I think those of us who've played ball know that a) the definition of a concussion has changed in our minds over the last ten years and b) concussions are a part of the game that everyone who's played seriously has suffered. Like you, I've seen stars and had my "bell rung" and ten years ago did not consider those as concussions. Today they would be, and I wouldn't have told anyone about them had I known that. And you're correct that we shouldn't get too high and mighty considering that even with the tighter policies and new standards and higher awareness, people will still play through concussions. And the higher the level, the more likely they'll be playing through it. I remember when Tebow was puking on the sideline after a headshot when the concussion concerns first got big, and he played in a game against Alabama or someone of that nature the very next week. There was concern about how the Dayne Crist situation was handled, and while I don't remember the Gholson situation I do fine that to be pretty appalling as well.

All that being said - what happened Saturday was different than the kinds of concussions you and I have suffered. Shane Morris took a shot to the head and got up wobbly. There was nothing mild about it. Even ten years ago we would've called that a concussion. Even ten years ago, there would've been concern with him staying in for a few plays, and there would've been concern on him going back in. As much as there is today? No. If he played next week would folks be as concerned? Probably not (thinking of the Tebow example here). But he went in just three plays later. The world has changed, football is changing, and Morris took a brutal hit and got up wobbling. There wasn't any question as to whether he had a concussion, and in this day and age society is no longer okay with that. Those of us who've played probably have a different line than those who haven't, but I think the Morris situation crosses everybody's line.

Just from televised games alone there have been dozens and dozens of incidents in the past few years where it seems obviously concussed football players have been trotted back out onto the field, sometimes with far more obvious signs of concussions than what Shane Morris exhibited. In Arizona's game with USC two years ago the QB was kept in the game even after vomiting following a blow to the head. So, why is what happened to Shane Morris a national news story in multiple outlets and the others not?  Could it be that Michigan sucking at football is a big story, and what happened with Shane Morris fits the storyline of a failing coach at a once proud institution?

Edit: I'm certainly not claiming the Michigan coaching and medical staff didn't royally screw up and should be let off the hook.

This is great stuff.  Thanks for pulling it all together.

I'd also point out that studies show most players suffer from "micro" concussions, especially the linemen, that are individually not much but in totality can be just as damaging as the big hits you see on the field; like a racecar accident, it's the seemingly-minor ones that can cause all the damage.  

I don't think you can be a football fan and not be aware of the dangers of the sport, and I think it is generally accepted that it  (a) does take measures to protect players, and yet (b) will still have problems handling that edge between toughess and safety, the spirit of the game and its realities.  I know I've been watching it at times (usually at the NFL level) and cringed when I saw a hit, and whereas years ago I'd have heard Chris Tucker's "you got F'ED up" in my head, now I wonder if those players are going to be able to remember their kids' names in 25 years or if they're going to put a bullet in their chest because of depression.  And I'm not trying to be sanctimonious here; I still watch like a hypocrite because I like to be entertained and cognitive dissonance is really powerful.  

But if I had a son I'd probably steer him away from playing football, in large part because of this issue.  So honestly, thanks for bringing up another side of it that I think most people here recognize but has been somewhat ignored/pushed to the side the past couple of days.

I totally agree. Nice to have a moment of balance and reason. I'll hide in this little corner. Hoke has problems with the team right now, which are significant and probably should end with a firing (although I don't rule out a turn-around and all these former letter winners coming back and saying he's the right man). But this frenzy about the concussion has gotten ridiculous. I don't think it's the firable issue. Honestly - spoken to, corrected, protocol changed, but I think it's likely non-football players up in arms with pitchforks over that one.

I was at the game. I was shouting for Shane to be taken off. I was furious. But my brother, a former linebacker who was critiquing and giving commentary about the linebacker play (Jake Ryan especially) all game, and I agree: concussions are a big deal and student safety is essential, but the concussion handling isn't the firable issue; it's the record and direction that is at a breaking point.

I'm guessing I'm not the only hard-core college football fan who isn't even considering letting his sons play organized football.  It definitely causes some cognitive dissonance that I'm trying to ignore.

i do think the football landscape will be VERY different in about 10-15 years, when all the kids my sons' age are in college, and a much higher percentage of them not having ever played organized football.

I'm having second thoughts about watching games where my son can see, because it's not clear to me to that we're not watching people shred their brains for our entertainment.

I suspect that we'll hit a low point within the next five years, where something horrific will happen that can be tied directly back to traumatic brain injury suffered in football, and outrage will force some changes.  I hope that those changes will be safety-related (maybe better helmets and neck liners?) rather than banning of non-adults from playing college ball.

