Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles took a huge hit from San Diego Chargers cornerback Brandon Flowers as he was crossing the goal line on a first-half touchdown run Sunday. Flowers had to leave the game with a concussion, but Charles didn’t miss any plays. Did he hide concussion symptoms?
During an interview with ESPN Radio this week, Charles insisted he was “definitely fine” after the hit from Flowers but described some alarming symptoms.
“It definitely hurt,” he said, per Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “It’s like, I woke up — I mean, like, a couple plays later I was seeing light bulbs, like, light bulbs around my eyes, and I was trying to catch them. But I was in the game so I was like, ‘Alright, let’s get the ball and run again.'”
The National Institute of Health lists “seeing flashing lights” as a symptom of concussions. Perhaps more disturbing, Charles openly admitted he did not want to go through the concussion protocol after it resulted in him missing much of the Chiefs’ playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts back in January.
“I didn’t have a concussion but it definitely was a hit that shocked me,” he said. “But I don’t think I had to go through the concussion protocols and all that. I didn’t want to go through that again because of what happened in the playoffs. I was definitely fine, I think I came out pretty good.”
How does Charles know he didn’t have a concussion? He doesn’t. The Pro Bowl running back is not the first player to admit that he has masked symptoms of a potential head injury. Many players are adamant about remaining in the game to help their team, which is why the NFL now has independent doctors on the sideline to identify concussions. They may have missed one on Sunday.
