In the end the game played by UNC versus Wake will go down as a loss. That will never change, but with time the game will become a further and further memory and people will begin to forget it. On the other side of the coin the one thing that is not, or better said, should not be forgotten is the image of quarterback Bryn Renner laying on the turf looking like he had been knocked out of the game after trying to score. After having watched the game, and that play several times, it is evident that Renner pointed to his head before falling to the ground.
However it seems that the hit had nothing to do with a concussion, as I (and a lot of other people) thought it was. For those of you that use twitter saw the back and forth between many watching the game about whether or not the young man under center should go back into the game or not. In the end, as we all know, the youngster went right back into the game without missing any reps. Head coach Larry Fedora came out in this week’s press conference saying this had nothing to do with hit to the head…
“After going back and evaluating it there was nothing to do with his head. There was no contact to his head. He got the wind knocked out of him and got hit pretty good. Actually the two guys that made contact with themselves it was pretty violent hit there on each other. He didn’t get the most of it I can assure you. He really came out of it fine physically and mentally I think once he settled down afterwards I think he was okay, but obviously the next series was not good for him.
“That’s something, let me tell you, you’re going to play that position, it’s going to happen and you got to learn to shake it off and move on to the next play and that’s just something for the quarterback spot that you got to be able to do.”
I am not here to blog that someone isn’t telling the truth, but I have to say, after having watched the above video, why would someone point to his head if it didn’t get hit in the head? Or was the young gunslinger just trying to point that he was hurt and in the pain his hand went up as high as his head? In the end, be it a hit to the head that was a concussion, one to the ribs that knocked the wind out of him or whatever else the hit might have been the reality is it’s in the past. What this moment, in a conference game on any given Saturday, might mean a lot more than the final score or anything else.
Bryn Renner right after being hit at the goal line by several Wake Forest players
Bryn Renner, one of the leaders of the North Carolina football program, did what he did because he wanted to help the North Carolina football team win. Because he wanted to do what was right for the squad he leads. He wanted to see his squad win its first game of the season on the road, against an Atlantic Coast Conference and in state opponent. He wanted to see the program, under a new man at the helm, come out on the right side of the score in a game that all knew, both on the field and on the sidelines, would be tough to do so without him. The junior quarterback also knew that the squad was without running back Giovani Bernard and could ill afford to have another from the offensive back field out for the game.
But he did so with the assistance of a lot of people that tested him, not once but twice, before believing that he was capable to go back into the game without repercussion. So while I am all for the fact that if Renner could get back into the game he should have, what I would have liked to see is that someone tell the high school players (and lower), the ones that might not have as much assistance on the sidelines of qualified personnel or as good of equipment, that the decision made by the Carolina quarterback was one made by more than one person. Was made by specialized people and not the student athlete. Unfortunately not one person in the media, or blogger, touched on this very important piece and I find that a true shame. When I played sports (a long, long time ago) I was taught that everything can be a learning moment, and while that or might not be true, the hit on Bryn Renner could have definitely qualified as one and no one took the time to make it one.
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