Michigan Sack Their Own QB #RESM560V
Photo By: Leon Halip
Michigan quarterback Shane Morris suffered a concussion after all. In a statement released early Tuesday morning, Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon apologized for a “serious lack of communication” that allowed Morris to be reinserted without proper neurological testing.
“We now understand that, despite having the right people on the sidelines assessing our student-athletes’ well being, the systems we had in place were inadequate to handle this unique and complex situation properly,” Brandon said in his statement.
Morris took a hit to the head Saturday during Michigan’s 30–14 loss to Minnesota. After the hit, he wobbled around and stayed on his feet by leaning on a teammate. Morris stayed in the game for one play and later returned for one more play when the new quarterback, Devin Gardner, had to leave the game by rule after his helmet came off.
“That probable concussion diagnosis was not at all clear on the field on Saturday or in the examination that was conducted post-game,” Brandon said. “Unfortunately, there was inadequate communication between our physicians and medical staff and Coach Hoke was not provided the updated diagnosis before making a public statement on Monday. This is another mistake that cannot occur again.”
“However, the neurologist, with expertise in detecting signs of concussion, saw Shane stumble and determined he needed to head down the sideline to evaluate Shane,” Brandon said. “Shane came off the field after the following play and was reassessed by the head athletic trainer for the ankle injury. Since the athletic trainer had not seen the hit to the chin and was not aware that a neurological evaluation was necessary, he cleared Shane for one additional play.”
Concussion are very serious, especially in the world of sports. When it comes to college football players the numbers has grown over the years. It is important that coaches, medical staff, and even players are communication to each other to make the proper action. In the case of Michigan’s staff and their QB that did not happen.
With this being Coach Hoke’s football team he should also take responsibility for these issues. No one outside of the football team knows the medical staff, but when something happens in your program they will always think of the Head Coach. This does not take any responsibility away from medical staff either. As staff they need to be held to a higher standers and professional level as well. It is their job to make sure that players are checked probably before even putting a helmet back on.
I know that players want to WIN and be on the field with their teammates making plays but they need to be responsible young adults. Players should and need to let someone know when they can not give 100 percent at any point in time during practice or a game. This will help prevent from events like this occurring again in the future. I fell as though this will help other programs be more aware of their players and evaluate their communication between their staff. So that no other program sacks their QB.
I think that Michigan AD Dave Brandon apologize was a start for them to take full responsibility as program and a public relations stand point. Even though the apology was made it does not change what happened to the QB. Their has to be a sufficient way for the coaches and medical staff to communicate to each other to keep players off the field if not stable enough to play.
#RESM560V
Brandon identified two procedural changes Michigan will implement immediately:
• Putting an athletic medicine professional in the press box or video booth to have view up high of the field action. The person will have TV replay available and the ability to communicate with medical personnel on the sidelines.
• Reinforce Michigan’s sideline communication processes and how decisions will be made so information about player availability is communicated between medical officials and coaches.
