Concussion Reporting and Racial Stereotypes: ESPN’s Role in Shaping Public Perception About Athletes of Color

Abstract

In the 2022 National Football League (NFL) season, Miami Dolphins’ quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, received two concussions in 5 days and was taken off the field on a stretcher. The media framing around Tagovailoa’s concussions was focused on the flaws in the NFL concussion policy and the poor decision making of the neurotrauma consultant. However, no mention of Tagovailoa’s race was mentioned despite historical racist practices regarding concussions in football for racialized athletes. Given the media’s role in the framing of concussions and the perpetuation of racial stereotypes, I conducted a content analysis to explore ESPN media articles dedicated to concussion stories during the 2022 NFL season. Ultimately, this paper concludes that through subtle but pervasive frames, the writers at ESPN continue to perpetuate racial stereotypes that construct racialized athletes as physiologically superior, intellectually inept, and criminally dangerous.