By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
Ryan Brennan once patrolled the rugby pitch with enthusiasm and tenacity. He gave all-out efforts in practices and prepared as if he were playing a game. According to his teammates, he was a joy to be around. He made sure the mood of the team stayed up beat by entertaining his teammates any chance he got.
“His personality – people are attracted to him,” Head rugby coach Clarence Picard said. “He’s a very positive guy. He’s upbeat. He’s funny. He’s just a good guy to have around. Off the field, he’ll bring people together. He entertains people, and he’s just a really positive guy.”
But Brennan no longer does any of this. He no longer plays rugby. He doesn’t spend time with his teammates. He doesn’t attend classes at St. Bonaventure any longer.
Brennan still suffers from the symptoms of multiple concussions sustained while playing rugby. He spends most of his time in a dark bedroom, as his injury makes him averse to bright lights. He’s been this way since mid-August.
According to Picard, these troubles began during Brennan’s junior year (2012-13). The back sat out nearly half of the team’s matches after suffering a concussion. He missed most of the spring slate before recovering enough to participate in the last few matches of the season. Picard said the injury lingered throughout the season. Because concussion symptoms rarely manifest themselves physically, Picard struggled to decide whether Brennan was ready to play or not.
“It was one of those things we try to manage, and there’s a struggle,” Picard said. “I’m not putting it on Ryan, but there’s always a struggle with players where they want to get back out there, and they’re really eager to play. A concussion is one of those things where the symptoms aren’t visible, so you can’t say ‘this guy is absolutely healed.’ It was a real challenge. We might have him sit out a game to rest up, then you think he’s ready, but there’s always a back and forth about it. So, it’s just one of those things we tried to manage through his junior year.”
Heading into summer, Brennan seemed perfectly healthy to his teammates. Brennan’s friend and teammate Tallon Moritz, a senior, spent time with Brennan during summer and believed him to be in good health.
“He played the final couple games of the spring season,” Moritz started. “Then I saw him in the summer, and he seemed fine.”
While playing summer rugby for a Buffalo-area team in a tournament in Saranac Lake, Brennan suffered another concussion. His coach and most of his teammates didn’t realize the severity of the injury until late in the summer. Brennan didn’t know exactly what happened, but after the tournament, he didn’t feel right. He hasn’t felt right since.
“He’s not sure what exactly caused (the concussion),” Picard said. “All he knew was after that, he didn’t feel right. I think things escalated going into the school year. He started feeling not very well and started having the issues he’s currently having.”
Brennan saw a few doctors in the months leading up to the season, but still wasn’t sure exactly what was wrong. He came to school excited to start his senior year but was soon forced to return home after his concussion symptoms worsened. He’s remained home for the past three-plus months, unsure of whether he’ll ever return to college.
Brennan’s teammates felt his absence this season. Moritz said the team missed Brennan on and off the field.
“It was definitely tough,” Moritz said. “He was one of our best players, especially in the back line. Also, just not having him around to be the character he is was tough. He lightened things up just being Ryan Brennan. It was tough without him because he was one of our best friends.”
Senior Thomas Tyler said Brennan energized the team and thought the team missed his presence this season.
“He brought a certain energy to the team,” Tyler said. “He’s irreplaceable.”
Brennan’s injury affected the way the rugby team and the club sports program in general viewed head injuries. This season, the team started employing the practice of baseline concussion testing. This program is meant to ensure that no player re-enters a game after suffering a concussion and was partly put in place because of Brennan’s injury according to Picard.
Picard said baseline testing is just one aspect of injury prevention. Brennan’s injury caused Picard to take even more precautions with injured players.
“Not that I wasn’t (aware of injuries) before, but I’m especially conscious of it now,” Picard said. “It’s a terrible situation, and I don’t want anyone to have to deal with it. I feel more confident putting my foot down now that we have that baseline testing. We have the experience to say ‘hey, this is not something you can mess with.’ I’d say this year more than ever we were really hard on guys on sticking to exact timeline that’s prescribed.”
Brennan’s injury and ensuing struggle also affected the perspective of his teammates and coach. Moritz said while he misses Brennan, the situation has given him some perspective.
“It definitely makes you not take anything for granted,” Moritz said. “We were all looking forward to our senior year together. It kills us to not have him here. But it makes you appreciate the little things – being able to play the game, being able to practice. It makes you appreciate doing the things you wouldn’t normally.”
Picard echoed his player’s sentiments.
“We can get over missing guys on the field on game day,” Picard said. “Where we really need them is keeping the team together on the leadership side. And that’s where I’d say we missed (Ryan) the most is having him around. He’s one of our friends. He’s one of our guys. We miss having him on campus.”
Brennan agreed to an interview, but was unable to answer emails in time for print.
