‘I’m going to be severely affected’ – Baker Mayfield calls the NFL’s bluff after it passes rule banning one of his favorite pregame activities
The Bucs quarterback had some fun discussing the NFL’s decision to ban smelling salts.
For about as long as football has been around, smelling salts have been involved to some extent. Watching guys take a quick bump before a game is a weekly tradition during the season.
Well, that’s no longer the case in the NFL, these days. The league permanently banned them on Tuesday, mostly because they can “mask potential signs of a concussion”.
“In 2024, the FDA issued a warning to companies that produce commercially available ammonia inhalants (AIs), as well as to consumers about the purchase and use of AIs, regarding the lack of evidence supporting the safety or efficacy of AIs marketed for improving mental alertness or boosting energy,” the memo says. “The FDA noted potential negative effects from AI use. AIs also have the potential to mask certain neurological signs and symptoms, including some potential signs of concussion.
“As a result, the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee recommended prohibiting the use of AIs for any purpose during NFL play.”
Update: The NFLPA sent out a memo not long after this article was published stating the ban applies to teams, not individual players. Teams are not allowed to supply the smelling salts, but players can use them if they’re “self-supplied”.
San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle displayed his dismay of the ruling not long after it came out and recently, avid salt-smeller and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield spoke his mind on the matter.
“I think the reasoning was that it masks concussion symptoms, but if you get knocked out, which is the whole purpose of smelling salts to wake you up, you’re not allowed back in the game. So think it was a quick trigger to ban them, just kind of a ‘CYA’. But it is what it is,” Mayfield told Kay Adams on the Up and Adams Show.
“I’m gonna be severely affected, to be honest with you,” he joked later.
If you’ve followed Mayfield over the years, you know he knows how to dish a jab in a playful, yet sarcastic way that lets you know his true feelings on the subject and that’s exactly what he did, here.
We’ll see what takes the place of smelling salts, but at least he has some other options out there.
“Apparently now you just gotta bring your own juice to the party,” he joked. “Gotta wake up ready to go. . . It’s, you know, flavor of the day, maybe espresso, maybe coffee. A lot of pre workout. Who knows?”
Per Brainfacts.org, smelling salts “can make a person who suffered a head injury harder to evaluate. Breathing rate is one of the ways that doctors will judge the severity of a concussion, so applying smelling salts can throw off their assessment, and make it more difficult to treat in the short term”. So, it doesn’t seem like the NFL isn’t overreacting, here. It’s always going to err on the side of caution when it comes to anything concussion-related, anyway.
It was probably just a matter of time before this happened. Here’s to hoping Mayfield finds an alternative that he enjoys just as much.
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