Medical redshirt question

Submitted by MGOARMY on

I understand that if a player only plays in the first 4 games, then is injured and doesn't play anymore they can receive a medical redshirt. My question is, does the injury and medical redshirt have to be declared after the 4th game? For instance, if Devin Gardner didn't play the rest of the season, but dressed and traveled with the team to all games but never played would he be eligible for the medical redshirt? Sorry if this has been disscused already but I coulnd't find it any where when I searched. I am also assuming despite the potential severity of Odoms injury he cannot receive a medical redshirt. Any insight is appreciated.

oakapple

October 10th, 2010 at 1:54 PM ^

Quotes from the exact NCAA bylaw are here:

http://www.cockytalk.com/showthread.php?p=2479575

The short answer is that Gardner could theoretically qualify, but he would need a documented injury that incapacitated him. Teams have been known to “invent” injuries (with compliant doctors signing off). I suspect Michigan would not be willing to fool around with that.

Odoms definitely cannot, because the limit is 30 percent of a team’s games, rounded up. Odoms has been in all six games to date.

jmblue

October 10th, 2010 at 3:48 PM ^

The standard is not that high.  Guys have gotten medical redshirts for things like a broken finger.  What is tougher is getting the 6th year of eligibility.  There, the NCAA regularly rejects cases.

oakapple

October 10th, 2010 at 2:49 PM ^

It needs to be 30 percent of games (rounded up), all of which occur in the first half of the season.

Molk appeared in sufficiently few games, but Penn State was the eighth game of the year. Since it was beyond the halfway point of the season, his brief appearance in that game took a medical redshirt off the table.

Magnus

October 10th, 2010 at 4:51 PM ^

Molk redshirted as a true freshman to get him bigger and stronger.  From my understanding, he cannot receive a medical redshirt now.

Regardless, the PSU game was too late in the season for him to get a medical redshirt.

jmblue

October 10th, 2010 at 3:49 PM ^

I suspect Michigan would not be willing to fool around with that.

Not sure why you think this.  We definitely cooked up a few "injuries" under Carr.  On the blogosphere these were joking referred to as "Massaquoiectomies," after the mysterious "injury" that allowed Tim Massaquoi to get a medical redshirt despite never being listed in the injury report all year.

oakapple

October 10th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^

No team (in my memory) has actually admitted that it “invented” injuries to qualify an athlete for a medical redshirt, but it is widely assumed that schools do so.

What I am saying is that, given the current NCAA investigation, and the risk of being caught a second time while on probation, Michigan wouldn’t do that unless Gardner really did have a qualifying injury.

jmblue

October 10th, 2010 at 4:14 PM ^

One has nothing to do with the other.  The NCAA infractions committee does not review medical cases.  Besides, the infractions committee is set to issue its final ruling in the coming weeks, before the end of the season.  Medical redshirt applications are done after the season. 

And anyway, I have no idea why you act like it's cheating.  We're free to apply for medical redshirts for whomever we want.  It's the NCAA's call to grant them the medical shirt, not ours.  We'd be nuts not to apply.

SysMark

October 10th, 2010 at 8:23 PM ^

I still think there is a good chance Gardner redshirts next year when the quarterback situation is more stable going into the season.  That of course assumes Forcier does not transfer, which I hope he does not.

B10 or Bust

October 10th, 2010 at 9:14 PM ^

The first (typical) redshirt is very easy to get...it's basically a rubber stamp as far as the NCAA is concerned.  While it is technically a medical redshirt, it's really just about giving a young player time to get bigger and learn the ropes.

The 6th year of eligibility is very tough to get.  Usually, it doesn't even matter if the player has had serious injuries.  IIRC, the NCAA doesnt grant them very often unless one injury is so devastating that it results in the player missing more than a full year before they can even begin getting back on the field.