Syracuse Football: AJ Long's Family & Scott Shafer Should Probably Chat

Things are never quiet with the Syracuse Orange football team.

Here's the timeline of events we have to-date to clear up the above headline:

1) AJ Long is medically disqualified from the Syracuse football due to school concussion protocol. This was because of concussions suffered in high school and at Syracuse.

2). Long made it clear that he wants to transfer and attempt to play somewhere else. It's his body/career/life, so good luck, kid.

3) Someone asked SU head coach Scott Shafer about Long's decision to play elsewhere. Shafer's response:

"He's not medically cleared to play football by our doctors, who are some of the best in the country, in my opinion,"
"So for me, it would be concerning in the best interest of the student-athlete to be thinking that way without some doctors saying, 'Hey, you're healthy.'"

4) A.J.'s dad has a Twitterfeed and has an opinion on all of this:

This is interesting to me and my family! He's so concerned about AJ that we never got a call from him! Thanks Coach! https://t.co/DRxOHSYW3G

— Ace (@acelong99) October 29, 2015

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Listen: I'm not a father. I don't know what it's like to watch my son play a game that is proven to mess with long-term health the more times you get hit in the head. But I do know that Syracuse's policy isn't there to make lives harder. It's to protect student-athletes from themselves or from coaches who are being paid millions to put team ahead of individuals.

So with all of that: Shafer probably shouldn't have answered the question. We're all used to coach-speak and non-answers (heck, this just came out) and this would be a perfect time for some PR line of "I can't comment on someone who is no longer a part of the program" or "we just wish him the best" (which he did say later on).

All in all: let's hope all parties talk, move on and do what's best for AJ's health long-term.