Frostbite from a 2016 playoff game had the possibility of a fingertip amputation for Kam Chancellor

Last year’s Wild Card game between the Dolphins and Chiefs featured temperatures that were both bone-chilling and, for some, flesh-killing.

Some fans who attended the game got frostbite. It was reports of amputationsalthough the details remain unclear.

A new article from ESPN.com takes a look back at the deep freeze playoff game and adds something new. After a January 2016 outdoor playoff game in Minnesota, the last played outdoors before the dome that replaced the Metrodome opened, Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor’s frostbite case had amputation on the table.

“I’ve never had frostbite,” Chancellor told ESPN.com recently. “I thought, ‘Wait, are you all going to cut my fingers off?’

At that time, he posted photos of his fingers, with the skin peeling off under the nail.

Although he wore gloves during the game, the damage was caused by sweat freezing inside the gloves.

“You’re outside, playing in that cold weather, and you’re sweating,” Chancellor said. “And then when you take a time out, you’re standing or sitting, now you’re all sweaty and it’s cold as hell. So sweat makes it worse.”

The potential for games played in ultra-cold conditions has increased now that the season has been extended to 17 games. It will be worse if/when (when) another game is added to the regular season.

According to ESPN.com, the league is monitoring the weather, with two or three alternate stadiums reserved in case a game has to be moved. Given the weather issues at last year’s Wild Card games involving the Dolphins and Chiefs (which was not moved or postponed) and the Steelers and Bills (which was postponed by a day), the league began planning for playoff weather contingencies earlier than otherwise.

When it comes to the cold, the NFL has never had a temperature or a minimum of cold. After what happened to Chancellor, it needed to be established. After last year’s Dolphins-Chiefs game, it absolutely should.

While fans attend outdoor games with full knowledge of the conditions and assuming full risk of possible consequences, the decision to play the game at the scheduled time and place carries with it the implication that it is safe for human beings to attend. Even if no one could ever credibly argue that the league has a legal obligation to postpone or move a game, there is a moral obligation.

If, after all, football is a family, football should never endanger its family members.