Dan Le Batard is well aware of the accusation that his show is too liberal.
“It’s a woke echo chamber of double steroid wokeness and everyone agrees with everyone else,” Le Batard said of his show’s reputation. “And then the young people come in here and they’re even more woke than the way-too-woke LiBa-woke.”
But rather than fight back that he’s merely a champion of compassion and decency, after some reflection, the Meadowlark Media co-founder admits that some of the criticism is fair. His evidence? His reaction to the concussion suffered by Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football last season.
“The evidence I have for some of the accusations being fair, now in retrospect, as I look in a mirror and I don’t like what looks back at me is how I reacted to Tua’s injury,” Le Batard said on Thursday’s episode of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz. “Looking back, in my concern and care for people, this may be slightly too liberal. Like brain injuries seem real and soon thereafter we would see a player die on the field.”
Le Batard, however, admitted: “I can be scared again this Sunday in a way that makes me totally horrified by football. But Tua has played a complete season of really strategically, mathematically smart football by an organization protecting an investment.”
The former Miami Herald columnist went on to recall the sick feeling he had in his stomach as Tagovailoa spasmed on the field following the hit that resulted in his concussion. He proceeded to interview Dr. Chris Nowinski, the CEO and co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, via Zoom.
During the interview, Le Batard and Nowinski discussed the concussion expert’s belief that the Dolphins’ staff should face criminal charges for letting Tagovailoa play, as well as murder charges if the quarterback died. Nowinski’s strong stance has since become a running joke on the Le Batard Show.
“Chris Nowinski was ready for it. He’s been ready all his life for that moment,” Le Batard said Thursday. “He was expecting that midnight call.”
For what it’s worth, the source of Le Batard’s regret doesn’t seem to be his actual concern for Tagovailoa at the time, but rather, that he singled it out as an injury worthy of breaking news treatment. Sure, this involved the Dolphins and he hosts a Miami-based show. But the unfortunate reality is that serious injuries — including concussions — are a weekly occurrence in the NFL.
Le Batard has long wrestled with the moral conundrum of football, but like many, can’t bring himself to actually give it up. As for his reaction to the concussion, it’s a credit to him that he’s willing to make fun of himself for it, even if the reaction didn’t seem so over the top at the time.
[The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz]
