Speaker
Description
On September 29th, 2022, Miami Dolphins’ quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, received two concussions in five days and was taken off the field on a stretcher. The media framing around Tagovailoa’s concussions focused on the flaws of the NFL concussion policy and the poor decision-making of the neurotrauma consultant, demonstrating a noticeable shift in how the media has previously framed concussions as a natural by-product of sport (Karimipour & Hull, 2017). Since scholars have demonstrated a connection between how the media frames concussions with how they are experienced in practice, it is possible that the framing of Tagovailoa’s concussions expresses a change in the culture surrounding concussions on the field. However, a closer look at less publicized concussions demonstrates this may not be true. For instance, Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson suffered a concussion on December 11th, 2022, and the media focused on how he was “battling his ass off” and “fighting the whole game,” vitalizing his willingness to put his brain on the line (Legwold, 2022). Further, considering that BIPOC athletes are more likely than white athletes to return to sport with a concussion (Wagner et al., 2020), understanding what role the media might have in contributing to racialized interpretations of risk with respect to concussions is important. Therefore, this presentation will examine findings from a 4-month discourse analysis exploring all ESPN articles about athlete concussions through the lens of critical race theory to understand what role the media might have in contributing to racialized interpretations of risk with respect to concussions.
