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8 Tuesday, September 30, 2014,
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Institutional dysfunction
'As of Sunday, Shane was diagnosed with a probable,
mild concussion, and a high ankle sprain." - Dave Brandon
Statement from
athletic director
sent at 12:52 A.M.
"Ultimate responsibility
for the health and safety of
our student-athletes resides
with each team's coach and
with me, as the Director of
Athletics. We are committed
to continuously improving our
procedures to better protect
the health and welfare of our
student-athletes.
I have had numerous
meetings since Sunday
morning to thoroughly review
the situation that occurred
at Saturday's football game
regardingstudent-athlete Shane
Morris. I have met with those
who were directly involved
and who were responsible for
managing Shane's care and
determining his medical fitness
for participation.
In my judgment, there was a
serious lack of communication
that led to confusion on the
sideline, Unfortunately,
this confusion created a
circumstance that was not in
the best interest of one of our
student-athletes, I sincerely
apologize forethe mistakes
that were made. We have to
learn from this situation, and
moving forward, we will make
important changes so we can
fully live up to our shared goal
of putting.
student-
athlete
safety Th
first. The
I have Serlous
worked
with Darryl Commu
Conway,t
my that I
Associate confusic
Athletic
Director sidel
for Student-
Athlete.-
Health and
Welfare, to
develop a detailed accounting of
the events that occurred. Darryl
is the person who oversees all
athletic training .personnel
and serves as the liaison to the
physicians we work with through
the University of Michigan
Health System and University
Health Services.
It is important to note that our
athletic trainers and physicians
working with Michigan Athletics
have the unchallengeable
authority to remove student-
athletes from the field of play.
MichiganAthleticshas numerous
medical professionals at every
football competition including
certified athletic trainers and
several physicians from various
relevant specialties.
I, along with Darryl and our
administrative and medical
teams, have spent much of the
last two days carefully reviewing
the situation regarding Shane
Morris. 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.
With his permission, I can
share that Shane Morris suffered
an ankle injury during the third
quarter of Saturday's game. He
was evaluated for that injury
by an orthopedic surgeon and
an athletic trainer several
times during the game. With
each of theseevaluations it was
determined that his ankle injury
did not prevent him from playing.
In the fourth quarter, Shane
took a significant hit and
stumbled after getting up. From
the field
level and
without
the benefit
e was of replays,
lack of medical
and
rication coaching
staffs did
ed to not see
,n on the the hit.
Because
ine." they did not
see the hit,
-. the athletic
training
staff ,
believed Shane stumbled
because of his ankle injury. The
team neurologist, watching from
furtherdown the field, also did
not see the. hit. However, the
m
FILt PHOTO/Sally
Michigan Athletic Director Dsve Brandon says he has had "numerous meetings since Sunday morning to thoroughly review the situation that occurred,E
neurologist, with expertise in re-enter the game before being Shane was diagnosed with a action, have television replay
detecting signs of concussion, cleared by the team physician, probable, mild concussion, and a available and have the ability
saw Shane stumble and This clearly identifies the high ankle sprain. That probable to communicate with medical
determined he needed to head need for improvements in our concussion diagnosis was personnel on the sidelines.
down the sideline to evaluate sideline and communication not at all clear on the field on We are also examining
Shane. processes. Saturday or in the examination how to reinforce our sideline
Shane came off the field Following the game, a that was conducted post-game. communication processes
r
,
.
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1
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.
The neurologist and other
team physicians were not
aware that Shane was being'
asked to return to the field,
and Shane left the bench'
when he heard his name called
and went back into the game.
Under these circumstances, a
player should not be allowed to
"That probable
concussion
diagnosis was not
at all clear on the
field on Saturday."
comprehengive concussion
evaluation was completed and
Shane has been evaluated twice'
since the game. As of Sunday,
Unfortunately, there was
inadeqsate 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.
