If there’s one game last season that Ravens fan continue to play over in their heads, it’s the cringe-worthy mid-November debacle against the (then) St Louis Rams. If it doesn’t necessarily ring a bell, here’s a quick recap:
– 10 penalties for 137 yards against Baltimore
– 3 missed game-winning field goals (2 for St Louis, 1 for Baltimore)
– Flacco tears his left knee to shreds
– Case Keenum‘s concussion debacle
While we’d love to forget that game ever happened (despite the Ravens eventually winning an ugly one), the NFL’s latest concussion policy will ensure the game lives on in infamy. They’ve now implemented what many deem the “Case Keenum Rule.”
Per the new NFL/NFLPA joint policy:
Discipline For Concussion Violations
– First violation will require team employees or medical team members involved to attend remedial education and/or result in a maximum fine of $150,000 against the club.
– Further violations will result in a minimum fine of $100,000 against the team.
– If parties agree that the violation involved aggravating circumstances, the team, in the first instance, will face a fine of at least $50,000. The commissioner will decide appropriate discipline for subsequent violations involving aggravating circumstances.
– If the commissioner determines that the club’s medical team failed to follow protocol because of competitive considerations, the club may be required to forfeit draft pick(s) and face additional fines exceeding amounts set above.
While this wasn’t exactly a public discussion of late, we all saw this rule coming. After Keenum’s injury Jeff Fisher‘s training staff decided either 1) Keenum was okay to go back in the game when he clearly was shaken and concussed, or 2) Keenum didn’t need to be checked out.
The sanctions are justifiable. First-time offenders will get a fairly low fine ($50k-$150k), but it will get harsher after that. Second-time offenders will be fined at no less than $100k. Any infractions beyond that up to the discrepancy of the commissioner, and I’m sure he won’t be lenient.
But the biggest takeaway (literally) will be the potential to lose draft picks for infractions.
Using the Case Keenum… case as an example, it could easily be deemed that the Rams did not want to lose Keenum in a close game. Thus, the Rams neglected the concussion protocol. This could easily be deemed “failed to follow protocol because of competitive considerations,” and cost the Rams a draft pick.
Of course, this is the NFL. In an instance where the team would lose a pick (I’d assume 1st time infraction would be a lower-round pick), there’s likely to be several appeals to follow. That could push the pick in limbo for a year or two, but regardless, it’s less than ideal for any franchise.
Once again, I applaud Goodell and the owners for getting another safety protocol in place through the means of further penalizing teams for trying to circumvent the rules.
