You can’t help it, if you’re the St. Louis Rams — you have to sign Wes Welker. He’s a great, proven receiver who brings hard-to-find intangibles to the locker room too, as a former Super Bowl champion and undersized overachiever. Can’t have too many of those guys around — ask any coach. But should Welker be playing? Does the NFL even really want Welker — for all the excitement he generates — on the field? Welker has had six concussions he knows about, and possibly a few that have gone undiagnosed. (Welker took a concussion-causing hit so severe in April of 2014 that his teammate Peyton Manning got his first unsportsmanlike penalty of his career talking to the guy who made the hit.)
This is the NFL that just settled a multi-million dollar lawsuit brought by former players over brain damage incurred during their playing days. It’s a league that still faces legal challenges by ex-players who refused to join in that settlement. And it’s a league that’s about to take a shot to the the head when the Will Smith movie Concussion hits theaters — and hits the NFL — this holiday season. Welker has been cleared to play. The Rams certainly want Welker — he got a one-year deal. And Wes Welker will always want to play football — that’s as sure as the sunrise. But at what cost? To the NFL and Welker? Does NFL commissioner Roger Goodell really want Welker on the field the weekend Concussion opens in theaters?
It’s official! Wes Welker is a Ram! #MobSquad pic.twitter.com/Yn5WiDBuYX
— St. Louis Rams (@STLouisRams) November 10, 2015
