You Can't Blame Shurmur For This One

The fans have done it again. I am finally so fed up with this concussion story that I feel like I need to give my opinion on the matter.  

McCoy was injured after his throw to Hardesty when Harrison hit him.  What McCoy injured at the time, was his hand and wrist.  The trainers, two or three of them, were looking at his wrist and taping a few of his fingers together while talking to him.  These same trainers came to the conclusion that he was not showing symptoms of a concussion, therefore, no concussion tests were needed.  A concussion can show up later after a blow to the head and there are numerous examples to support that and it is not even worth going into.  That is simply what happened.

What bothers me the most is the backlash that head coach Pat Shurmur is enduring. People are on their high horses complaining that no way, no how, McCoy should have been put back into the game after that hit.  How could Shurmur have allowed such a thing?  

What people don’t realize, for some reason, is that Shurmur is trying to call plays, get formations together, and figure out what to do with Seneca Wallace.  He isn’t on the sideline to administer McCoy concussion tests or clear him to play, that’s a trainer’s job. His job is to coach the football team.  So when a player comes up to him and says, “I’m ready to roll,” the coach puts him back into the game to play because the doctors have cleared him as such.  That’s all there is to it.

People have been all over Shurmur for his play calling, how he’s handled personnel, and even what his demeanor is like on the sidelines and during press conferences.  Okay, fine.  You have the right to your own opinion (no matter how wrong I think you are for most of it).  But to take your aggravation out on Pat Shurmur for this concussion matter, when really you are just pissed off about another double-digit loss season, is stupid and illogical.

If we are going to continue to call ourselves the best football fans in football, then it’s about time we start becoming the smarter football fans. All I see is angry and bitter people trying to slam a coach for something he isn’t responsible for.  If McCoy came back in and threw the game winning touchdown pass your tunes would be a lot different, and I don’t even want to think about what some of you would’ve said if Wallace came in and threw the same interception that McCoy did.  It’s about time Browns fans pulled their head out of their asses and become informed about the way things work on an NFL sideline before they try to nail Pat Shurmur to a cross.  Pat Shurmur is a football coach, not a neurologist, and it’s about time everyone realizes that.