Former Jets LB Bart Scott reveals he retired from the NFL after ‘seeing spots and lights’ | News, scores, highlights, stats & rumors

With concussions in the NFL once again in the spotlight after Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered the third concussion of his career during Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, former linebacker Bart Scott revealed the real reason he retired from playing after the 2012 season.

“Everyone thought I retired because of my toe,” the ESPN analyst said during Friday’s episode of Stand up. “I had reconstructive surgery on my toe when I left. But really it was because I started seeing spots and lights. I was light sensitive. I never really shared it with anyone, but I felt compelled to do this. … I didn’t know what to do. And I thought, ‘You know what, it’s time to fold it.'”

The analysts on the show discussed Tagovailoa’s future, given the quarterback’s history of head injuries.

It was immediately apparent that he had suffered another one during Thursday’s game, when he got into a fencing position and was examined by trainers on the field. He eventually walked off the field and to the locker room under his own power, but was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game.

The NFL eventually changed its policy on concussions in 2022 when Tagovailoa suffered a hard blow to the head against the Bills but remained in the game. He suffered a concussion just four days later against the Cincinnati Bengals and was hospitalized in the aftermath.

Tagovailoa suffered another concussion later that season against the Green Bay Packers and did not return to the field until 2023.

Scott explained that retiring was not an easy decision, despite concerns about his health.

“Sometimes I regret walking away, because you have to live with it,” he said. “Leaving the game that you’ve dedicated your whole life to is like dying. I always tell people that athletes die twice. You don’t know what to do, you wake up the next day and you’re 30 years old, 20 years old, and you don’t know what to do with the rest of your life.

“Everything you’ve done has been defined by being a footballer. It’s not who you are, it’s what you do. But all the laws and everything we’ve learned and all the best qualities of us have been learned on the football field. How to work with others, how to be accountable. Now you’re not part of that anymore, and that’s the loneliest feeling in the world.”

Scott played eleven years for the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets from 2002 to 2012. In 2006, he was a Pro Bowler for the Ravens and helped his teams reach the playoffs five times.