During his time reading this column, Ohio State football doctors stored the Buckeyes’ season and gave Quarterback Justin Fields a ton of money.
That’s one way to do it, and some do.
Timothy Kremchek, medical director of the Cincinnati Reds and several school sports teams, believes Ohio State team doctor Jim Borchers and his team deserve congratulations on treating Fields’ injury, who left the Sugar Bowl on Friday opposite Clemson after being hit in the ribs. . at the fourth moment. The quarterback returned a game later to launch a landing at Chris Olave and remained in the game to lead Ohio State to a 49-28 victory.
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“Instead of saying that Fields was pushed into the game, I think the story is that they helped him as a superstar. And they also helped the state of Ohio,” Kremchek said. “I give you distinctions. They saved the season and catapulted the state of Ohio into the national name game.
But everyone has that view. Seeing Fields with on the Superdome lawn, then bubbling out of the box before entering the game less than a minute later, more than a few spectators, adding Ohio State fans, wondered how Fields might be back in the box so soon.
His confusion intensified after the game when Fields revealed his editing of what was going on inside the medical tent where he did the test after Olave’s touchdown.
“They didn’t tell me anything,” Fields said of the data he obtained from OSU medical staff. “I took one or two shots in the tent and ran home. But most of my right torso is broken. But they didn’t hit me. “me a diagnosis. “
Or maybe they did, and in the tension and emotion of the moment I didn’t remember?Or, with a championship date opposite Alabama on the horizon, maybe he didn’t need to reveal the extent of his injuries?Or maybe he was looking to stick to the team’s protocols to know what to say?
But that’s speculation, as the state of Ohio cites privacy legislation by refusing to reveal key points about player health, adding injury information.
All that has to be said are Fields’ comments, which at first glance little or nothing back and forth between the player and the medical staff.
Borchers vigorously challenged such a conclusion, insisting that protocols were followed very well, adding “informed consent,” which he described as “the ability of an athlete or any patient to perceive what is happening. “In the flesh, this means that athletes know the nature of the injury and have remedies, adding painkillers and muscle relaxants.
As for the concept that medical staff suggested or emphasized that Fields would enroll in a game contrary to his will, Borchers insisted that this would not happen in Ohio State.
“At the end of the day, it’s a hundred percent the (athlete’s) decision,” he said. “We never say goodbye to anyone to play that doesn’t need to go back to the game. “
The medical team bases their decision-making on protection and not on the point of long-term action, Borchers said. The fact that Fields played well or struggled after the secondary injury did not put him in more danger when he turned on his return to the green, he added. There is also the liability factor if a doctor approves of an athlete’s return knowing that a great threat of more serious injury can occur.
Security first. Donnie Nickey understands. But the former defensive back of Ohio State and the NFL is also aware of the pressures team doctors face in deciding whether a player, and especially a quarterback, returns to combat.
“I know what the canned answers are: “Do as the doctors say, ” said Nickey on Wednesday. “It imposes obligations on doctors, so unless a doctor must be the top hated user in the state of Ohio, it probably depends on cleanliness (Fields), fair, wrong or indifferent. “
It is also necessary to take into account the athlete’s point of view, that is, the maximum players, adding Campos, need to return to the box as soon as possible.
“In the NFL, they say no one knows your structure as well as you do, which means “you can play if you want,” Nickey said.
Then there is this: any perceived medical hypocrisy, either express to Fields or more generally, increases due to COVID-19, extraordinary measures are being taken to protect athletes from the virus. of the semi-finals of the playoffs.
“Well, you can’t give the next player painful ribs. It’s not contagious,” said Randy Wroble, an orthopedic doctor from Columbus, rejecting the virus/injury comparison like apples and oranges.
In fact, it’s a complex and polarizing issue. Even in my own family, one woman shrugged as if “there was nothing to see here” in relation to the timing of Fields’ return, while the other questioned the motivation that allowed a player suffering apparent pain to resume his activities.
I know football is a high-risk game with hardness as a base, but there are limits to player protection that deserve not to be crossed. Seeing Fields return so early in opposition to Clemson, I soon thought the quarterback was a difficult man but a small part of me wondered how his fitness might have been diagnosed, as he deserves to be so fast.
Borchers relieved my concerns to the fullest. He said it is vital not to forget that the fitness assessment begins without delay when medical staff succeed on the player on the field, not later in the medical tent. He added, rightly, that his staff is made up of trained professionals. as it should be, assess injuries at the site quickly.
It’s a convenience for anyone who cares about player safety. That also deserves to ease considerations on whether Fields will be healthy enough to play Alabama on Monday.
Because if the quarterback considers himself smart enough to oppose Clemson, in fact there can be no doubt about his prestige opposed to crimson Tide. Right?
roller@dispatch. com
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