Atlanta United’s Eric Remedi on Thursday said he has no memory of the game against New England almost three weeks ago in which he suffered a concussion.
“It’s an erased tape,” he said.
Remedi and New England’s Luis Caicedo collided while competing for a 50-50 ball in the first minute of the game at Gillette Stadium on April 13. Remedi stayed down and was examined for several minutes by trainers. He eventually walked off the field and was examined again by an independent doctor on the sidelines. Remedi was cleared to return, but several minutes later sat down on the turf away from the action. He was subbed off in the 15th minute.
Remedi said that he later learned that he kept asking his teammates the same questions every 30 seconds while the game was being played.
“If you ask me if it hurt, I can’t tell you,” he said.
Remedi said it was his first concussion, that he was fine within a matter of days and there aren’t any lingering effects.
He did not train for several days until he cleared concussion protocol. He wasn’t in the 18-man roster for the 2-1 loss against Dallas a week later, and came off the bench to play 19 minutes in last week’s win against Colorado.
In 2018, MLS approved having a Venue Medical Director at games. That person, who is selected by the home team, “is given the authority to make the final medical decision in a match for players on both the Home and Visiting Teams (i.e., concussion protocol).”
Remedi said he saw Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen suffer a concussion when he collided with a teammate during Tuesday's Champions League game against Ajax.
Vertonghen was also examined on the field and again on the sidelines. Even the game’s referee came over to make sure that Vertonghen was being examined. Several seconds later, after returning to the game, Vertonghen appeared to be dizzy and needed to be helped off the field.
Remedi said the possibility of injury doesn’t scare him because soccer is a contact sport.
“There are measures in place because they are trying to protect guys,” Remedi said. “When they tell you to come off it’s the right decision. I think there are measures, but it’s a physical game.”
Atlanta United plays at Sporting KC on Sunday night.
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