After two blows to the head, one that sent him to the hospital, over the last 12 days, Gunner Kiel has been ruled out for the Bearcats home game against the Miami Hurricanes tomorrow night. While it was previously announced that Hayden Moore would start, there was somehow still speculation that Kiel would play. That talk has died with the news that Kiel didn’t practice Monday or Tuesday.
The Bearcats don’t play until October 16 after they host Miami tomorrow. This huge break should give Kiel plenty of time to get healthier. Who knows if he will be completely healthy by the time that game rolls around. It seems like Kiel and Tommy Tuberville are going to try and do everything they can to get Kiel to play. Hell, they talked about it this week after the horrific injury that he suffered last week.
Personally, I don’t think that UC has handled Kiel’s injury the best way. I didn’t think he should play last week. Not because he ended up getting seriously hurt, but because the whole run up to him playing. Saying a college athlete got his bell rung multiple times and changing to ‘it wasn’t his head, no story there,’ didn’t sit right. Him practicing all week like nothing happened seemed like it was looking out more for the football team’s interests than Kiel’s life interests. After the scary injury last week, there was no way he could play. And he’s not.
At this point, all the time and energy should be focused on getting Gunner Kiel healthy as a person first, then later as a football player. Hayden Moore did a historically great job in the loss to Memphis. Chances are that he won’t go for 600 yards against Miami, but it’s worth finding out what he can do against a much better defense than the one UC saw last Thursday. After feeling very uneasy last week, it’s a bit comforting that the extra precautions are being taken this week.
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