The Columbus Crew announced today that defender Chad Marshall has been placed on season-ending injured reserve as a result of the four concussions he has sustained over the last 12 months, the fourth of which occurred earlier this month.
Marshall, 23, missed the first eight games of the season while recovering from concussions, making his season debut on June 3 at Chicago, a game which he entered in the 60th minute and later scored a goal. He ultimately appeared in 12 games, the last 11 of them starts, and added a second goal on June 23 at Los Angeles.
"Chad is a very important player to our team and organization and we're going to miss him greatly for the remainder of this season, but this is the correct decision for his well being," said Crew Head Coach Sigi Schmid. "After consulting with Dr. Robert Bornstein, a neuropsychologist at OSU, and our team physician, Dr. Peter Edwards, we discussed the possible treatment options with Chad. In the interest of his long-term health and safety, as well as his playing career, we made the recommendation that he not play the rest of this year and resume playing soccer next year. He agrees with our assessment and will begin light exercise as soon as all of his symptoms have cleared."
In four MLS seasons, Marshall has appeared in 96 games, 93 of them starts, and produced four goals and five assists. He was a finalist for MLS Rookie of the Year honors in 2004, after being selected by the Crew No. 2 overall out of Stanford in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft.
