Jack Miller - Concussions NOT the driving factor

Submitted by Everyone Murders on

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/2015/03/26/miller-says-burnout-led-quit/70520290/

Angelique Chengelis put up an article this a.m. confirming that Jack Miller left the program due to burnout and to pursue other interests.  We saw this explanation from Miller earlier this week, but ESPN posted a conflicting story saying that fear of concussions was the driving factor.

The main takeaway, for me at least, is that Angelique is about 20x more reliable than ESPN.  the other takeaway is that it's very easy to pull for Miller here - he seems like an honest guy who has a level of self-awareness that's pretty impressive at his age.  As in the earlier story, there's not a trace of bitterness in his words.

"Concussions were really not a factor in this decision. I know it makes for a good headline. ... The story has blown up into this whole thing, because there's not a lot going on in college football right now"

oriental andrew

March 27th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^

That's it exactly. It's not the driving factor, but he mentioned it in the interview so it's at least a secondary or tertiary consideration. Therefore, let's play that up since Shane Morris and CTE and Chris Borland! Much more interesting than the throwaway one-liner the put in there about him being burned out on football.

Magnus

March 27th, 2015 at 9:19 AM ^

Yeah...this story has sort of been blown out of proportion. I feel like it's received almost as much attention as Chris Borland's retirement, and Borland was an NFL player while Miller is a mediocre college player.

ijohnb

March 27th, 2015 at 9:25 AM ^

would ESPN drive this story is the main question?  ESPN/ABC has as much to lose as anybody from negative light being shined on college or pro football, especially when it comes to factors that could actually have an impact on the product itself.  I can see them covering the domestic abuse stuff like crazy because it is really a side issue to the game itself, but I have trouble wonder why the World Wide Leader would want this conversation to become bigger than it already is.

turd ferguson

March 27th, 2015 at 9:33 AM ^

But that's his point.  I think it's an interesting question.  My guess it they aren't that forward-thinking, and they'd be fine filling a football-less summer with concussion stories if those stories generate a lot of viewers and page clicks.  It's also Michigan and Michigan sells.  I mean, on the ESPN college football page sidebar right now, 4 of the 14 stories are about Michigan even though not much has happened with us lately (Wayne Lyons, Jack Miller, Jake Rudock, and Harbaugh's salary).  And Glasgow just fell off the front page.

GoWings2008

March 27th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^

and if they wanted to highlight why Miller left, they certainly could have talked more about the REAL reasons, based on Miller's personal comments.  But they're perpetuating the agenda that was started by a couple other professionals who quit for concussions and now its a hot topic...they want to further the rhetoric (media wise, not suggesting it isn't a real problem at all) but when a wave starts, they want to ride the MF'er as long as they can...

bjk

March 27th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^

between their tactical headline-grabbing function and their long-term institutional propaganda function.

I wonder if the concussion narrative could continue to gain traction, regardless of what facts show, once ESPN decided it was no longer in their long-term interest to flog it?

ijohnb

March 27th, 2015 at 2:46 PM ^

At the end of the day, it comes down to a personal decision that players have to make.  Yeah, playing football at a high level in the NFL has the potential to cause later life damage in terms of concussions and other physical ailments.  Many NFL players probably live is some form of pain for the rest of their life, but the majority of the people that do so tend to their pain while living in gigantic homes with endless ammenties and enjoying a lifestyle that most people can't even imagine. 

The concussion narrative actually feels a little forced to me right now, people keep pointing to suicides and other acts of violence committed by retired or current NFL players but there is really little discussion as to whether brain trauma factored into the events at all.  The fact that Borland stopped playing without ever having a diagnosed concussion smells fishy to me, I would be curious to know what else is on his plate and other factors that could have contributed to his decision. 

JamieH

March 27th, 2015 at 3:49 PM ^

How many former players live in gigantic homes with endless ammenities?  What percentage of players retire rich and properly manage their money?

 

This is not snark, it is a serious question.   Obviously a certain percentage do.  But what percentage is that?

 

The risk/reward curve for players in the NFL obviouly differs per player.  For some, the rewards are so great they probably greatly outweigh the risks.  But not for all.  And when you start talking about college/high school, is the reward/potential reward really worth the risk for anyone?

In reply to by ijohnb

Everyone Murders

March 27th, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^

I think that Jack Miller's guess is most likely correct - it's a slow period for college football stories, and this makes a good headline.  More so, it's a bandwagon headline, and evidences lazy thinking more than malice on the part of Schad to me.

What's lost in this is that Miller leaves the program about as graciously as possible.  He again touts the value of his Michigan education, has nothing but positive things to say about the program and the new coaching regime, and points inward for his reasons for leaving. 

ESPN could have run with a story on the demands that college football puts on athletes, and had good content and gotten their clicks.  But that would have taken ... work.

In reply to by ijohnb

billybrown

March 27th, 2015 at 10:22 AM ^

Because it makes headlines and football no matter how negative a light it gets is untouchable. It's Americas sporting drug and its grip is not going to be lost anytime soon. So espn can do any number of reports in any direction and ultimately it doesn't matter because we love the sport.

In reply to by ijohnb

AA2Denver

March 27th, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^

All about the clicks. 

Because it's a 24 hr news cycle and ESPN needs headlines. Have you seen their Cricket coverage? Unfortunetely concussions are a hot topic right now. I'm sure their story got more clicks than Si.com's story about "business interests". 

