The NFL has taken a more measured approach to injuries in recent years due to the long-term ramifications of concussions.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump brought up the league’s rules in jest Wednesday after a woman in a Florida crowd fainted.
CNN’s Ashley Killough captured what Trump had to say:
Woman recovers after a fainting spell at Trump's rally. Trump links it to the NFL concussion debate: pic.twitter.com/sVFR3MXVvR
— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) October 12, 2016
It’s odd enough Trump was providing live commentary on someone fainting in front of a crowd, though the inclusion of the NFL seems random.
To the league’s credit, it helped create stricter rules this offseason and reprecussions for teams seeming to violate the protocol. Twitter reacted about as expected:
NFL been trying to move past depiction in League of Denial/Concussion of play-through culture. Now Pres. candidate mocking concussion rules.
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) October 12, 2016
As someone who has been through two serious concussions, I hope Trump will go thru one of these "dings" see how "tough" he is.. https://t.co/qqcHCTzmPd
— Zineb Belmkaddem (@Onlyzineb) October 13, 2016
While made in jest, Trump’s comment opened up a rather big discussion about social media and it will be interesting to see how the league reacts, if at all. It has been trying to improve the situation for codeine, so a presidential candidate joking about it in front of the country isn’t great.
Regardless, the league isn’t going to go back on its rules to protect the players.