and only a handful of those, if any, impact the head directly. That is not saying the NFL should not take concussions more seriously than it does. It should.

I agree wholeheartedly with your conclusion that MMA receives for too much criticism for its brutality. Unfortunately, many people have deep emotional reactions to blood, flying teeth and hyperextended limbs, which have been and always will be a part of MMA. With that said, there is nothing more savage in sports than 250-pound men crashing into one another at full speed. Check out the recent Ray Lewis hit on Chad Ochocinco as further proof.

What’s more, I always find it maddening at how mainstream highlight shows replay brutal hits repeatedly. How many times were we forced to relive the hit on Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin last season? Yet, when they highlight grown men punching each other in the face with far less force, they react with trepidation and shock.