Blue Noise

March 27th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^

Nice clarification story. Deadspin ran hard with the concussion angle too, and I remember thinking that wasn't at all my main takeaway in reading Miller's explanation of why he was walking away.




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DCAlum

March 27th, 2015 at 9:28 AM ^

I think you may be imputing a little more long-range planning to espn than they are capable of. A lot of their reporting is the conspiracy theory of the day, regardless of the long-term viability of the sport.

They are like a 14 year old riding a motorcycle - convinced of their invincibility.

the real hail_yes

March 27th, 2015 at 10:20 AM ^

ENTERTAINMENT and Sports Programming Network. They're like the WWE... you should know what you're going to get and not expect too much more than that.

'Maybe one day UNICEF will get into the sports broadcasting business, till then...'

JOHNNAVARREISMYHERO

March 27th, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^

Anything Michigan related is a story.

The fact that there are headlines about two players (Glasgow and Miller) that no one besides Michigan fans have even heard of is proof of that.

That's why I think less is more in this day and age.  The more you talk, the more likely stuff is going to be twisted for a story.

Very little accountable in news reporting.  

Jmilan

March 27th, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^

ESPN is trash. As a Michigan fan though I'm kind of sick of hearing about this kid. He's decided not to play and that's completely fine, but there's been about 4 threads on this and I feel like it's unnecessary. Same way I feel it was unnecessary for Espn and deadspin etc to cover it as much as they did. The only story that should've came from this is that Michigan now has a void to fill with limited time.

Magnus

March 27th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^

I think it's kind of a big deal from a Michigan-centric point of view, so I'm not surprised there have been multiple threads. It's not often that a player who's virtually guaranteed a starting gig just up and quits. I mean, if Miller didn't win the starting center job again, he was almost surely going to be a primary backup at C/OG. I remember being surprised when Rocko Khoury didn't return for his fifth year, because I assumed he would be a starter, but I think the last time a significant player just flat-out quit was Alex Mitchell during the Lloyd Carr days.

sharks

March 27th, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

I have no love for ESPN, but Miller flat out told Joe Schad that he was retiring due to concussion issues, and he spoke about his brother, a past Wisconsin recruit, who had to do the same thing.  Deadspin has direct quotes from Schad's article. 

The attention paid to this is not due to him being part of the Michigan program, but due to concussions being front and center in the news right now, with Borland and a bunch of other recent stories.

It seems to me that any change in storyline here is coming from Miller, not from a misquote or ploy for pageviews piling on UM...

My guess, and hate me all you want for it, is that Miller retired in large part due to concussions, past and future.  With the Morris incident last year still fresh in many minds, someone connected to the program asked Jack to amend his story to make it appear that Michigan isn't putting a guy out there with a history (including one or two unreported).

Everyone Murders

March 27th, 2015 at 10:57 AM ^

I think BJNavarre summed it up nicely above.  If you've ever been interviewed on TV or in print, it's an eye-opener that many reporters are fishing for quotes that fit their narrative.  It's perilous speaking with such reporters.

Quote fishing by a reporter with an agenda is the phenomenon we saw with those shitballs Rosenberg and Snyder when they did the hatchet job on RichRod.  There's a very good chance it's what's going on with Schad's story.

When you talk with a reporter for 15 minutes to a half hour, you run a very real risk of your quotes being taken out of context.  So, based on Miller's reaction to Schad's story, it seems most likely that Schad asked something in passing on the order of "don't you worry about concussions playing on the line?" and Miller said something on the order of "sure, that's a valid concern".  The problem is when that gets twisted into "Miller leaves Michigan football due to concussion concerns" or some such similar rot.

Bodogblog

March 27th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^

Your guess is completely refuted by Miller's quote above, which says concussions did not play a part in the decision.  And the attention being paid to this is twofold: Borland and related stories, and yes because it's Michigan, it's a big deal if the concussion angle can be made into something. 

Everyone sees through their own prism, but the evidence to me suggests that he left for the reasons he stated (burnout), and several reporters asked questions about concussions.  He talked about that because they asked, and then they ran with a concussion story. 

LSAClassOf2000

March 27th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^

An ESPN story Wednesday indicated Miller quit "over concussion concerns," but he said that was not the message regarding his decision he hoped to convey.

Either ESPN just assumes that this is the overwhelming reason people leave football or they can't be bothered to get it straight. I had though Miller made it rather clear that burnout was in fact the reason in a few articles, but they are evidently slow to get the message in Bristol. 

Geaux_Blue

March 27th, 2015 at 7:13 PM ^

Literally read the quote, where he said it was something to definitely consider, and then ran a sub headline saying "Retires due to concussion concerns" or the like. This is equivalent to them sprinting with the idea Saints were looking to trade Brees

madmaxweb

March 27th, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^

This plus the Sportsnation tweet last night thinking that Kentucky would have even a remote chance of beating the 72-10 Bulls has officially put me into never reading or watching ESPN unless for a game. They have become a joke, and because no sports station can even compete with them they get away with it. ESPN has gotten so big and protected they believe they can't do wrong.

CoachBP6

March 28th, 2015 at 4:17 AM ^

That Bulls team would've beaten 2015 Kentucky like a rented mule. I d t line on that game of bulls -39 at least. S would probably win by 50 or more. ESPN is good for nothing, they have turned into a click whore website, I only watch college football and nfl prime time on ESPN, nothing else.