Deli meat manufacturer Boar's Head has announced it's indefinitely closing its Jarratt, Virginia, plant after a listeria outbreak killed nine people in 18 states. However, the closure of this plant has left the small town of under 1,000 people searching for its next move and that may not be easy to find.

How will the plant closure affect Jarrett?
The Boar's Head plant was the largest private employer in Jarrett, said The Washington Post. It put about 500 people to work in a town of just 637. 

The plant was a "good employer in the community, and there aren't a lot of other options for folks," Jonathan Williams, the head of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400, the union representing the plant workers, said to the Post. The closure has "created a sense of unease in Jarratt and larger neighboring towns, where residents said good-paying jobs are hard to come by," said The New York Times. Employees were "getting benefits, packages, severance pay, but I don't think it's worth it anywhere near enough losing a job you have worked your whole life," Boar's Head IT specialist Artie Moorman said to WRIC-TV Petersburg. 

What other small towns have been affected by company closures?
A small town being decimated by corporate closures is not a new phenomenon. Reports were documenting the issue as far back as the 1990s. Some of the companies cutting back have been retail chains. While store closings are "spread among urban and tertiary markets, many of these retailers have closed locations in smaller towns throughout the U.S.," said Forbes in 2017.

In Farmersville, Ohio, businesses are "doing their best to stay afloat after seeing others close, including the town's major bank branch," said WDTN-TV Dayton. The town of Stratton, Nebraska, used to have "two grocery stores, two barber shops and a pharmacist," but most of those are gone today, said NPR. Beyond business closures, there are concerns about the "future of many rural small towns as the older generation retires without young people to replace them."

This month, Tua Tagovailoa, the Miami Dolphins quarterback, suffered a concussion — at least his third in the NFL — in a nationally televised game. The injury has "prompted a dramatic response by fans and former players" urging Tagovailoa to retire, said NPR. 

Concussions and lower-level blows to the head are "key factors" in the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a condition known to cause "early dementia and death" among retired players. The NFL has worked in recent years to lower the risk of concussions, but it faces a big challenge: The game is all about hitting. 

What did the commentators say?
The reaction to Tagovailoa's latest head injury "shows the NFL has come a long way," said The Associated Press. The league created "concussion protocols" in 2011 and two years later agreed to a billion-dollar settlement with former players who had suffered debilitating head injuries. Now, for Tagovailoa, "everyone agrees his health is the main priority." 

Tagovailoa has "become something of a poster child for football's concussion problem," said The Atlantic, and he considered retirement in 2022."It's unclear what risks he faces by playing again." 

The effects of a concussion are "deeply individual" and depend on a player's own history and biology. This means players like Tagovailoa are put in the position of "weighing their career against the rest of their life," said The Atlantic.

What next?
Some NFL players have started wearing "Guardian Caps" during games, said The New York Times. The caps add a "layer of foam to the outside of the helmet" — a sort of cushioning pillow — in hopes of "reducing brain injuries." This is the first year the league has allowed the caps to be worn during games, and several players are doing so. But even the Guardian Cap makers say no device can eliminate the risk of head injuries. 

It will be some time, if ever, before Tagovailoa returns to the field. The Dolphins placed their quarterback on injured reserve, said NFL.com, meaning it will be at least four games before he is eligible to play. That gives him "ample time" to meet with neurologists and decide his future.