Going forward, we have
identified two changes in
our procedures that we will
implement immediately:
We will have an athletic
medicine professional in the
press box or video booth fo
ensure that someone will have
a bird's eye-view of the on-field
and how decisions will be
made in order to make sure
that information regarding
student-athlete availability to
participate is communicated
effectively amongst the medical
team and to our coaches.
We have learned from this
experience, and will continue
to improve ways to keep
our student-athletes' health
and safety our number one
priority."
This is a developing story
Check MichiganDaily.com
throughout the day for updates
"We would never, ever, put a guy on the field when there's
a possibility of a head trauma." Brady Hoke
By THE MICHIGAN DAILY
FOOTBALL BEAT
During his weekly press
conference Monday afternoon,
Michigan football coach Brady
Hoke stood at a podium and
said the following:
"What IScan tell you is we
would never, ever, put a guy on
the field when there is a pos-
sibility with head trauma. We tor Dave Brandon confirmed This came after Hoke said:
won't do that." sophomore quarterback Shane "You'll have a statement from
He later added the follow- Morris had indeed suffered a our medical department."
ing in the same press confer- "probable, mild concussion" Instead of benching Morris,
ence: resulting from a helmet-to-hel- who was stumbling and, to the
"We would never, ever, if we met hit in the fourth quarter of untrained eye, was exhibit-
thoughta guy had a concussion, Saturday's game against Min- ing symptoms of head trauma,
keep him in the game." nesota. There is no comment Hoke and offensive coordina-
More than 12 hours later, at from head neurologist Jeffrey tor Doug Nussmeier allowed
12:52 a.m. Tuesday, a statement Kutcher or a member of the the quarterback to remain on
released by Athletic Direc- medical staff. the field for two more plays.
They later claimed to not have
seen the impact to Morris'
head.
Brandon's statement Tuesday
morning, which apologized for
the decision and offered steps
to avoid similar mistakes in
the-future, shows the account-
ability we expected from Hoke
and the coaching staff Saturday
after the game, or Sunday in an
e-mail statement, or Monday in
the press conference.
Morris was diagnosed on
Sunday, but neither Hoke's
statement that night nor his
press conference Monday
acknowledged a head injury
was possible.
Monday, Hoke said the only
reason Morris hadn't practiced
was a high-ankle sprain.
Hoke's statement Sunday was
sent at 8:37 p.m. In it, the coach
asserted he was "confident
proper medical decisions were
made." Monday, he claimed he
didn't know if he would handle
the situation differently if it
occurred again.
Either Hoke did not know
Morris' diagnosis Sunday night
or Monday afternoon, or the
truth was not provided.
At approximately 12:45 p.m.
Monday, Hoke said he hadn't
been in contact with Brandon
about the incident.
Twelve hours later, Brandon
claimed he had "numerous
meetings" with those "who
were directly involved and who
were responsible for managing
Shane's care and determining
his medical fitness for partici-
pation."
At Monday's press confer-
ence, Hoke said he would not
wear a headset on the sideline
during games in the future. He
did not acknowledge possible
benefits the action could have
toward improving communica-
tion on the sideline.
Tuesday morning, Brandon
said the program would need to
"make important changes" to
ensure a similar situation didn't
occur again.
In his statement Brandon
said: "We are also examining
how to reinforce our sideline
communication processes and
how decisions will be made in
order to make sure that infor-
mation regarding student-ath-
lete availability to participate
is communicated effectively
amongst the medical team and
to our coaches."
Brandon's press release
explained there was a lack of
communication on the field
Saturday.
The contradictions between
the coaching staff and athletic
director demonstrate institu-
tional dysfunction within the
Athletic Department.
The Michigan Daily football beat
can be reached at sportseditors@
michigandaily.com, We're on
Twitter: @asdettel, @MaxACohen,
G..Garno and ByAZuniga.
Sophomore quarterback Shane Marrs was hit in the head late in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game, He appeared to stumble but stayed in the game,
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