The Dante Moore Injury Was Bigger Than Oregon-USC

There are some moments in sports that make you pause and reflect about what actually matters.

This is a free excerpt from The Football Notebook. To read the full article, click the link below.

Football asks us to participate in a strange arrangement. We know before every game that the sport is violent and that injuries are inevitable. The people playing it certainly understand the risks better than anybody sitting on a couch watching them. Then somebody takes a hit like Dante Moore did Saturday against USC, remains on the ground while medical personnel surround him, and suddenly all of that knowledge we normally keep tucked somewhere in the back of our minds becomes impossible to ignore.

Moore was sliding when Desman Stephens delivered the hit that resulted in his targeting ejection, and Oregon later confirmed that its quarterback suffered a concussion. Stephens’ behavior afterward made an already ugly situation considerably worse, with the USC linebacker celebrating as Moore remained down and the situation around the two teams threatening to become something nastier. USC suspended Stephens for one game Sunday, while Stephens issued an apology acknowledging that his reaction was inappropriate and inexcusable. One game feels somewhat lenient considering everything surrounding the play, although Stephens is also extraordinarily fortunate that the conversation this week is about a suspension and a concussion rather than something considerably more serious happening to Moore.

Credit should probably go to Dan Lanning and the Oregon staff for preventing the situation from completely boiling over because it would have been understandable, even if not particularly useful, for the Ducks to react emotionally after watching their quarterback leave the field in that condition. Instead, Oregon somehow regrouped. Dylan Raiola entered the game and completed 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Ducks eventually leave Los Angeles with a 41-27 victory. There will be plenty of time to discuss what Raiola’s performance means if Moore misses time, but that question felt almost grotesquely unimportant while Moore was still on the field.

The Ducks have a bye before playing UCLA in two weeks, which inevitably means the conversation will eventually become whether Moore can return for that game. I understand why. Football teams have schedules and quarterbacks want to play, while medical professionals will ultimately make decisions based on considerably more information than any of us watching television possess. Still, after watching a player remain on the field for that long following a head injury, two weeks feels awfully quick to return to the activity that caused it in the first place.

Maybe that is overly cautious. I can live with being overly cautious when the subject is somebody’s brain. Sports exist largely because we enjoy watching them, and that entertainment bargain becomes uncomfortable when getting somebody back onto the field as quickly as possible begins feeling more important than giving him more time than might technically be necessary. Moore will make his decision with Oregon’s medical staff and everyone else involved, but after what happened Saturday, I would be perfectly content not seeing him play football for a little while.