As a football player, it’s the worst news you can hear.
Syracuse defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson has been ruled medically disqualified from further play at the university due to concussions, Syracuse.com reported yesterday. A release by SU Athletics said:
“Dr. James Tucker reviewed Johnson’s concussion history and has medically disqualified Johnson from further physical participation in football and/or any other contact sports at Syracuse University due to multiple concussions as of April 2015.”
Johnson ends his career having recorded 21 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and a forced fumble with the Orange.
Johnson’s first encounter with concussions occurred in his freshman year while sacking Florida State’s Jameis Winston. He told syracuse.com that concussion was “the worst thing¬†he could wish upon anyone.”
“I don’t remember getting on the plane. My dad said he came down. I don’t even remember seeing him,” Johnson told syracuse.com.
It’s unclear exactly when Johnson suffered further damage.
Johnson was expected to play a bigger role in the Orange’s defensive unit this season. Syracuse’s already-thin defensive line has lost both Marcus Coleman and Ryan Sloan. With Johnson out of the lineup as well, Scott Shafer will have to rely on the incoming class of linemen even more so than he had previously expected.
Posted: Nathan Dickinson
