Wednesday, August 12, 1998
Star-Bulletin
Concussions are a part of the game for Josh Skinner.
Skinner set
to ring in
new year
The 'Bows QB missed
By Paul Arnett
most of spring with a concussion,
but is confident he can
bounce back this season
Star-BulletinJosh Skinner may have had his bell rung more times than a journeyman boxer, but he still manages to answer it each time it rings.
University of Hawaii head coach Fred vonAppen and team physician Andrew Nichols want to make sure things remain clear as a bell for Skinner long after he leaves football.
That's why they plan to keep a close watch on him during the first few days of fall camp. He missed most of spring with a mild concussion and was banged around during his high school playing days.
"You always worry about a player who has had a concussion," vonAppen said after yesterday's practice. "But he was cleared by our medical staff and is fine now.
"Now, if he were to sustain -- heaven forbid -- another one in fall camp, then we'd have to take a look at it. The thing is, if you have several in a row, then you have a serious problem. Josh is always dingy anyway."
Skinner suffered some dings while running the option in high school, but was always able to clear his head enough to play the following week.
His helmet-to-helmet blow with Daniel Ho-Ching last spring left him momentarily dazed and confused. Nichols said Skinner wasn't knocked unconscious and didn't require hospital attention.
"But we still held him out of the final two weeks of spring practice just as a precaution," Nichols said. "Concussions are very difficult to read and understand. There are no definite guidelines to follow.
"We don't have a set policy. There's no three-strikes-and-you're-out rule, either. I worry about Josh because he's such a tough guy.
"The thing we watch for is second-impact syndrome, where a guy gets a concussion while he still has symptoms from a first concussion. That's why if a guy has a headache from a first concussion, we don't let him play until that headache -- and other symptoms -- are gone."
Nichols said Skinner's headaches subsided before he left for his Aurora, Colo., home last spring. He entered fall camp fit for duty.
"I'm 100 percent," Skinner said yesterday after practice. "No headaches. No blurred vision. I was a little dinged up after the Colorado State game, too, but it wasn't anything major.
"Heck, I had them all through high school when I was running the option. I don't think about it because it's part of football. You can't think about things like that or you're going to get dinged."
Skinner is currently battling for the starting job with junior college transfer Dan Robinson.
New offensive coordinator Don Lindsey is trying a variety of offenses this fall camp, and it's likely Skinner will be the quarterback when Hawaii runs the veer option. Robinson will be under center when the Rainbows are trying to stretch a defense via the passing game.
Skinner started eight games for the Rainbows last year and one his freshman season. That Division I experience should give him an edge over the other four quarterbacks in camp.
"This year, I think I'm coming in a little more confident in myself," Skinner said. "I know what's ahead of me based on what's happened the past two years.
"We're running a lot of different formations that offer a lot of possibilities. I love the new offense Coach Lindsey has put in. I feel good about it and myself. I just have to go out and compete."
Skinner had his moments during the seven-on-seven drills yesterday afternoon. He and Robinson were clearly the top two quarterbacks during the official opening of fall camp.
Both quarterbacks took turns running the option and working on the three- and five-step drops in the passing game.
"I know nobody is going to give me this job," Skinner said. "I have to go out and earn it. I definitely would have liked to have gotten the repetitions Dan did in the spring, but I don't think it set me back at all."
Skinner's 1997 stats
Games: 10
