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Purdue's Chris Kramer Told to Keep Playing After Getting Knocked Out
Feb 3, 2009 – 12:50 PM
The above video shows Purdue guard Chris Kramer getting knocked out by an elbow from Michigan guard Manny Harris on Saturday. Harris was ejected, but I don't think he was trying to hurt Kramer, and the Big Ten has decided, correctly, that he shouldn't face any discipline.
But this story shouldn't end there. Not until Purdue coach Matt Painter has taken a refresher course on the seriousness of concussions.
Here's a video in which Kramer and Painter discuss what happened:
Kramer says, "I blacked out, fell down, and then I woke up in a pool of blood on the floor. I'm pretty sure my nose is broken. ... That is the hardest I've ever been hit, and I played football."
If Kramer "blacked out" as a result of being struck on the head, he absolutely should not have been permitted to return to the game. When you get knocked out, you've suffered a brain injury. Brain injuries need time to heal. And yet Kramer was back on the floor after a few minutes in the locker room to get fitted for a mask to protect his nose.
There is no excuse for Painter to allow Kramer to play after suffering a brain injury, but Kramer suggested after the game that Painter didn't just allow him to play, he pressured him to play. Kramer says he was told by an assistant coach, "Coach says you've got to come on. ... Coach just wants us out there. Give everything you can. If you can't go you can't go, but if you can, just give everything you can."
Said Painter, "I knew there was a chance that they wouldn't let him come back. But I knew if it was up to him he would come back."
It shouldn't be up to the player to decide if he can go. It should be up to the doctor. And no player who has been knocked unconscious should ever hear the words, "Coach says you've got to come on." Concussions are too serious to be treated with such a cavalier attitude.
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