I greatly appreciate your providing a perspective which takes into account multiple factors without simplifying everything and insulting people. 

In the early 1900s the number of deaths among college football players resulted in reform and rules changes including the use of helmets.  100+ years later we are still seeing, not deaths but long term damage to these athletes, and as much as I hate to face up to this.. people who are pointing out that we fans are much more tolerant of injuries when we are winning, are probably correct. 

People would still be concerned that Morris wasn't properly evaluated while exhibiting signs of distress, and rightly so. 

 

Humans have been playing violent sports since the beginning of time. In fact, football is pretty tame relative to humanity's sports history: pads, no rock throwing, no being stabbed, the concept of someone having to die to appease a God or Gods is gone. As it should be, we're smarter now, more sophisticated, civilized if you want to contrast us with barbarians and risk sounding like a bigot.

As our awareness has grown about what it means to be taking repeated hits to the head, we've become a little squeamish to the idea of football. I understand that, this is a violent sport, an impact sport rather than merely a contact sport. That's scary. Almost every game I see on TV I see a guy get up after getting his bell rung, typically from a tackle but not always. And when it's out in the open, yeah, it's even scarier because it's even clearer. And that will never change unless there are overhauls to the sport to make it a knockoff of what it currently is, something less intricate and less detailed and less nuanced and ultimately, less sophisticated.

Those are risks we take playing the sport or having our kids play the sport. But I also urge you not to only see it in that light. Football technology and safety are ever improving. It will never be perfect because when the goal involves tackling someone to the ground, there will always be hits, but it is improving. With awareness, techniques are becoming safer and better enforced. 

Sports have given me a lot, football in particular. The benefits far outweighed the consequences for me, and I think they do for the vast majority of kids, from those that only play through high school to those that continue on after. I wouldn't be the person I am today without sports. It did so much for me in terms of social abilities, leadership, being on a team, hard work, managing my time, paying attention to detail, competing, coping with loss, coping with success, hating defeat and failure and learning how to become better from defeat and failure, etc, etc. These are things, no doubt, you can learn in other areas of life, and some are lucky enough to. But, in my opinion, there is no better way to learn these things than through sports, and I think football especially stresses these aspects at it's very core, because each play is a symphony of details from the lowest individual to the entirety of a team, and success is one at an individual level and at a team level based on the abilities to execute these meticulous assignments better than your opponent.

So I do urge you not to look at football as a sum of concussions, where only negatives apply. We're learning, we're improving, we'll continue to get better. We'll never be perfect, but we'll strive to be, because that's something we learned from sports.

I get you SC, and make no mistake, I don't ever plan to stop watching our team play.  If they lose every game this season I will be in the stadium and cheer for them.  I stayed far away from the boycott discussions on the blog.  My Dad took me to my first Michigan game at age 5, and I found that I loved being a spectator, and still do almost 50 years later.

Your bigger-picture points about sports in general are well taken.    It was a source of great discomfort, shall we say, that my eyesight issues alone kept me from being able to participate in most every sport played at school, and my ineffectiveness when forced to do so just contributed to the bullying responses.  As a result, I have tried to encourage both of my kids to take up any type of sport of physical activity early on.  Swimming lessons, organized sports, anything.  My son played soccer off and on from age 4 through middle school, and I observed some of the concepts you were explaining - he stayed in a game with blood oozing from his elbow the entire time because the other goalie was hurt worse and he didn't want to let down the team.  That kind of thing.  Now, as a HS student with a challenging schedule of AP classes, he doesn't let setbacks deter him.  My daughter runs cross country which has been difficult for her but I have encouraged her to stay in and focus on the benefits instead of worrying because she isn't the best runner on the team.

I liked your post a lot SC but then I love all your posts.

is nice to have in one place. But. I'm not sure I follow your apparent central point:

I don't post any of this to absolve anyone involved in the game this Saturday. . . . I caution any football fan away from being too high-and-mighty with regard to the Morris incident.

I think not being "high-and-mighty" is good advice for anybody at any time. Until you are more specific about how you mean it in regards to the Morris incident, though, it sounds like you are saying "Shut up about Morris because concussions just happen."

It seems to me a read a few years ago about Oklahoma(?) practicing with rubber helmets to reduce injuries. But not in games because, hey, why go easy on the opponents if they won't reciprocate?

I wonder what happened that...

Of course, they might not be able to do rubber helmets in 'chrome', so the fashion football crowd might not go for it.