Total Pro Sports
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell has revealed that there was no directive from the NFL to call off Friday’s preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons after Morice Norris suffered an injury that sent him into convulsions on the field.
The Lions safety came off a tackle worse for wear as he initiated contact that caused his head to snap back.
It was immediately clear that the player needed speedy medical attention, and he was eventually taken to a hospital via ambulance.
The game was suspended after an early fourth-quarter delay, though Falcons head coach Raheem Morris admitted to reporters that he was not aware of whether the league approved of it.
Campbell explained the decision to reporters on Monday, revealing that referee Shawn Hochuli let them know the game was still on, but the two coaches said they would take a knee for the rest of the outing if they were made to continue playing.
“So, Raheem and I agreed that that was what we were gonna do,” he said, per ProFootballTalk. “We talked to, you know, [referee] Shawn Hochuli, [he] let us know the game is still on, and we communicated with each other. We told Shawn we’ll be taking knees and he said, ‘I understand,’ and that’s the way it went. And then the game was called.”
Given what the coaches saw, the call was the right one.
Fortunately, the injury wasn’t as bad as first feared, and Norris allayed concerns via social media the following morning. Still, there was no way of knowing he would be okay after watching him go into a seizure on the ground.
The fact that this was a preseason game made the decision even easier.
Once the refs realized that there would be no more football even if the clock resumed, they, too, did the right thing.
