It’s time to applaud Syracuse Athletics. That’s not something that has been written or said too much this past season; but the program deserves praise for its concussion protocol.
Yesterday during the SU and Johns Hopkins lacrosse broadcast on ESPN, analyst Quint Kessenich said that if a Syracuse athlete gets three concussions, then they are automatically medically disqualified from playing again for the program. He made it sound like this goes for all sports.
The University has never released any information about this rule, but judging from SU football players having their careers ended by concussions what Kessenich says is true.
Syracuse Athletics team physician Dr. James Tucker ruled in April that Orange defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson could not play for the team anymore because of multiple concussions. Tucker also disqualified offensive lineman Kyle Knapp in 2014 and defensive end Tyler Marona in 2013 due to multiple head injuries. It looks like this protocol has been in place for a few years.
This practice makes Syracuse look smart and ahead of the game. This year the NCAA approved a guideline stating that it must pass a school’s concussion protocol for every individual sport before the season starts. The NCAA cannot punish schools if they break their own rules however.
Basically, the body has no authority when it comes to these matters and relies on school’s to make correct decisions with concussions, which doesn’t always happen (look at the Shane Morris situation at Michigan). Morris was allowed to play after being concussed, which is different than ending a player’s career after three head injuries, but still kudos to SU for sticking to its rules.
The fact that the University ends an athlete’s career instead of letting them decide to play at their own risk is commendable. After three concussions some college athletes would risk their health and keep playing. Syracuse does not allow that because the University understands the potential dangers, an awareness that many other major colleges have not yet grasped.
In a time of no concussion protocol regulation by the NCAA, Syracuse has an intelligent and admiral head injury policy. The only issue with it is that it is not more widely renowned.
Posted: Connor Morrissette
4 responses to “Syracuse Has a Smart Concussion Policy That No One Knows About”
While I agree with most of your comments, you suggest that this policy is born of some kind of altruism. I wonder if, as a private university, they see themselves as more vulnerable to a class action lawsuit similar to those brought by ex-nfl players and are simply protecting themselves. Just wondering….
I believe that the concussion rule mentioned yesterday during the lacrosse game should be accepted by all colleges that have an athletic program.
“The NCAA cannot punish schools if they break their own rules”. Am I missing something here Conner? Didn‚Äôt some of the NCAA sanctions leveled against Syracuse have something to do with the school ignoring their own drug policy? Again,what am I missing here?
@ Ron,
Thanks for reading. Check this article out: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jon-solomon/25073014/why-the-ncaa-wont-adopt-concussion-penalties—-at-least-not-yet
The NCAA cannot penalize a school for breaking concussion protocol, but it can for violating a drug policy apparently. You raise an interesting point.
Well after doing some research,I finally got some answers to how many stars did the top ten players,taken in the 2015 draft,have after/attached to their names coming out of high school and playing college.
Here is what I discovered, There was (1) 2* athlete,(3) 3* athletes and (6) 4* athletes taken in the top ten picks in the 2015 NFL Draft.. The results showed a considerable improvement over the 2014 draft.
But just to let you all know I went further and looked at the complete 1st round of the draft,and here are the results.
We had (1) N/R player,(2) 2* athletes,(16) 3* athletes,(9) 4* athletes and (4) 5* athletes picked in the first round of the draft.
Keven Johnson (CB) from Wake Forest and Laken Tomlinson (OG) from Duke stayed for 4 years earning their degrees,while the other 30 players left school averaging 2 years of playing college football before entering the draft. Truly amazing was the 5* Andrus Peat out of Stanford who left school after 2 years for the NFL.
One 4* player was taken 4th and was from Alabama,the (4) 5* athletes were taken with the 13th,24th,25th and 32nd picks. One of the 2* athletes,QB Marcus Mariota, was picked 2nd in the draft
In conclusion gentlemen,like I and many others before believe that the star rating system is a sham and should be done away with.