Pat Coleman - I guess my 20 year comment applies to how long I've been involved with D3 football but I could have sworn I could log into d3football.com when I was using the old dialup connection back in the day that I started working at St. John's...

Yes, everyone, I will save you the time to confirm that I am the certified athletic trainer (we take the certified part seriously in our profession) at St. John's and have been reading posts on this website for years without joining in - I guess today I caved and joined the Dark Side of the world internet discussion boards.

I'm sorry if my first post was directed a little too much (okay - a lot too much) at the UST football team and head coach.  This past Saturday I had to do probably one of the toughest things that I have had to ever do by informing our senior quarterback at halftime that his college career was over because he was not able to return the the second half of the game since he suffered a concussion right before the end of the half.  Yet at the same time I knew I was doing the right thing because his future career and overall brain health is and was much more important than the outcome of a college football game.  I might have let my emotions about this situation get a little too much of me as I typed that first post.

If those of you on this board do not want me to share my insights and opinions since I work with a D3 football team let me know.  I guess if a parent of a current player is a member is it wrong for a current support staff member to join in?  Or is this just a place for the former players to relive their glory days with each other 

I can crawl back into my hole for another 20 years if I shouldn't be on here - but I've got some great St. John's/John Gagliardi stories I could share with everyone in the weeks, months and years to come...

I have been following/reading/ranting to myself about posts on d3football.com for more than 20 years and just figured it's time to quit standing on the sideline and instead join in the fun - especially when it comes to injuries.    Maybe my desire to see the way that League officials/owners are now protecting the qb's in the NFL has made me want to see this same type of level of enforcement at the D3/college level to protect these college kids from getting hurt while at the same time keep the best possible players/most competitive team on the field.  I think everyone would agree that the New England Patriots would not be close to being one of the top teams (and in my opinion most entertaining) in the NFL if Tom Brady was allowed to be hit by d-linemen "finishing plays" as much as qb's got hit years ago.  Just look at the Dallas Cowboys to see how important it is for a team to have their #1 qb remain healthy - but of all people I know injuries are always going to be part of this great game.  With this being said, why can't some of these same protections be provided for these college kids - especially if it "appears" to be the same team over and over that decides to have their team "finish" plays this way.

I have no evidence but from my own eyes as to the way that it appears the UST defense (not singling out any specific kid) is possibly being "coached" to finish plays that cause contact with the qb's that "could" cause them to get injured.  I know these kids are playing football which can and often does involve contact on every play.  It just bothers me to see any team's starting qb injured on a late hit (whether or not the opinion of the referee working that day decides to throw a flag or not) if in the end they are just doing what they are being told to do by a coach that has the power to give playing time to the kids that are willing to play the style that the coach wants his team to play.

Looks like if I'm going to join in on this and future "discussions" on this board I better put on my big-boy pants everyday...  It's okay - I don't mind verbal shots coming back my way.

Champions always find a way to get up off the mat - some punches just hurt more than others and take more time to heal...

This message board is all about opinions isn't it???  Or has it changed to being only about the truth and nothing but the black and white video/voice recorded truth so help be God!

Quote from: ChicagoTommie on Today at 03:22:25 pm

I was at the game, the hit was questionable but not with intention to injure...its just the bad part of football, I cringe every time  I see anyone get hurt.  I would agree Martin had a great run and it was too bad he college career ended that way!  I think he was the 4th highest rated quarterback in division 3...correct me if i am wrong.

Has anyone taken a look back to see how many quarterbacks UST has injured/taken out of games due to late hits/personal fouls during the Caruso coaching era???  I know it's part of the game and the team (UST) that commits these penalty gives the other team an automatic first down while losing 15 yards but playing the rest of the game against the second (or third) team's qb can often times be a "gamechanger" and must be worth the risk.  In my opinion it's a dirty way to get an advantage...

I also feel the team has to be "coached" this way because the UST defense does has done the same thing year after year!